Category Archives: Featured Facts

How Blood Works

Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his have just started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is their first video. If you like it, please subscribe to their YouTube channel here: If you liked this video, you might also enjoy: Does Cauterizing a Wound Really […]

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The Tiny Nation of Sealand

Pirate radio, kidnapping, battles- the principality of Sealand has seen all of these things and more, despite only being a tiny micronation lying about 7 nautical miles the coast from Suffolk, England. If you haven’t heard of Sealand before, it is the site of one of Britain’s Maunsell Naval Sea Forts that were utilized during WWII. This particular one was originally […]

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What Exactly is Malt?

Ryan asks: What exactly is malt? For millions of drinkers, it is perhaps the most important ingredient in the world. Malt, Exactly  Malt is the product that is left over after a cereal grain has been dried, allowed to sprout, air dried again, then heated in an oven. Any of a variety of cereal grains, including rice, wheat, oats and […]

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Smedley Butler and the Business Plot

In 1933 and 1934, an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) by Wall Street Bankers may have happened. While contemporary newspapers called it a “gigantic hoax,” others, including the House’s Special Committee on Un-American Activities, found the allegations “credible.” You decide: The Bankers & Power Brokers During the campaign of 1932, FDR’s promise of jobs […]

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Why Does the New Year Begin on January First in Many Countries?

Jamie asks: Why is New Year’s day January 1st? Because Julius Caesar said so. Early Roman Calendar Since long before Caesar’s time, date keeping was dicey. In fact, the 355-day Roman calendar that immediately preceded Caesar’s Julian, worked on a four year cycle where every other year, an additional month was inserted between February (Februarius), the last month of that […]

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The Truth About the Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is a large area of ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda. Over the last few centuries, it’s thought that dozens of ships and planes have disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the area, earning it the nickname “The Devil’s Triangle.” People have even gone so far as to speculate that it’s an area of extra-terrestrial activity or […]

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Why People on Planes and Ships Use the Word “Mayday” When in Extreme Distress

This is an excerpt from our new book: The Wise Book of Whys, available in: Print | Kindle | Nook | Audiobook Today I found out why those aboard planes and ships use the word “Mayday” to indicate they are in extreme distress. In 1923, a senior radio officer, Frederick Stanley Mockford, in Croydon Airport in London, England was asked to […]

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Seagulls Will Not Blow Up if They Eat Alka-Seltzer

Seagulls, or gulls depending on how much you dislike syllables, are considered a pest to many, a minor, avoidable annoyance to many more and the harbingers of death OH GOD LOOK AT THEIR COLD DEAD EYES! to my neighbour who doesn’t get out much.  Over the years, there has been a persistent and rather macabre urban myth circulating that gulls […]

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Why Figure Skaters Don’t Seem Dizzy After Spinning

Justina asks: Why don’t figure skaters get dizzy after they spin? To understand why, it’s important to know why people get dizzy in the first place. Dizziness is controlled by the vestibular system in your upper inner ear. Within the vestibular system, there are three canals that contain fluid called endolymph, as well as sensory nerve cells that look sort […]

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