This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. A Celestial Message in a Bottle Imagine for a moment that it’s 40,000 years in the future in a solar system far, far, away on a planet thriving with intelligent life. Extraterrestrial beings inhabit this place. Perhaps they look like the […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the first openly gay Major League Baseball player, who also happens to have the distinction of performing the first documented high-five, and who ultimately popularized this now ubiquitous celebratory slap while he was with the LA Dodgers. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can […]
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Katy J. asks: Why do we say “I was beside myself”? Dating back to the dawn of Modern English, the expression “beside myself” has been used to denote someone not in his right mind. After William conquered England in 1066, French became the language of scholars, clergy and nobility in Britain and remained so even throughout much of the grinding […]
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This is a video from MinuteEarth created by Henry Reich et al. If you like TodayIFoundOut, odds are you’ll also greatly enjoy their videos. So go check them out and subscribe to their channel here. You can also join us in supporting their efforts to make more videos like this by donating via their Patreon page here. If you liked […]
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Tom C. asks: The V in V-Day was for Victory right? So what does the D in D-Day stand for? The Battle of Normandy, also known as D-Day, started on June 6, 1944 and was the beginning of the major invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. But why was it called “D-Day”? You might at first be […]
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This Day In History: January 2, 1929 On January 2, 1929, the United States and Canada agreed to combine efforts to divert the Niagara River. The two nations were hoping to protect Niagara Falls, a group of massive waterfalls that are one of the biggest tourist attractions in North America. It is actually three separate falls that make up what […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn whether there is any truth to the notion that the Bermuda Triangle is a ship and plane graveyard. [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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This Day In History: January 1, 1752 In the summer of 1776, the story goes that General George Washington paid a visit to a newly widowed seamstress regarding the design for their new nation’s flag. A basic lay-out using six-pointed stars had already been devised by the Continental Congress, but the seamstress supposedly pointed out that using five-pointed stars would […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why January 1st is considered the first day of the New Year in many parts of the world, along with a lot of other interesting facts about how the modern calendar came to be. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes […]
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B. Halpern asks: 0 degrees Celsius is the freezing point of water. So what is 0 degrees Fahrenheit? Who came up with Celsius and Fahrenheit? Firmly entrenched in American society, the seemingly capricious nature of the Fahrenheit temperature scale could lead one to think that its Dutch inventor, Daniel Fahrenheit, pulled the number for the freezing point (32°F) of water out […]
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This Day In History: December 31, 1984 “Perseverance. I guess that would be the biggest thing I learned about myself. But I suppose that had a lot to do with the strength of those around me. They really didn’t give me a choice; I had to stick around and deal with it.” – Rick Allen In one of the more […]
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When you were a kid, sneaking into a rated R movie was a big deal. Everyone had their own tricks, but this author’s was to buy a ticket to a rated G Disney movie, say, Mulan; when the usher turned their back, I would run into a rated R movie like, for example American History X. But it wasn’t always […]
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Mark asks: Why is a porterhouse steak called that? Essentially two steaks in one, a Porterhouse steak, cut from the short loin of (typically) a steer, has a filet on one side of its T-shaped bone, and a New York Strip on the other. Presenting a massive plate of meat and often big enough for two to share, the Porterhouse […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn how the tradition of singing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s Eve got started and who originally composed the song in the first place. [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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This Day In History: December 30, 1928 “I tell musicians, ‘Don’t trust nobody but your mama, And even then, look at her real good.’” – Bo Diddley Rock and Roll trail blazer Bo Diddley’s signature 4/4 rhythm pattern, unique guitar playing, and larger-than-life personality makes him one of the most memorable founding fathers of modern popular music. He will forever […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn how the tradition of “dropping the ball” on New Year’s Eve in Times Square got started. [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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As with a lot of historical events, Hollywood has glamorized and largely fictionalized the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. So what really happened? It is believed that both families came to America before it was even America. The Hatfields were among the first pioneers to make their way to this new land from the shores of Yorkshire in […]
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Jen asks: What are “Blue Laws” and how did they come to be? Rooted in the basic Christian tenet that Sunday is to be reserved as “the Lord’s day,” blue laws were originally enacted across the United States to encourage church attendance and restrict activity only to that worthy (at least according to some) of observation on the Sabbath. Transformed […]
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