Michael A. asks: Why is “two bit” something cheap? Thanks! There was a time in America when rather than U.S. dollars or British pounds, most people bought and sold with Spanish coins. During the 18th century, gold and silver were precious commodities. No active mines were operating in British North America, and Britain was keeping a tight hold on its […]
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Ricci Martin, son of the world-famous singer Dean, was just like most any other teenager in the early months of 1964. Ricci was totally crazy about and obsessed with the Beatles. Ever since the Beatles arrival in America a few months previously, they had captivated teenagers far and wide and taken the entire country by storm. They were making appearances […]
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Krampus, the Christmas Demon Santa Claus has long been the symbol of Christmas, bringing joy and presents to all the good girls and boys. But if you are child in Germany, Austria, and other parts of the Alps region, there may be something much more dark, mischievous, and grumpy hidden in the shadows next to dear old St. Nick. That […]
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When Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, he declared that one of the missions of the modern Olympiad would be “to reunite in the bonds of legitimate wedlock a long-divorced couple — Muscle and Mind.” To the Baron, Olympic competition wasn’t just going to be about physical athletics, but sports of the mind as […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Anonymous Publishing of “The Night Before Christmas,” and Other Interesting Christmas Staple Origins On December 23, 1823, the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known today as The Night Before Christmas was first published. The poem first appeared in […]
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For the quick answer to your question: no and sometimes. While not all molds are bad for you to eat, many are, and unless you want to whip out a microscope and meticulously identify the mold present on your food (note: there are 300,000 known types and counting), as a general rule it’s better to avoid moldy foods. Not all […]
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On December 22, 1992, former school teacher Martin Almada discovered thousands of documents that detailed the systematic repression of Paraguayans under the government of dictator General Alfredo Stroessner. Almada stumbled upon what has come to be known as Paraguay’s Archives of Terror in the basement of a police station in the capital city of Asuncion while working with a judge, […]
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An average American child eats about 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches prior to graduating from high school. That is about a sandwich every four or five days. Americans eat a lot of peanut butter. Besides it being popular and delicious, peanut butter also has had a tremendous impact on how foods are made and labeled today. Thanks to the […]
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When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the Moon all those years ago during the Apollo 11 mission, literally everything they did became a record because everything they did that day was the first time in human history someone had done that thing on the Moon, which it turns out wasn’t made of cheese after all. While Armstrong’s first words […]
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Mark. K. asks: Why does peanut butter stick to the top of my mouth? Arachibutyrophobia is a proposed humorous name for the fear of peanut butter getting stuck to the top of your mouth, coined by Charles M. Schulz in a 1982 edition of his famed Peanuts comic strip. But why does peanut butter have such a tendency to get […]
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In the 1993 movie Tombstone, Doc Holliday (portrayed by actor Val Kilmer) is depicted as a good guy at heart, helping Wyatt Earp to keep order and law in the dangerous old west town of Tombstone, Arizona. As is the case with Earp, there is a mound of evidence that the real Doc Holliday wasn’t nearly so squeaky clean. Here […]
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Aiko S. asks: Who wrote Twas the Night Before Christmas? On December 23, 1823, the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known today as The Night Before Christmas was first published. The poem first appeared in the New York Sentinel with no author listed, having been delivered for publication by a friend of Clement Clarke Moore, who was a […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Wyatt Earp, the Great American… Villain? The history books (and Hollywood) often describe the famous lawman, Wyatt Earp, as many things: brave, courageous, moral, law-abiding, and honorable. In the story of the “Gunfight at the OK Corral,” Earp is often portrayed […]
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Jeremy R. asks: Why did America stop using the gold standard? To begin with, if you’re not familiar, “the gold standard” is a monetary standard where the basic unit of currency is gold. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that gold is directly used in the transaction (though, it could be and that is known as a pure gold standard). […]
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Santa Claus has long been the symbol of Christmas, bringing joy and presents to all the good girls and boys. But if you are child in Germany, Austria, and other parts of the Alps region, there may be something much more dark, mischievous, and grumpy hidden in the shadows next to dear old St. Nick. That something is Krampus, the […]
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Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 18, 1915, John R. Fox grew up in Ohio before attending Wilberforce University, an African American college located in a town of the same name. He met his future wife, Arlene, there while he studied biology and science. The couple moved to Brockton, Massachusetts after getting married, where they had a daughter, Sandra. At […]
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Rene I. asks: What makes the new car smell and is it true that it is toxic to humans? That “new car smell” is romanticized and beloved by many people. In fact, it is so desired that there is even an air freshener that is scented as “new car smell. ” But what produces this distinct scent and are the […]
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Mar.W asks: Why are zombies always depicted liking to eat brains? Zombies have been a pop culture staple for decades, and in that time the concept of the dead coming back to life somehow to feast on the living has proliferated virtually every form of media that exists. One trait that is seemingly synonymous with zombies is their apparent need to feed […]
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