The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader How real are the TV shows that focus on police and lawyers? A few go all out for accuracy, while others get laughed at by the professions they portray. But they’ve all had an impact on society…both positive and negative. FAMILIAR FORMULA If there were no cops, prosecutors, or defense […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader One amazing woman in Poland—and four teens in Kansas who tracked her down and told her story. SENDLER’S LIST In 1999 a teacher at Uniontown High School in Kansas encouraged four students to do a project for a national History Day contest. Norm Conard told his 9th-grade students—Elizabeth Cambers, Megan […]

Becky R. asks: Why do they use 21 guns in the 21 gun salute? The 21-gun salute that we know today has its roots in the ancient tradition of warriors demonstrating their peaceful intentions by resting the point of their weapons on the ground. The notion of making a soldier’s weapons useless to show that he came in peace continued […]

This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The “Witch of Wall Street” Long before the likes of Warren Buffet, Hetty Green dominated Wall Street through extremely shrewd investing, frugality, and exploiting the lax investment rules of her age, managing to amass one of the greatest fortunes in history. Hetty, […]