This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Woman Who Survived All Three Disasters Aboard the Sister Ships: the Titanic, Britannic, and Olympic Violet Jessop enjoyed incredible “luck” from a young age. Born in 1887 in Argentina to Irish immigrants, she contracted tuberculosis as a young child and was […]
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Katlen asks: Is it true that footballs used to be made of pigskin? What are they made of now? These days, footballs are typically made from cowhide or vulcanized rubber, making their nickname “pigskins” somewhat ironic. Football fans often perpetuate the idea that footballs used to be made of pigskin, which is how they got their nickname, but it turns […]
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Ryan asks: Where did the phrase “let the cat out of the bag” come from? The famous humorist and writer Will Rogers once said, “Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than putting it back in.” But where did this expression come from and why is it used in this way? For those who aren’t […]
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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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Today I found out how the phrase “basket case” came to mean “someone who is insane.” At first, “basket case” didn’t mean someone who was crazy. Instead, it referred to someone who had a physical disability. The phrase has its origins in World War I. Funny enough, one of the earliest known documented instances of the phrase was actually in […]
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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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Though you’ve likely never given it much thought, a universally accepted unit of measurement like the humble metre is an amazing thing. It lets scientists separated by culture, language, race and even thousands of miles of geography work together on equations and problems like they were sitting next to each other. So how did this unit of measurement come to […]
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The modern bikini has a relatively short history only spanning a little over a half century or so, but bikini-like suits have been around and worn commonly for certain activities since at least the times of the Greco-Romans. In fact, the first known instance of any type of bikini goes back even further to around 5600 BC with a surviving […]
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John K. asks: I heard that the NFL is tax-exempt. Why is this when they make billions every year? The NFL made over thirteen billion dollars this past year in gross revenue. That is over three billion dollars more than Major League Baseball, the next most profitable professional sports league. The Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s current least valuable team, is […]
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I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading Today I Found Out, and update you on a few kind of cool things that have happened the last month on the site. First, we published a book, The Wise Book of Whys (available in Print | Kindle | Nook | Audiobook), which has been steadily gaining on the […]
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Today I found out about Violet Jessop, “Miss Unsinkable,” the woman who survived the sinking of the sister ships the Titanic and the Britannic, and was also aboard the third of the trio of Olympic class vessels, the Olympic, when it had a major accident. Violet Jessop enjoyed incredible “luck” from a young age. Born in 1887 in Argentina to […]
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Dating back centuries, the names of our everyday colors have origins in the earliest known languages. According to linguists: There was a time when there were no color-names as such . . . and that not very remote in many cases, when the present color-words were terms that could be used in describing quite different qualities [including] gay, lively, smart, […]
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Jason asks: Why is ketchup red and mustard yellow? Although in other food traditions, ketchup and mustard may be different colors, in classic American cuisine, ketchup is red and mustard is yellow. Here’s why: Ketchup This most “American” of condiments originated in Asia, where it dates back to the 6th century AD. In the beginning, ketchup (spelled ke-tchup) was a […]
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Derek asks: Why were the two groups in WWII called the Axis and the Allies? Marking the two main groups of belligerents in the Second World War (1939-1945), the Axis and the Allies slugged out their differences from the beaches of Normandy to the islands of the South Pacific. The history of their epic battles, atrocities, heroes and villains is […]
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Today I found out about Princess Olga of Kiev, the saint who buried people alive and didn’t exactly take to heart the whole “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” [Leviticus 19:18] thing- she hadn’t converted yet after all- when she burned down a city and had much […]
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According to a 2013 survey, over eighty three percent of Americans drink coffee in the morning and the average citizen drinks multiple cups per day. Between the dark brew, the flavored lattes, the frozen caffeinated treats, and the whirling gadgets, coffee is now a thirty billion dollar industry. Coffee is big business and companies like Starbucks, Peets, and Folgers have […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. What Causes Red Eyes In Photographs Today I Found Out what makes your eyes red in flash photographs. Simply put, that crazy zombie look people tend to get, as if they are about to use you as a pre-lunch snack, has to […]
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Karla asks: Why do we knock on wood for luck? You’ve probably said this phrase and performed this action countless times, without the slightest clue as to the meaning behind it. So why do we feel compelled to “knock on wood” as an insurance policy against bad luck? Unfortunately, nobody knows for sure and while you’ll often read detailed accounts […]
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