Hammurabi was the oldest son of Sin-Muballit, and he became the sixth king of Babylon upon his father’s abdication around 1729 BC (based on the short chronology timeline). Even though he didn’t inherit much power from his father and at the time he controlled only a small part of Babylonia, the city of Sippar, he later became the first king of […]
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The Statue of Freedom sitting atop the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washing D.C. has more alternate names than the obscure half of the Wu Tang Clan. Over the years, the names attributed to it have ranged from things like “Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace” to the far simpler, “Armed Freedom“. However, the one, common thread is […]
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This Day In History: May 29, 1765 Patrick Henry was a lawyer, orator and statesmen whose career, mostly in the service of the state of Virginia, spanned from the earliest calls for independence through the founding of the United States of America. He’s probably best known for his “give me liberty, or give me death” speech delivered a decade later, […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why it is that people named Richard are often called “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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Sarah Palin never said “I can see Russia from my house.” Tina Fey did, in a hilarious skit on Saturday Night Live. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, on the other hand, said something a little bit different from which the Tina Fey line derived. When Palin was introduced as the running mate to Arizona Senator John McCain at the Republican […]
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Phosphorus is an essential element for life. Forms of it are found in DNA, RNA, and all living cell membranes. It is the sixth most abundant element in any living organism. Phosphorus can also be highly poisonous and combustible (white phosphorus is used in many destructive weapons, such as napalm). It was also the first element discovered since ancient times. […]
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This Day In History: May 29, 1923 On May 29, 1923, the U.S. Attorney General gave the women of America the legal green light to wear slacks anywhere they wished – even in public. It seems a bit odd ninety years later that grown women needed an OK from the government when making fashion choices, but they weren’t even given […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn where the term “deadline” came from, and just what was the first deadline. [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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On July 23, 1983, in the small town of Gimli, Manitoba, Captain Robert Pearson and Co-Pilot Maurice Quintal expertly glided a 100-ton Boeing 767 carrying 69 people to a safe landing without engines, air brakes or flaps, and minimal control of the aircraft. Bad Math The flight plan for Canada 143 that day began with a short jaunt from Montreal, […]
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This Day In History May 27, 1704 The magnificent city of St. Peterburg, one of the greatest cultural, commercial and technological hubs of Russia (and its second largest city), is a Johnny-come-lately by European standards. It was founded on May 27, 1704 by Peter the Great, and has the distinction of being one the world’s first cities to be designed […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn what, in general, makes a continent a continent and why Greenland is an island and Australia is a continent. [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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Shannon asks: Where did the phrase “coin a phrase” come from? Thanks! For those unfamiliar, “to coin a phrase” traditionally means “to create a new phrase.” These days, “coin a phrase” has also taken on a new meaning, first documented around the mid-twentieth century: “to introduce a cliché sentiment.” Funny enough, we have no idea who first coined the phrase […]
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On September 11, 1857, the Baker-Fancher emigrant wagon train was rolling through Mountain Meadows, Utah, about 35 miles southwest of Cedar City. The train was made up of several smaller parties that joined together on their journey northwest from Arkansas. Some of the emigrants were on their way to settle permanently in California; others were simply searching for greener pastures, […]
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Joe T. asks: What causes the smell after rain? There are three primary sources of smells that commonly occur after rain. The first, the “clean” smell, in particular after a heavy thunderstorm, is caused by ozone. Ozone (scientifically known as trioxygen due to the fact that it is comprised of three oxygen atoms) is notably pungent and has a very […]
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This Day In History: May 26, 1647 On May 26, 1647, Alse Young of Windsor, Connecticut had the dubious distinction of becoming the first person to be executed for the crime of witchcraft in the American colonies. In the newly formed New England colonies, witchcraft was considered a capital crime by the Puritans (no big surprise there), and before 1662 […]
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In this weekend why episode of the podcast, you’re going to learn why it is that you’ll commonly see dalmatians associated with fire stations. [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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In this weekend why episode of the podcast, you’re going to learn why exactly it is that you can’t buy cashews still in their shells. [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 is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. When Doctors Literally “Blew Smoke Up Your Arse” When someone is “blowing smoke up your arse” today, it is a figure of speech that means that one person is complimenting another, insincerely most of the time, in order to inflate the ego […]
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