Ken J. asks: How is the calorie content in food determined? First, let’s make sure everybody here understands what a calorie is. A calorie is just a measurement of energy- the amount of energy needed to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius at standard atmospheric pressure. This makes sense when talking about calories in food. Food provides energy […]
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Contrary to popular belief, “Rock Around the Clock” was not the first Rock ‘n’ Roll record to be recorded. In fact, it wasn’t even Bill Haley’s first Rock record. “Rock Around the Clock” was, however, the first-ever Rock ‘n’ Roll song to hit the #1 spot on the pop charts. It transformed rock from a novelty and a curiosity to […]
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Today I found out was started three years ago on January 1, 2010. In that span about 20 million people have visited the site with around 7.2 million of those people visiting at least once in 2012. There are now over 1400 posts between “regular” articles, “This Day In History” posts, Quick Facts, Infographics, and Answers. 2013 should be an […]
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As someone who’s been lucky enough to work in movies and is a gigantically huge movie fan on top of that, I was saddened this last July by the death of the great Ernest Borgnine. One of Hollywood’s last genuine legends, Ernest passed on at the ripe old age of 95, looking not a day older than 70, on July […]
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The condition is known as “prosopagnosia” / “facial agnosia”, or in less medical terms: “face blindness”. (“Prosopagnosia” actually literally means: “face ignorance”. “prosopon” = “face”, “agnosia” = “not knowing” or “ignorance”). Once thought to be incredibly rare, with only 100 or so documented cases up until the last decade or so, it’s now thought that around 1 in every 50 […]
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Today I found out the Johnny Cash song “A Boy Named Sue” was written by Shel Silverstein. The song was originally inspired by a friend of Silverstein’s, Jean Shepherd (noted writer, actor, radio personality, and humorist, who, among other things, co-wrote and narrated the holiday classic The Christmas Story film, partially based on his childhood). Jean had often been teased […]
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It was voted in 2000 by VH1 as the #3 song on its list of “Greatest Rock Songs” and landed the #31 spot on Rolling Stone magazine’s “Greatest Songs of All-Time” list. Written by Robert Plant (lyrics) and guitarist Jimmy Page (melody) Stairway to Heaven is not only Led Zeppelin’s signature song, it may well be the most beloved rock […]
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The (Carcharodon) Megalodon is thought to have looked something like a Great White Shark, only a bit more stocky and overall bigger… much bigger, with an average adult Megalodon estimated to have weighed around 70-100 tons (about 30 times that of a Great White Shark which full grown tend to be about 2.5-3 tons). The Megalodon is estimated to have […]
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Tristan asks: Why are some people right handed and some left handed? Tristan it appears that there is no single mechanism that will definitively determine which hand you will prefer. Technology and further studies will continue to help shed light on the subject. What is known is that it essentially comes down to genes and biological asymmetry in the human […]
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Merry Christmas from everyone here at Today I Found Out! While you’re sipping eggnog and trying your best to continue smiling and nodding while your cousin and cousin-in-law once again tell you how their little Stacey has a photographic memory and already sings and plays the piano as well as Norah Jones, despite being just 4 years old and publicly […]
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Maya asks: Why does Chemotherapy cause hair loss? Maya I love the question. It seems like once or twice a year I’m shaving my head to help raise money for cancer research and at every fundraiser, the question seems to come up- Why does the common treatment for cancer make body hair fall out? The answer is really pretty simple. […]
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On the whole, people don’t generally like to kill one another. Most wars throughout history are often more about the agendas of the state’s leaders than the soldiers on the field actually inherently feeling any real malice towards those they are asked to try to kill or otherwise defeat. Few events in history illustrate this as well as a remarkable […]
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The man was Eric Moussambani Malonga, later nicknamed “Eric the Eel”. Moussambani is from Equatorial Guinea in Africa and only managed to get into the Olympics at all because of a wildcard drawing system put in place by the International Olympic Committee, designed to try to encourage developing countries to participate in various Olympic events. Thanks to this drawing, Equatorial Guinea […]
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In a 2009 MTV poll, Dirty Harry was voted the “Greatest Movie Badass of all-time”… Not exactly an Academy Award, but nonetheless, Clint Eastwood’s maverick police detective “Dirty Harry” Callahan was to become one of the most beloved, immortal (and controversial) movie characters in cinema history. The film about a “bad-guy-killing, rules-breaking vigilante cop” was originally titled “Dead Right”. Released […]
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Frank asks: Does having sex before an athletic event really hurt performance in the event? Good question! There are two schools of thought on this particular issue, but the short answer is that it could psychologically (although no study has definitively proven it), and “no” physically (unless you need a reduction in testosterone to help with excessive anxiety and lack […]
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Today I found out the guy who did the voice for Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger also sang the iconic “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” song in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The man was Thurl Ravenscroft. Ravenscroft originally went unintentionally uncredited in the film. Because of this, a common misconception rose up that it was Boris Karloff, […]
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Jennifer asks: Why do people seem to get more colds in the winter? Well Jennifer, this does seem to be the societal perception, no doubt promoted by every overprotective mom telling their kids to put a coat on when going outside, because they might catch a cold. There are two aspects to this question. The first is temperature. Numerous studies […]
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Carmen asks: What do the numbers in a blood pressure test mean? Also, what types of things do these numbers tell doctors? Well Carmen, blood pressure is really just that- the pressure at which blood moves around the body in your arteries. The easiest and least invasive way to test what that pressure is at any given moment is to […]
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