Today I found out the origin of the phrase “jump on the bandwagon.” For those not familiar, when you jump on the bandwagon, it means you begin supporting a hobby, idea, person, etc. after it has become popular or successful. The word “bandwagon” is the rather unimaginative name for a wagon that carried a circus band. It first appeared in […]
Read more
Today I found out why some plants are considered weeds and others are not. Weeds can be defined in a variety of ways: a plant growing where it isn’t wanted, a plant that interferes with farming or grazing, a plant that was not intentionally sown, a plant that is persistent and detrimental to the plants around it, among others. Basically, […]
Read more
Mark asks: Why is “y” only sometimes a vowel? When is it a vowel and when is it a consonant? You already know that vowels in the English alphabet are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y, while the rest of the letters are called consonants. But did you ever ask yourself why the letters were divided into two […]
Read more
Karla asks: Is it true that once the Austrian army accidentally ended up fighting itself in a battle? If you ever feel like you’ve “made a huge mistake,” just remember: it’s probably not bigger than the Battle of Karansebes, during which the Austrian army broke into two and ended up mistakenly fighting itself. At least, that’s what supposedly happened. There […]
Read more
Mark asks: Will eating poppy seed muffins cause you to fail a drug test? When Elaine on Seinfeld failed a drug test after eating a poppy seed muffin back in the 1996 episode “The Shower Head,” the idea that you could fail a drug test after eating poppy seeds took off. Turns out, this wasn’t yet another Hollywood writer invention—you […]
Read more
Today I found out Richard the Lionheart and Philip II of France “ate every day at the same table and from the same dish, and at night their beds did not separate them.” There are a number of monarchs throughout history who are believed to have been gay. Richard the Lionheart and Philip II are just a couple of kings […]
Read more
Today I found out the origins of the names of the historic counties of Wales and Northern Ireland. WALES Anglesey Anglesey is believed to be a Viking place name. The Vikings denoted islands with the suffix “ey.” The best bet is that Anglesey started out as “Ongl’s Ey,” but no one knows who Ongl might have been. Brecknockshire Brecknockshire, as […]
Read more
Today I found out the origins of the names of the Canadian provinces and territories. Alberta Princess Louise Carolina Alberta gave her name to this province when it was made a district in 1882 (later to become a province in 1905). Not only was she the daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, but she was also married to Lord […]
Read more
Continuing our jaunt around the English speaking parts of the globe looking at the origins of the names of major places: today I found out the origins of the names of the historic Scottish counties. Aberdeenshire The prefix aber means “the meeting of,” and usually represents a river flowing through the area. In Aberdeen’s case, it means “the meeting of […]
Read more
Today I found out the origins of the names of England’s historic counties. Bedfordshire Bedfordshire is likely named after Beda, a Saxon chief who settled on River Great Ouse, which runs through the county. The settlement probably started as something like “Beda’s Ford” which was then shortened to Bedford. Berkshire When it was founded, Berkshire was Bearrocscir. Bearroc is thought […]
Read more
Today I found out about the origins of the names of the Australian states and territories (and their capitals). Australian Capital Territory As you can probably imagine, this territory houses the capital of Australia, Canberra. Not very imaginatively named, the territory was a matter of debate for some time after Australia became a federation in 1901. At the time, Melbourne, […]
Read more
Today I found out that camels were acquired by the United States military and played a role in the settlement of the American west. Camels are no strangers to war. They have been used in the Middle East for centuries. However, they aren’t exactly the creatures you think about when you think “U.S. Army.” In 1836, George Crosman, a U.S. […]
Read more
Today I found out the origins of all 50 U.S. state names. Alabama This southern state was named for the Native American tribe that lived there when the European settlers showed up. In their own language, they were called the Albaamaha. It’s likely that this name means something along the lines of “plant gatherers,” though this isn’t known for sure. […]
Read more
Today I found out that the father of Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a billionaire. Seinfeld would have been a lot different with another actress playing Elaine, and that’s what would have happened if Julia Louis-Dreyfus had decided to live the life of an heiress rather than pursue acting. And that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Julia’s father is multi-billionaire […]
Read more
Burritos are one of the most popular Tex-Mex items on the menu. Anyone who knows a little Spanish has probably raised their eyebrows at the name, however. In Spanish, a “burro” is a donkey, and “burrito,” the diminutive form, means “little donkey.” As far as we know, donkey was never a popular ingredient in the famous dish, so how exactly […]
Read more
Today I found out about the Union Army Balloon Corps. If you thought that air warfare was reserved for a time after airplanes were invented, you thought wrong. During the American Civil War, the Union troops used hot air balloons to spy on Confederate troops. The idea to use balloons was the brainchild of Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of […]
Read more
Greg H. asks: Diseases from Europe wiped out most of the Indians, so why didn’t the Europeans also get wiped out by diseases from America? While estimates vary, approximately 20-50 million people are believed to have lived in the Americas shortly before Europeans arrived. Around 95% of them were killed by European diseases. So why didn’t 19 out of 20 […]
Read more
Mark asks: I don’t know if you’ve already covered this or not, but why do we call quitting something abruptly “cold turkey”? When you quit something “cold turkey” it means that you’re quitting smoking, drinking, a hard drug, or eating delicious chocolate cake right then and there without being slowly weaned off the addictive (possibly chocolatey) substance. What with turkeys […]
Read more