U. Grening asks: What happens to your social security number when you die? Does it get used again? Since 1935, the Social Security Administration has been issuing numbers to permanent residents of the United States. Nine simple digits distinguish each American from his or her fellow residents. Today, assigned randomly and never recycled, a social security number is as unique […]
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According to the World Health Organization, about 347 million people worldwide have diabetes. Because diabetes treatments are so common today, it can be easy to forget that the disease can be fatal. In fact, it is approximately the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. Luckily, many people diagnosed with diabetes today enjoy healthy, otherwise normal, lives thanks to advances in […]
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G. Franklin asks: Is it true that only two people in the world know the recipe for coke? The idea that the secret formula for Coca-Cola is only known by two people who are never to be allowed near one another in case of some disaster resulting in the recipe being lost forever is one of those pop culture staples […]
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Karla U. asks: I heard your podcast on how teflon was invented. You said it’s the third most slippery substance known to man. This makes me wonder how they get teflon to stick to pans? Saving us from soaking, scraping and scrubbing, Teflon has been a lifesaver (or at least a hand-saver) for home cooks for the last 50 years. […]
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Abi W. asks: Why don’t birds fall off branches when they sleep? Everyone needs sleep, but for many birds, by necessity this has to happen while perched on a branch or other place that must be gripped. Anyone who has ever fallen asleep reading and found her book on the floor knows how difficult it can be to hold onto […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why We Call Certain Types of Threats “Blackmail”, and The Origin of the Lesser Known “Buttockmail” “Blackmail” has its roots in the early 16th century, first used by English farmers living on the England/Scotland border. It derives from the Middle English word […]
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Michael T. asks: Is it true that the thumbs up and thumbs down hand gesture came from crowds in ancient Rome voting on whether a gladiator should live or die? There are few hand gestures out there as well known or ubiquitous as the humble thumbs up. But why is this seemingly innocuous gesture so widespread; how did it come […]
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It was May 11, 1965. The Beatles were on location, wrapping up filming their second movie “Help!” The “Help!” director, Richard Lester, was to film a few atmosphere and scenery shots in London the next day, and after that, the 55th day of filming, “Help!” would officially wrap. The Beatles’ final scenes on this historic day were filmed at Clivedon […]
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Scott K. asks: Why don’t vultures get sick when eating dead things? How come humans can’t do the same? As an animal that is synonymous with death and disease, the vulture understandably has a poor reputation in many cultures across the globe, despite, ironically enough, being a huge boon to humans in terms of being able to reduce instances of […]
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Adolph Arthur “Harpo” Marx was a brilliant, delightful, completely original comedian. Any fan of the Marx brothers and the wonderful movies (as I am) knows this. In the Marx brothers movies, Harpo played a childlike character, a kind of ethereal spirit who lived in his own world. He wore a curly wig, a big raincoat, a plug hat, and he […]
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Emily A. asks: Why do witches fly on broomsticks? We’ve heard this one. To get high, of course! But seriously, it’s thought the idea of witches flying around on broomsticks came from the practice of concocting “witches flying ointment” (read hallucinogens) and then using a broomstick to administer the drug to certain sensitive regions, thereby bypassing some of the negative […]
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In the 1st century AD, while his flock was suffering from the sadistic persecutions of the Roman Emperor Nero, the second pope, Linus, put as his top priority, at least as far as we have records of, ladies’ hair. Little is known of Linus, and in fact some accounts dispute that he was even the second pope. Tertullian claimed in […]
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Karl M. asks: Why is it called blackmail when you threaten to reveal something about someone if they don’t give you money? “Blackmail” has its roots in the early 16th century, first used by English farmers living on the England/Scotland border. It derives from the Middle English word “male” which itself is thought to derive from the Old English word […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Who is McDonald in McDonald’s Restaurant McDonald’s is, without question, the most successful, popular, and influential fast-food restaurant chain in recorded history. The name most commonly associated with McDonald’s is Ray Kroc. Kroc was the entrepreneur who founded the McDonald’s corporation. So […]
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The Greenwood suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma disappeared overnight during the summer of 1921. Known as the “Black Wall Street,” due to being one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States at the time, Greenwood thrived as the home of Tulsa’s large African American community. But the arrest of a young African American man accused of attempting to rape […]
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If we were to play a word association game where I said a word and you had to yell out the first color that came to mind, it would probably go something like this: Banana- Yellow; Apple- Red; Boy- Blue; Girl- Pink. We can all understand why yellow and red are associated with bananas and apples, but boys are not […]
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James R. asks: Where did peanuts originally come from? The shell of a peanut (not actually a nut) is a pod, and, like other legumes, each pod may contain more than one seed. Although the cultivar common in the United States has two seeds, different peanut varieties will have anywhere from one to four. Nutritious and versatile, peanuts are a […]
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Mark I. asks: Are there any known animals other than humans that intentionally commit suicide? Animal suicide is a hugely controversial issue in the world of animal research and psychology, because although there are numerous documented instances of animals seemingly intentionally ending their own lives, no one is exactly sure whether these cases can technically be classified as suicide. First […]
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