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A Jiffy is Used as an Actual Unit of Time
Today I found out a ‘jiffy’ is used as an actual unit of time. The word ‘jiffy’ has been around since at least the late 18th century. What it derived from is unknown, but
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If We Could Convert Matter Perfectly to Energy, a Typical Adult Male Would Produce an Explosion 80 Times More Powerful Than the Largest Nuclear Bomb Ever Detonated
Amazingly, if we were actually able to convert matter perfectly to energy with 1 kg of matter being completely annihilated, the energy produced from just that small amount of matter is about 42.95 mega
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The Gopher Protocol on the Internet was Once More Popular Than the Web… Until the Creators Decided to Charge Licensing Fees
In the early days of the World Wide Web, one of the most popular alternatives to the Web (and indeed more popular for a time), Gopher, looked like it was destined to dominate the
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The Novel ‘Gadsby’ has 50,110 Words, Yet None of them Contain the Letter “E”
Today I found out Ernest Vincent Wright’s 1939 novel Gadsby is over 50,000 words long, yet doesn’t contain a single letter “e” anywhere other than the cover. Given that ‘e’ is the most commonly
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The Ancient Romans Trained Dolphins to Help Them Fish
The ancient Romans once used dolphins to help them fish. The dolphins were trained to drive fish towards fishermen. Once a large enough group of fish was near the fisherman, the dolphins would signal
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Popcorn was Not Just Made in the Americas Before 1492
Myth: Popcorn was first introduced outside of the Americas after Columbus made his jaunt across the big blue. In fact, popcorn was made in such places as China, Sumatra, and India long before 1492.
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James Doohan who Played “Scotty” was Not Scottish
Myth: James Doohan was Scottish. In fact, Doohan was actually Canadian and a very successful voice actor before his role in Star Trek. When he was auditioning for the role of the ship’s engineer
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Sign Languages Do Not Generally Resemble the Spoken Language from the Area They Originated
Myth: sign languages generally resemble the spoken language from the area they originated. In other words, in the majority of cases, the various sign languages used were not developed from spoken languages. For example,
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In Greek Mythology, Redheads Turn into Vampires When They Die
Myth: redheads turn into vampires when they die. In real life, they are Vampires from birth. *note: My wife is a redhead. What causes red hair
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TNT and Dynamite are Not the Same Thing
Myth: TNT and Dynamite are the same thing. In fact, TNT and dynamite are not the same thing at all, contrary to what the Road Runner and Wiley coyote would have you believe. Dynamite
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