In this episode, you’re going to learn a little-known and amazing fact about the man who played Scotty on Star Trek, James Doohan. 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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Though you’ve likely never given it much thought, a universally accepted unit of measurement like the humble metre is an amazing thing. It lets scientists separated by culture, language, race and even thousands of miles of geography work together on equations and problems like they were sitting next to each other. So how did this unit of measurement come to […]
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The modern bikini has a relatively short history only spanning a little over a half century or so, but bikini-like suits have been around and worn commonly for certain activities since at least the times of the Greco-Romans. In fact, the first known instance of any type of bikini goes back even further to around 5600 BC with a surviving […]
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John K. asks: I heard that the NFL is tax-exempt. Why is this when they make billions every year? The NFL made over thirteen billion dollars this past year in gross revenue. That is over three billion dollars more than Major League Baseball, the next most profitable professional sports league. The Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s current least valuable team, is […]
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Today in History: January 29, 1979 People joke at the beginning of the week about having a “case of the Mondays,” but on January 29, 1979 San Diego teenager Brenda Ann Spencer took her Monday morning angst way too far. Right as classes were about to begin at Grover Cleveland Elementary in a suburb just outside of San Diego, the […]
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I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading Today I Found Out, and update you on a few kind of cool things that have happened the last month on the site. First, we published a book, The Wise Book of Whys (available in Print | Kindle | Nook | Audiobook), which has been steadily gaining on the […]
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Today I found out about Violet Jessop, “Miss Unsinkable,” the woman who survived the sinking of the sister ships the Titanic and the Britannic, and was also aboard the third of the trio of Olympic class vessels, the Olympic, when it had a major accident. Violet Jessop enjoyed incredible “luck” from a young age. Born in 1887 in Argentina to […]
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Dating back centuries, the names of our everyday colors have origins in the earliest known languages. According to linguists: There was a time when there were no color-names as such . . . and that not very remote in many cases, when the present color-words were terms that could be used in describing quite different qualities [including] gay, lively, smart, […]
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Jason asks: Why is ketchup red and mustard yellow? Although in other food traditions, ketchup and mustard may be different colors, in classic American cuisine, ketchup is red and mustard is yellow. Here’s why: Ketchup This most “American” of condiments originated in Asia, where it dates back to the 6th century AD. In the beginning, ketchup (spelled ke-tchup) was a […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about a man who not only made a career out of farting, but was one of the most well-paid performers of his era. [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 We’re also happy to say […]
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Today in History: January 28, 1985 The USA for Africa project was inspired by Bob Geldolf’s Band Aid, a group comprised of British superstars such as Bono, Bananarama, Sting, and George Michael. They had a monster hit with “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” just months earlier, which raised $8 million for famine relief. The idea for an American version was […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn the surprisingly truth about just how good a goldfish memory is. 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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Derek asks: Why were the two groups in WWII called the Axis and the Allies? Marking the two main groups of belligerents in the Second World War (1939-1945), the Axis and the Allies slugged out their differences from the beaches of Normandy to the islands of the South Pacific. The history of their epic battles, atrocities, heroes and villains is […]
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Today I found out about Princess Olga of Kiev, the saint who buried people alive and didn’t exactly take to heart the whole “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” [Leviticus 19:18] thing- she hadn’t converted yet after all- when she burned down a city and had much […]
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According to a 2013 survey, over eighty three percent of Americans drink coffee in the morning and the average citizen drinks multiple cups per day. Between the dark brew, the flavored lattes, the frozen caffeinated treats, and the whirling gadgets, coffee is now a thirty billion dollar industry. Coffee is big business and companies like Starbucks, Peets, and Folgers have […]
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Today in History: January 25, 1888 Approaching the 20th century, Americans became more interested in what was going on around the rest of the globe. For “the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge,” a group consisting of teachers, explorers, geographers, military officers, lawyers, cartographers and financiers gathered in Washington D.C. and formed the National Geographic Society on January 25, 1888. […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. What Causes Red Eyes In Photographs Today I Found Out what makes your eyes red in flash photographs. Simply put, that crazy zombie look people tend to get, as if they are about to use you as a pre-lunch snack, has to […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about what is arguably the greatest practical joke of the 19th century. [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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