The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader It involved only a half-dozen cars and 17 men, but this was one race that not only made history- it changed it. Get a Horse In 1908 the promise of the automobile was just that- a promise. The industry was in its infancy, and most people still relied on horses […]
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This Day In History: April 24, 1800 On April 24, 1800, President John Adams established the Library of Congress by approving legislation to appropriate $5,000 (about $68,000 today) “for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress … and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them.” The legislation was enacted along with […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the surprisingly short history of The Pony Express and how surprisingly inconsequential it was given the way it’s often presented today. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily Knowledge Podcast
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Piot R. asks: Where do mosquitoes disappear to during the daytime? Mosquitoes are the bane of anyone who steps outside during the hours around dusk and dawn. If not caught in time, the creatures take a drink of blood, and then leave behind an itchy bump, and maybe a disease or two. But very rarely do the insects come out […]
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The term crowdfunding, a process by which a person raises money by asking others for small donations, has become popular online during the past few years. Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer individuals a platform from which to make their cases to an international community. Mike Hayes of Illinois used crowdfunding to pay for all four years of his college […]
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This Day In History: April 23, 1348 The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the oldest and most exclusive British civil and military honor. At any given time, the Order consists only of the Monarch, the Prince of Wales, and 25 hand-picked knights who have served the country in an exemplary manner, held public office, or have served the […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about why mattress and pillow tags state that it is illegal to remove them [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily Knowledge Podcast
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The word “claque” is derived from the 16th century French term “claquer”, which roughly meant “to clap”, and is largely used to refer to a group of individuals hired to give a pre-determined response to a performance, be it positive, negative or anything in between. Individual members of a claque are generally referred to as “claquers” or “claqueurs” and for a […]
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This Day In History: April 22, 1923 Bettie Page, legendary pin-up girl and pop culture icon, was born in Nashville, Tennessee on April 22, 1923. Gracing millions of garage walls and locker rooms, blued-eyed, raven-haired beauty Bettie Page was the most famous pin-up model of the 1950s. Although she disappeared from the public eye in 1957, she continues to influence […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the surprisingly old origin of the internet and just who created it and why. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily Knowledge Podcast
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Jared H. asks: Why do we call medicine balls that when they’re just round weights? Medicine balls, for those of you who haven’t been to a gym or never accidentally kicked one thinking it was like a soccer ball (true story), are heavy weighted balls coming in a variety of sizes and weights (with the biggest we could find ringing […]
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Saburō Sakai is perhaps one of the most famous Japanese air aces to emerge from WWII, credited with at least 28 aerial victories and shooting down or severely damaging well over 60 Allied aircraft, despite later in the war flying a plane that was vastly inferior to his opponents’ planes. Saburō Sakai was born one of seven children in a poor farming […]
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This Day In History: April 21, 1930 On April 21, 1930, a fire at the Ohio State Penitentiary killed 320 inmates, many who died trapped in their cells, unable to escape the flames. Those that didn’t burn to death perished from smoke inhalation and breathing poisonous fumes. It was the most lethal prison fire in American history. The prison itself […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the remarkable failure that was Pixar and how after losing over $50 million and almost being closed down numerous times, it finally struck it big making something quite different than what it had started out producing. [TRANSCRIPT] And as mentioned in the episode: The Pixar Universe Theory Don’t miss future episodes of […]
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In this video, produced by the very talented Brady Haran over at Numberphile, which you can subscribe to here, Dr. Ria Symonds and Dr. Tony Padilla discuss and put into perspective just how amazingly massive a Googol is. If you like this video, please join us in supporting Numberphile on Patreon here. Bonus Facts: In the early 20th century, the […]
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Quick Fact #917: Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett, better known as Mr. and Mrs. Bueller on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, first met on the set of that film and subsequently got married in 1986. Like in the movie, they had two children, a boy and a girl; unfortunately, they did not name them Ferris and Jeanie, but rather Shane and […]
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This Day In History: April 20, 1999 On April 20, 1999, two teenagers clad in trenchcoats began a shooting rampage outside Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. The pair continued the carnage inside the building, killing 12 students,1 teacher and wounding at least 20 others. The two young gunmen then committed suicide. In the aftermath of the shootings, everyone searched […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. How the Practice of Pricing Fuel with 9/10th of a Penny Got Started The practice of pricing fuel with a fraction of a penny is thought to have started around the 1930s. While we can’t be sure who was the first […]
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