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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Masen G. asks: Given the symptoms in the story, what was Tiny Tim sick with that a little money for 19th century medical care was able to fix? In Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, A Christmans Carol, the character of Tiny Tim dies in one timeline, but is saved by Ebenezer’s Scrooge’s charity in another. Although Dickens scholars have posited a […]
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This is a video from CGP Grey. If you’re a fan of TodayIFoundOut, I guarantee you’re going to love his YouTube channel, unless you just hate videos that is. (He also has a good podcast, Hello Internet, with fellow famous YouTuber Brady Haran.) If you liked this video, you might also enjoy: How the United Kingdom Flag Design Came to […]
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Neil asks: Who invented the slot machine? The story of the slot machine is one of intrigue, theft, controversy, and murder. Okay, not murder, but everything else. And it starts in Bavaria…. Augustinus Charles Fey was the youngest of sixteen children born in 1862 in the small village of Vohringen, Bavaria which sits at the edge of the Alps. Early […]
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This Day In History: September 23, 1912 On September 23, 1912, movie history was made in several different ways. When Mack Sennett’s first groundbreaking Keystone comedy, “The Water Nymph” was released, Mabel Normand became the first actress to appear on-screen wearing a bathing suit. Additionally, Sennett promoted the film using Normand’s name and likeness, which was a big deal because […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the creation of the famous Freedom Statue, and the slave who was integral to its making. [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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Mekala asks: Is the black box in airplanes really black? Also, who invented it? Thanks! Like many inventions, versions of an airplane “black box” were independently invented by several people, in this case beginning around the 1930s and 1940s. As for the version that began being installed on commercial aircraft, it was invented in response to a tragic loss of […]
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