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A Brief History of Pi
That the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is constant has been known to humanity since ancient times; yet, even today, despite 2000 years of thought, theories, calculations and proofs,
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A Brief History of Taxes in the U.S. & Why They are Due on April 15th
Ian K. asks: Why are taxes due on April 15th? As Ben Franklin wrote in a 1789 letter to Baptiste Leroy, “… in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death
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Why Teachers are Associated with and Traditionally Given Apples
Gloria N. asks: Why is the stereotype to give apples to teachers? Widespread publicly funded, mandatory education has only been around since about the 19th century. Before then, the responsibility of providing schooling to
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What Ever Happened to Confederate President Jefferson Davis?
Cailin asks: What happened to Jefferson Davis after the Civil War? Jefferson Davis was attending a Sunday church service in the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, when he heard the news. Union General
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Yet Another 10 Awesome Quick Facts
While just about everybody’s heard of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, there was a lesser known third co-founder of Apple, Ronald Wayne. Among other things, Wayne designed the first Apple logo. Unfortunately for him,
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The First Commercially Successfull Video Game was Meant as a Training Exercise and Wasn’t Intended to Be Released
Today I found out “Pong” was originally meant only as a training exercise for a new gaming developer at Atari, Allan Alcorn, and wasn’t intended to be released as a consumer product. When Alcorn
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Why Neil Armstrong Got to Be the First to Step on the Moon
On July 20th, 1969, with “one small step,” Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. Since that date forty five years ago, the moon landing has been the subject of
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Who Invented the Sporting Wave?
Karla asks: Who invented the Mexican wave? The wave, also generally known as the “Mexican wave” outside of the United States, was the brain-child of the longest continuously active professional cheerleader (41 years and
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The “Witch of Wall Street”
Long before the likes of Warren Buffet, Hetty Green dominated Wall Street through extremely shrewd investing, frugality, and exploiting the lax investment rules of her age, managing to amass one of the greatest fortunes
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Did the Warrior Women Known as the Amazons Ever Exist?
Marleen asks: Did Amazon women really ever exist? They are mentioned time and again by the ancient Greeks in both their history and mythology, going all the way back to Homer in approximately the
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Why Aren’t There Many Female Commercial Pilots?
Sarah T. asks: Why do you never see commercial airline pilots that are women? When it comes to gender disparity, the world of commercial airline piloting is one of the most skewed with a
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Why are Some Ice Cubes Clear and Others Cloudy?
Drew asks: Why are some ice cubes clear and others cloudy? Unless you happen to have a specialized ice machine in your home, it is practically guaranteed that the ice your freezer makes is
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How Did “911″ Become The Emergency Call Number in North America?
Kaiden asks: Why is 9-1-1 the emergency call number? Before the 1960s, the United States didn’t have one universal phone number for Americans to call if they needed help from the police or fire
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Fourth of July Fact Round Up
For those in the United States celebrating Independence Day and looking to have something interesting to talk to your friends and relatives about at your respective barbeques, here is some conversation fodder to both
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Podcast Episode #170: Marie Curie, an Affair, and the Duels That Followed
In this episode, you’re going to learn about two duels that were fought as a result of an affair Marie Curie had with one of her deceased husband’s former students. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future
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The Origin of the QWERTY Keyboard
Today I found out the origin of the QWERTY keyboard.The first typewriter was introduced to the United States in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes. His first attempt to build a typing device consisted of
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How Shrunken Heads Were Made
Today I found out how shrunken heads were made. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, a shrunken head is a decapitated human head that is shrunk through a cooking process by
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Why Are Continental Breakfasts Called That?
Austin asks: Why are continental breakfasts called that? Many hotels offer guests a free breakfast consisting of muffin, coffee, cereal and milk, toast, juice, bagel, and, at some, even scrambled eggs and make-your-own waffles.
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