Author Archives: Daven Hiskey

The Song “Jingle Bells” Is Thought to Have Been Written for a Thanksgiving Sunday School Program

One Horse Open Sleigh Painting

Today I found out the song Jingle Bells is thought to have been written for a Thanksgiving Sunday school program. Jingle Bells was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written by James Pierpont sometime between 1853 and 1857. At the time, Pierpont was working as an organist and music director in Savannah, Georgia.  Pierpont was hired on by […]

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Why Poop Is Brown

Today I found out why poop is brown. Poop is brown due to bile from your gall bladder being metabolized by the bacteria in your intestines.  This results in a byproduct called stercobilin, which, in turn, makes poop look brown-ish. Without this stercobilin, your poop would typically look grey-ish/white.  Because of this, a sure sign you are having problems with […]

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Cockroaches Would Not Survive an Extreme Nuclear Fallout

Myth: Cockroaches would survive an extreme nuclear fallout You’ve probably heard that “the only living things that would survive a nuclear war would be cockroaches and Cher”. The latter may be true, but the former is most definitely not. It has even be suggested that cockroaches can survive the amount of radiation at ground zero of a nuclear explosion, though […]

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The Pilgrims Did Not Celebrate the First Thanksgiving in America

Myth: The Pilgrims Celebrated the First Thanksgiving in America. The Pilgrims did not celebrate the first Thanksgiving in America. In fact, the particular Pilgrim event that is often cited as the first Thanksgiving wasn’t even the Pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving. They had several before then at various times and none of them were an annual thing. These days were simply a […]

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Sarah Hale, Author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, Was Largely Responsible for the Establishment of the United States’ Thanksgiving Holiday

Sarah Hale

Today I found out Sarah Josepha Hale, author of Mary Had a Little Lamb, was largely responsible for the establishment of the United States’ Thanksgiving Holiday. Hale, one of the great women in American history, campaigned for nearly 20 years to get Thanksgiving made a national holiday.  It previously was only celebrated, as we think of it, in New England; […]

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How the Tradition of the Detroit Lions Playing on Thanksgiving Got Started

Lions Eating Turkey

Today I found out how the tradition of the Detroit Lions playing on Thanksgiving got started. In 1934, radio executive G.A. Richards bought the Portsmouth, Ohio Spartans NFL team, moved them to Detroit, and renamed them the Lions.  Unfortunately for him, nobody in Detroit cared much for watching the Lions.  Despite winning all their games but one before Thanksgiving, having […]

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Chameleons Don’t Change Color to Match Their Environment

Myth: Chameleons change color to match their environment. Chameleons don’t change color to match their environment. Rather, they change color as a response to mood, temperature, health, communication, and light. Now, not all kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many types of chameleons can only turn, […]

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