Today I found out the origins of the names of the Canadian provinces and territories. Alberta Princess Louise Carolina Alberta gave her name to this province when it was made a district in 1882 (later to become a province in 1905). Not only was she the daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, but she was also married to Lord […]
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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 star Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It was also the first record of a magnifying glass being used as a tool of investigation. “A Study in […]
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The date was April 3, 1919. The location was the South Side Pavilion in sunny Jacksonville, Florida. The occasion was a much-hyped competition of gastronomical strength between Ping Bodie, the five foot eight and 190 pound New York Yankee outfielder, versus the “world’s greatest eater,” an ostrich named Percy. They were to engage in a spaghetti-eating contest to determine, once […]
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Continuing our jaunt around the English speaking parts of the globe looking at the origins of the names of major places: today I found out the origins of the names of the historic Scottish counties. Aberdeenshire The prefix aber means “the meeting of,” and usually represents a river flowing through the area. In Aberdeen’s case, it means “the meeting of […]
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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 from their site. Vaporizing, and then inhaling alcohol has gained a lot of attention lately. In the 1950s it was introduced as a treatment for excessive […]
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Today I found out the origins of the names of England’s historic counties. Bedfordshire Bedfordshire is likely named after Beda, a Saxon chief who settled on River Great Ouse, which runs through the county. The settlement probably started as something like “Beda’s Ford” which was then shortened to Bedford. Berkshire When it was founded, Berkshire was Bearrocscir. Bearroc is thought […]
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Today I found out about the origins of the names of the Australian states and territories (and their capitals). Australian Capital Territory As you can probably imagine, this territory houses the capital of Australia, Canberra. Not very imaginatively named, the territory was a matter of debate for some time after Australia became a federation in 1901. At the time, Melbourne, […]
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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 in the Middle East for centuries. However, they aren’t exactly the creatures you think about when you think “U.S. Army.” In 1836, George Crosman, a U.S. […]
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The Lion King is one of those movies you just have to watch; it’s basically Hamlet with lions instead of pretentious English actors, which as an Englishman, I’m fairly certain scientifically makes The Lion King infinity percent better. Coming to America, however, is more of a cult film. It’s a good film don’t get us wrong, but its distinct lack […]
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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 the good people at ColorBlindAwareness.org: Most color blind people are able to see things as clearly as other people but they unable to fully ‘see’ red, […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why There is an Area of New York Called “The Bronx” and Why Ambulances are Called That This is thanks to a seventeenth century Scandinavian man by the name of Jonas Bronck, originally from Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands. In 1639, Bronck […]
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This is an article from TheMedicineJournal’s Dr. B. Green. Check out more from TheMedicineJournal.com here. Cramps come in four categories: True cramps, Rest cramps, Tetanic cramps, and Dystonic cramps. The most common of these is the True cramp. While there are different causes of muscle cramps, like the involuntary contractions associated with seizures, we’ll focus on muscle cramping related to […]
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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 these animals is not exactly flattering in this sense. Yet, for well over a century, they have been the popular symbols of America’s major political parties […]
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Today I found out the origins of all 50 U.S. state names. Alabama This southern state was named for the Native American tribe that lived there when the European settlers showed up. In their own language, they were called the Albaamaha. It’s likely that this name means something along the lines of “plant gatherers,” though this isn’t known for sure. […]
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Matt asks: In an organ or blood transplant/transfusion, does the donor’s DNA get kept and integrated into the new host? Depending on the type of donation, the DNA stays for a short time, a long while, or maybe even forever. Chimerism and Microchimerism Scientists have known for years that a single organism can have cells that are genetically distinct. Sometimes, […]
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Ever been suddenly awakened from sleep by something that sounds like booming thunder, a shotgun blast, or perhaps a bomb singing the song of its people? But when you awake, you realize there was no apparent external source for the sound? Well, congratulations, you just experienced a rather curious condition known as Exploding Head Syndrome, and you’ve likely not got […]
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Today I found out that the father of Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a billionaire. Seinfeld would have been a lot different with another actress playing Elaine, and that’s what would have happened if Julia Louis-Dreyfus had decided to live the life of an heiress rather than pursue acting. And that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Julia’s father is multi-billionaire […]
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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 a lot in the name of, well, science. The more (in)famous examples of wayward science include eugenics sterilization, electroshock therapy, ionizing radiation experiments, and the CIA […]
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