This Day In History: September 30, 1868 “The great literary hit of the season is undoubtedly Miss Alcott’s Little Women, the orders for which continue to flow in upon us to such an extent as to make it impossible to answer them with promptness.” – Roberts Brothers Publishing Little Women did not just flow forth from the imagination of author […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the very real albino whale that destroyed or severely damaged numerous whaling vessels throughout its life, helping to inspire the classic work, Moby Dick. [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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Amy W. asks: How do they make baby carrots? Unlike cut baby carrots, farmers grow “true” baby carrots to be naturally small, or other times they are simply carrots harvested before they get a chance to completely mature. “True” baby carrots bear the same cone shape as a normal sized carrot while only being a fraction of the size. A […]
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Mark R. asks: Why does wet hay that is bailed catch on fire? Plant reactions and bacterial growth combine to raise temperatures in even the driest hay bales, although most never catch fire on their own. However, when hay is packed tightly, and enough moisture gets in, the conditions may be right for spontaneous hay combustion. How does this work? […]
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This Day In History: September 29, 1982 On the morning of September 29, 1982, a 12-year-old girl in suburban Chicago named Mary Kellerman complained to her parents that she wasn’t feeling well. They gave her two Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules, and she continued preparing for her day. A short time later, her parents found her collapsed in the bathroom. They rushed […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Who was Cunningham of Cunningham’s Law? Cunningham’s Law is an internet adage that states “The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, but to post the wrong answer.” It’s an interesting hypothesis for […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about a very minor tweak that took the failing sport of basketball and changed it into one of the more popular sports in the world. [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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Noah asks: Why is it that aluminium foil on the outer part is very shiny, but the other side isn’t? The most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, aluminum naturally occurs as a compound with other elements, such as aluminum oxide or potassium aluminum sulfate. As such, it was not isolated as a separate element until 1825 when a Danish […]
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Jim R. asks: Why is it “righty tighty, lefty loosey” with screws? One of the six simple machines, a screw is nothing more than an inclined plane wrapped around a center pole. While today screws come in standard sizes, and typically are tightened by turning clockwise (and loosened by turning counterclockwise), this is a recent invention. A great example of […]
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This Day In History: September 26, 1969 The show was mercilessly panned by critics and mocked by most TV viewers. It never once reached the top ten in the Neilson ratings. Yet it ran for five seasons and has been in continuous syndication ever since its final show in 1974. As goofy and clean-cut as The Brady Brunch appears to […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn what exactly causes the distinctive smell that occurs when it rains. [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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Jane R. asks: In photos of starving children and babies, their stomachs often seem to be swelled up. What causes this? Of all the tragic, indelible images that come from places of famine, none is more troubling than the iconic photograph of a painfully thin child with an enormous, distended belly. The result of several factors relating to malnutrition, that […]
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John B. asks: Why are things like the distance and height of a pitchers mound always uniform, but outfield dimensions are allowed to be whatever the stadium designers want? From Boston’s Green Monster, to San Francisco’s McCovey Cove and Houston’s absurd Tal’s Hill, Major League Ballparks can vary greatly in design and depth. Yet despite all of their differences, the […]
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This Day In History: September 25, 1981 Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in by Chief Justice Warren Burger as the first female Supreme Court Justice in the United States on September 25, 1981. Born in El Paso Texas in 1930, Sandra Day’s interest in the law was sparked by a legal issue involving her family’s cattle ranch in Arizona, where […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why the palms of your hands get sweaty when you’re standing at the edge of a cliff, or even just looking at a picture of such a thing, and how this type of sweating differs from normal sweating. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can […]
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Jeremy D. asks: Who invented the internet? While the World Wide Web was initially invented by one person (see: What was the First Website?), the genesis of the internet itself was a group effort by numerous individuals, sometimes working in concert, and other times independently. Its birth takes us back to the extremely competitive technological contest between the US and […]
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This Day In History: September 24, 1896 F. Scott Fitzgerald, who exemplified the highs and lows of the Jazz Age through both his writing and his personal life, was born in St. Paul Minnesota on September 24, 1896. The son of an alcoholic father and an Irish immigrant mother, Fitzgerald was always painfully aware of the divide between his family […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about one of the first ever major economic bubbles, Tulipmania. [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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