Today in History: May 7, 1789 On the evening of May 7, 1789, the very first American Presidential Inaugural Ball was held in New York City. It was an elaborate shindig held to celebrate the official inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the brand-spanking-new United Stated of America. George Washington had been sworn in as the nation’s […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn the slightly stomach turning origin of the world’s most expensive cup of coffee. You’re also going to learn a surprising truth about professional wine tasters, as well as why coffee “beans” aren’t actually beans. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes […]
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Masa C asks: Why do fingernails on a chalkboard make us cringe? Listen to this. Irritated? Angry? Just glad it’s over? Here’s why. Your Ear After examining the results of a 2011 study, researchers have theorized that the human ear is specifically built so that: Sounds in [a certain] range are amplified due to the anatomy of the ear canal; […]
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Andrew M. asks: Why do we say “You just earned some brownie points.” What were brownie points originally for? There are many, many origin theories for this one. One of the most often repeated and widely accepted theories is that “brownie points”—imaginary points earned by someone for doing a good deed, and lost by doing something unfavourable—stem from the Brownies, […]
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Today in History: May 6, 1910 On May 6, 1910, Britain’s King Edward VII passed away after a brief nine year reign, and his son, George Frederick Ernest Albert, ascended the throne as King George V. The King is dead, long live the King. Born on June 3, 1865, George V was the second son of Edward, Prince of Wales […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about one of the more bizarre and little known chapters in the Beatles’ storied history- when they were continually pelted with Jelly Beans and were powerless to stop 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 […]
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Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article from their site. Have you ever seen the toenails of your grandfather and thought he might be a troll? Those yellow, misshapen and brittle nails tend […]
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An idiom that is often used when something is new and fantastic is that, “It’s the best thing since sliced bread!” But how did this saying come to be? And what makes sliced bread so darn great? Our story begins about thirty thousand years ago, takes us through the town of Chillicothe, Missouri, and, then, to a futuristic ‘wonder’ful bread […]
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As if his stories weren’t occasionally disturbing enough, it turns out Edgar Allan Poe’s love life was more than a little creepy as well. Creepy Courtship Poe met his bride-to-be, Virginia Clemm, when she was 7 years old, and he was 20, shortly after his mother’s death in 1829. Their parents, his natural father (David Poe) and her mother (Maria […]
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Today in History: May 5, 1877 On May 5, 1877, the great Chief Sitting Bull gathered his people and headed north to Canada, well out of the reach of the U. S. Army. Thousands of cavalrymen had been relentlessly pursuing Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa Lakota, or Dakota Sioux, since “General” George A. Custer (he was actually a Lt. Colonel […]
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In this Weekend Why episode of the podcast, you’re going to learn why it is that blueprints were once commonly printed on blue paper. 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 it is that coupons sometimes have a very small cash value listed. 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. The Eleven Thousand Year Old Contagious Cancer Still Multiplying Today Eleven thousand years ago, one saucy canine got busy and, as can happen with unprotected sex, gave its partner a venereal disease, although uniquely, this VD was cancerous. Over the course of […]
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Damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory) was a punishment reserved for certain people the Romans decided to dishonour for one reason or another. Rather impressively, it involved trying to get rid of all records that the person ever existed. Understandably, historians aren’t aware of any people to whom this dishonor was successfully applied, since if they did, it wouldn’t have been […]
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Stefan asks: What was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a Doctor of? On June 5, 1955, Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University. From that date until his death on April 4, 1968, the Reverend Doctor used the knowledge gained in his studies to help realize the dream that all people […]
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Today I found out the origin of the phrase “mind your own beeswax.” “Mind your own beeswax” and “it’s none of your beeswax” are common phrases you might hear being shouted by six-year-olds on the school playground. For the uninitiated, they basically mean “mind your own business” or “it’s none of your business,” but some people think it’s more complicated […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about how one of the most common and most frequently used office products in the world almost never saw the light of day owing to a series of rejections while it was being developed and then being nearly wholly rejected by consumers when it was first released to the public. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss […]
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Today in History: May 2, 1960 On May 2, 1960, Dick Clark wrapped up his second day of testimony before the House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight. The subcommittee was investigating the impact of payola – the practice of providing disc jockeys with cash or other incentives to play certain records. Clark was as engaging and earnest on the stand as […]
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