Bill D. asks: Who is the “Murphy” who made Murphy’s Law? For those not familiar, Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong will.” Early Origins Pessimists have existed long before the Murphy whose name today graces this fundamental law. One of the earliest instances of this “law” being stated explicitly happened in 1877 where Alfred Holt is believed to […]
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Ranjiith asks: Why do we say something is as dead as a doornail? In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wrote about the questionable phrase, “dead as a doornail,” saying: Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might […]
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Have you ever said something that you ended up immediately regretting or wanted to take back straight away? Well, unless your words cost someone nearly a billion dollars, then you haven’t messed up quite as bad as Gerald Ratner did back in 1991. Yet. Ratner was the CEO of the Ratners Group, jewellers that shook up the usually stiff and inflexible […]
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In 1980 America, the Cold War was still very much hot, Ronald Reagan was elected President, and the United States’ Olympic hockey team shockingly upset the USSR in what would be dubbed “The Miracle on Ice.” Oh, and the new president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was given a key to the city of Detroit. How did this come to pass? […]
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Joel asks: Why do humans cry? Anti-bacterial, nutrient-rich, usually involuntary and often stress relieving, crying benefits more than just our eyes. Physiology of Tears Tears are a product of the lacrimal system, which: Has secretory and excretory functions that produce tears and drain them. The main lacrimal gland, located between a shallow depression in the frontal bone and the eyeball, […]
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Today I found out about the origin of the King James Bible. Back in 1603, Queen Elizabeth I passed away. She had ruled England for 45 years, was well-loved, and provided a sense of stability and security during her reign. Described as “neither a good protestant nor yet resolute papist,” she was able to provide a relatively happy medium between […]
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On June 11, 1982, E.T. entered Elliot’s tool shed and into the hearts of humans across the world. Roger Ebert famously said the Steven Spielberg-directed film was “not simply a good movie. It is one of those movies that brush away our cautions and win our hearts.” President Reagan and First Lady Nancy screened the movie at the White House […]
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Eleven thousand years ago, one saucy canine got busy and, as can happen with unprotected sex, gave its partner a venereal disease, although uniquely, this VD was cancerous. Over the course of the intervening millennia, that second dog, its partners, and its partners’ partners, all did what dogs eventually do, each spreading the disease, which has continued to retain some […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Was Colonel Sanders Actually a Colonel? Kentucky Colonel is the highest honor that can be bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. (Incidentally, if you’re curious: Why Colonel is Pronounced “Kernel”) To be named a “Colonel” is to be recognized for “outstanding service […]
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Today I found out the origins of the words “kitty-corner,” “catawampus,” and other “cat” words. The word “kitty-corner” has many different variations: catty-corner, caddy-corner, cat-a-corner, or kit-a-corner. They all mean the same thing: something that is directionally diagonal from a certain point. Interestingly, despite all of the “cats” and “kits,” the word has nothing to do with domesticated felines. Rather, […]
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Ian K. asks: Why are students called freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors? Rather than referring to a student’s year of study, in U.S. high schools and colleges, first year students are freshmen, second years are sophomores, third year students are juniors, and the most experienced are seniors. Yet although this practice seems uniquely American, its origins date back several centuries […]
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Skyrunner asks: Where do insects disappear to in the winter time? As ectothermic or so-called “cold-blooded” creatures, insects are particularly susceptible to winter’s freezing temperatures. To survive, this class of life form has developed a wide variety of adaptations in order to keep on keeping on. To begin with, perhaps the best-known tactic is simple migration, with the best known […]
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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 […]
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For centuries, before refrigeration, an old Russian practice was to drop a frog into a bucket of milk to keep the milk from spoiling. In modern times, many believed that this was nothing more than an old wives’ tale. But researchers at Moscow State University, led by organic chemist Dr. Albert Lebedev, have shown that there could be some benefit […]
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Mindy N. asks: After a long run my leg muscles are tired, but my heart is not. Why doesn’t the heart need any rest? An average of around 60 to 100 times every minute of every day of every year of your ultimately meaningless life, your heart beats… until it doesn’t. Not long after it stops, all knowledge of your […]
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Jan Zizka (aka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha) is regarded as one of the single finest military minds in world history. He also had his skin turned into a drum. Before we get to his death, though, we want to discuss Zizka’s life, because well, frankly it was remarkable. For starters, Zizka, born in 1360, is generally considered to […]
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Remember that scene in the movie Trading Places where Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd bankrupted those two old rich guys by cornering the frozen orange juice market? It turns out that a guy actually once did make many millions of dollars by doing pretty much exactly as they did in the movie, only instead of orange juice, he bought onions… […]
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Sue T asks: Why do we measure oil in barrels instead of gallons or liters? How much oil is in a barrel? More than just gasoline for our cars, crude oil is transformed into an infinite variety of products we use every day – from personal products like shampoo and lotion, to food preservatives and fertilizers, to the plastic bags […]
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