Ashley asks: Why do people have grass lawns? They are so expensive and a lot of work, not to mention bad for the environment. Whose brilliant idea was this? Maintaining the perfect lawn takes a lot of work. There’s mowing, fertilizing, aerating, and watering. Having a trimmed green field leading up to your front door is something of a status […]
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Today in History: March 5, 1963 The oft-told story behind the origin of the Hulu-Hoop is the tale of two childhood buddies named Richard Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Melin, the founders of Wham-O, who first heard of kids gyrating hoops around theirs waists for fun when a visiting Australian mentioned its popularity back home. Knerr and Melin began making their […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn the twisted tale of the man who has gone down in history as the most prolific executioner of all time. [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 This episode is brought you by lynda.com, which […]
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Beginning on August 24, 1572 and lasting for nearly two months afterward, tens of thousands of men, women and children were slaughtered across France as part of an ongoing war to decide whose Jesus was right. Religious Wars in France Although simmering for years, all hell broke loose in Europe after Martin Luther nailed a long list of complaints about […]
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This is an excerpt from our new book: The Wise Book of Whys, available in: Print | Kindle | Nook | Audiobook The earliest documented reference to New York being referred to as “The Big Apple” comes from a 1909 book by Edward Martin, called The Wayfarer. In it, he uses the moniker in a metaphorical sense, rather than a […]
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Martin A. asks: Where did the expression “nothing to sneeze at” come from? For that matter, why is sneezing called sneezing? Thanks! As with so many etymologies, it’s difficult to definitively say exactly where the word ‘sneeze’ comes from, but it is generally thought that it started with the Indo-European word ‘penu’ – to breath. Eventually, this evolved into the […]
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Today in History: March 4, 303 Back in the 4th century, the story goes that there was a 28 year-old high ranking Herculean guard working for the Roman emperor Galerius Maximian named Adrian of Nicomedia. While at work one day presiding over the torture of a bunch of Christians, Adrian asked them what they expected to receive in an afterlife […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn if Ostriches really do hide their heads in the sand when they detect danger. 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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Today I found out about H.H. Holmes, one of the United States’ first serial killers. Herman Webster Mudgett was born in 1861 in New Hampshire to a relatively wealthy family. He was reportedly extremely intelligent from a young age, and went on to study medicine at the University of Michigan. But he was also implicated in the death of one […]
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S. Katz asks: Who is Stanley and why is there a cup named after him? Thanks! The oldest championship trophy in professional sports in North America, the Stanley Cup’s rich history is only matched by that of it’s namesake. Lord Stanley of Preston Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley was born into one of England’s richest families in 1841 and could trace […]
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Today in History: March 3, 1875 The music from Carmen is recognizable even to people who are more familiar with Alan Jackson or AC/DC than arias, but when Georges Bizet composed Carmen, it was no sure bet it would ever make it to the stage. The reason for this rested solely with the opera’s plot, which is based on the […]
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Find more “interesting fact” videos on our YouTube Channel here If you liked this video, you might also enjoy: Why Superheroes Wear Their Underwear on the Outside The Origin and Meanings of 9 Pirate Words and Expressions How the Word “Spam” Came to Mean “Junk Message” 10 Interesting Star Trek Facts The Guy Who Played Luke Skywalker Has Played the […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why Buffalo Wings Are Called That Unsurprisingly, neither the origin of the name nor the food item itself have anything to do with actual buffalo, nor American Bison which many people call buffalo even though they are not. Rather, this tasty item […]
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Today I found out about Pope Pius II, who wrote a popular romance novel called The Tale of Two Lovers. Pope Pius II was born Enea Silvio Piccolomini near Siena, Italy in 1405, one of 18 children. His family was part of the Italian aristocracy, but they had fallen into poverty. Once the future Pope was old enough, he went […]
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Two thousand ago, the Thomas Edison of the ancient world lived in Alexandria, Egypt where he tinkered, built and wrote about some of the most amazing and whimsical machines the pre-industrial world had ever seen. Hero Also called Heron, the Greek engineer and mathematician Hero is believed to have lived in the 1st century and was active in Alexandria between […]
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We owe this unit of engine power measurement to Scottish engineer James Watt. In the early 1780s, after making a vastly superior steam engine to the then classic Newcomen steam engine, Watt was looking for a way to market his invention, advertising the fact that his engine used about 75% less fuel than a similarly powered Newcomen, among many other […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn some very surprising truths about Velociraptors and how the real life animals differed from the Jurassic Park film depictions. (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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Today in History: February 28, 1704 When you visit the Old Burying Ground in Deerfield, MA, tucked away in the back corner there is a grassy mound with a weathered gravestone atop it. The only inscription it bears is the date “1704.” It is in memory of the 50 inhabitants of the tiny village killed in the overnight hours on […]
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