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Yet Another 10 Quick Facts
lev radin / Shutterstock.com Featureflash / Shutterstock.com Image via @SirPatStew 1. According to the Florentine Codex, among other sources, it is believed that the Ancient Aztecs were clean freaks, particularly compared to Europeans at
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Podcast Episode #90: How Hot Dogs Got Their Name and Why Soft Drinks are Called That
In this episode, you’re going to learn how hot dogs got their name- and note, it has nothing to do with anything that happened at a baseball game, contrary to popular belief. You’re also
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Do Cow Farts Really Significantly Contribute to Global Warming?
Shawn asks: Do cow farts really significantly contribute to global warming? There are currently approximately 1.3 to 1.5 billion cows grazing, sleeping, and chewing their cud at any given time on planet Earth. And
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Was the Character of Sherlock Holmes Based on a Real Person?
Sue T. asks: My sister told me Sherlock Holmes was based on a real person. Is this true? In 1887, Doyle published the novel “A Study in Scarlet.” It was the first work to
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The Good and the Bad of Vaporizing and Inhaling Alcohol
Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article
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The U.S. Army’s Camel Corps
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
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Can Color Blind People See More Colors When They Take Hallucinogenic Drugs?
Sam asks: If you gave a color blind person something like LSD or some other sort of hallucinogenic drug, would they see colors they couldn’t before? First a little primer on colour blindness from
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How a Donkey and an Elephant Came to Represent Democrats and Republicans
Jennifer asks: Why is a donkey and an elephant associated with the Democrats and the Republicans? The donkey is stereotypically bumbling, slow, and stubborn; the elephant- big and clumsy. Being compared to one of
Read More »Podcast Episode #79: Spoons, Knives, and Forks
In this episode, you’re going to learn how and when humans came up with the idea for spoons, knives, and forks, and the surprising resistance to the adoption of forks which were seen by
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The True Story Behind The Appalling Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
Controversial research programs, unethical experimentation, and human trials have been part of the medical field for centuries. It doesn’t make it any less wrong, but certain scientists with questionable ethics have gotten away with
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The North’s Air Force During the American Civil War
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
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Why There is an Area of New York Called “The Bronx” and Why Ambulances are Called That
Why There is an Area of New York Called “The Bronx” This is thanks to a seventeenth century Scandinavian man by the name of Jonas Bronck, originally from Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands. In
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One Million Downloads
After just about three and a half months since launching, our Daily Knowledge Podcast has reached 1 million downloads. Thanks for listening! If you have any feedback for us on it, we’re always interested.
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Why Certain Types of Traps are Called “Booby Traps”
It turns out this has nothing to do with the mammaries of the fairer sex, but rather has its origins in the Spanish word “bobo,” meaning “stupid,” “fool,” or “naïve.” This Spanish word in
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Why Native Americans Didn’t Wipe Out Europeans With Diseases
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 million people are believed
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TodayIFoundOut and Neatorama Giveaway
We’ve partnered up with our good friends over at the ever popular Neatorama to hold a contest with super awesome prizes and a bunch of easy ways to enter. The Grand Prize winner will
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Why Cashews are Not Sold to Consumers in Their Shells and Why Pistachios Used to Be Dyed Red
Why Cashews are Not Sold to Consumers in Their Shells Cashews are a member of the same family as poison ivy, Anacardiaceae. Like poison ivy and many other members of the family, part of
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How March Got So Mad: The Story Behind the NCAA Basketball Tournament
Every spring, a sort of illness strikes millions of Americans. Symptoms include screaming uncontrollably in celebration, panic sweating, obsessing over hastily filled-out brackets, sitting motionless in front of a television for hours, and wearing
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