David A. asks: What exactly are smelling salts? Do they really work to wake up unconscious people? Smelling salts have been used for everything, from reviving those who have fainted to athletes needing a chemically-induced “wake up.” But what are smelling salts? Are they actually an effective medical treatment? How do they work? Are they toxic and dangerous? Smelling salts […]
Read more
This Day In History: January 16, 1547 On January 16, 1547, 16-year-old Ivan Vasilyevich, Grand Prince of Moscow, assumed the Russian throne in the Cathedral of the Dormition, ushering in a new political era for the country – for better or worse. He demanded the title “Tsar of All the Russias” although he was in reality The Duke of Moscow. […]
Read more
In this episode, you’re going to learn about a terrifying disease that swept across the world, directly after the even more terrifying Spanish Flu Pandemic, resulting in over a million people dead and many of the survivors being left without the will to move or really express themselves in any way. You’re also going to learn what researchers think caused […]
Read more
Who was the wealthiest person in every century? That was a question we tried to answer in a previous TIFO article. While it was an incredibly difficult question to get definitive answers to, it did reveal that the wealthiest private entity in the 19th century was actually not a person – but a family. The Rothschild family, descendants of Mayer […]
Read more
This Day In History: January 15, 1947 The murder of Elizabeth Short, nicknamed “The Black Dahlia”, was one of the most brutal crimes in Los Angeles history. Her body was found on January 15, 1947, when a mother out walking her baby saw what she thought was a mannequin tossed in the weeds a few feet from the sidewalk. It […]
Read more
In this episode, you’re going to learn about the origin of the humble paperclip and how the commonly touted creator, even listed as such in many encyclopedias, actually had nothing to do with it. [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
Read more
This is a continuation of our new series on the Popes, starting from the beginning and working to today, attempting to separate fact from fiction and fleshing out interesting details about these individuals’ lives. Check out more in this series here. To say that the history of the early Roman Catholic Church isn’t well known would be an understatement; in […]
Read more
It was in May of 1925 when Victor Lustig first conceived the scheme that would make him a legend. With documents and letterheads proclaiming him the Deputy Director of the Ministere de Postes et Telegraphes (the Ministry of Postal Services and Telecommunications), Lustig had sent out notes to prominent Paris scrap metal businesses urgently asking them to meet him at […]
Read more
This Day In History: January 14, 1794 On January 14, 1794, Dr. Jesse Bennett’s wife, Elizabeth, was suffering through a very difficult labor with their first child. Dr. Humphrey, her attending physician, determined the only options left after a forceps delivery failed were a cesarean section on Elizabeth or a craniotomy on the infant (removing part of the skull temporarily). […]
Read more
In this episode, you’re going to learn about a mysterious event that occurred in 1908, producing a blast of over a thousand times that of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. [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
Read more
Soshi K. asks: What do cockroaches eat and where do they live when not in our houses? Sneaky and skittering, invasive and indomitable, the disgusting peridomestic cockroach is a formidable enemy for anyone unlucky enough to live among them. Interestingly, however, they are surprisingly delicate, and at least one species is utterly dependent on humans for its survival. Of the […]
Read more
Michael S. asks: Why is it called Area “51”? Where are the other 50 areas? Despite the CIA’s release of previously classified documents in 2013 that acknowledged the existence of Area 51 as a top-secret U.S. government research facility, many questions about the site remain unanswered. One of the most innocuous, but nonetheless puzzling, is its choice of name. Although […]
Read more
This Day In History: January 13, 1962 “Nothing in moderation – We all loved him.” – Ernie Kovacs epitaph On Jan 13, 1962, the immensely popular, cigar-puffing comedian Ernie Kovacs was killed in a car accident when he crashed into a telephone pole on his way home from a baby shower held for Mr. and Mrs. Milton Berle. Kovacs lost […]
Read more
In this episode, you’re going to learn about the man who invented the Pringles can, as well as a lot of other interesting things about the origin of Pringles. [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
Read more
Brandy R. asks: Is it possible to breastfeed after getting a boob-job? Given the well-documented benefits of breastfeeding to the long- and short- term health of children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusively breastfeeding infants for at least the first six months, and continuing to nurse, along with giving supplemental foods, throughout the first year of life. In […]
Read more
Harry K. asks: Who invented the Oreo cookie? In 1890, a group of eight large New York City bakeries combined to form the New York Biscuit Company and built a giant six-story factory in West Chelsea. Eight years later, they merged with their competitor, Chicago’s American Biscuit and Manufacturing to form an even larger conglomerate – the National Biscuit Company, […]
Read more
This Day In History: January 12, 1971 When the very first episode of All in the Family aired on January 12, 1971, CBS ran the following disclaimer immediately preceding it: The program you are about to see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source […]
Read more
This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why Children Get Summers Off of School The commonly touted explanation for students having summers off from school dates back to a time when the United States’ economy relied heavily on agriculture in order to survive. Students needed to leave school […]
Read more