Today in History: December 17, 1538 When Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry VIII on December 17, 1538, it hardly came as a surprise. It was simply the inevitable outcome of a political game of cat and mouse between the English throne and the Vatican that dragged on for almost a decade. By the 1520s, Henry was having doubts about his […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn the fascinating truth behind whether Columbus actually knew the world was round before setting sail. [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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Henry Gustav Molaison, who came to be known by his initials, H.M., was studied from 1957 until his death in 2008. From an early age, H.M. suffered from severe epilepsy that was blamed on a bicycle accident when he was seven years old. He had seizures for many years that got progressively worse as he aged. The seizures finally got so […]
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Lisa asks: Why are filibuster’s allowed? In its modern incarnation, the filibuster demands no personal and political sacrifice by an idealistic legislator who is willing to stand up for what he believes in (e.g., Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). Requiring neither speech, ideology or commitment, in today’s Senate if fewer than 60 senators are willing to first vote to stop […]
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Everyone has had a moment in their life where they’ve muttered to themselves, “Wow, where did the time go?” It may have been after a wild night of partying, or a great conversation with a friend, or while intensely concentrating on a project. Sometimes hours can feel like minutes, weeks feel like days, years feel like months. Time comes and […]
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Today in History: December 16, 1960 Park Slope Air Disaster in Brooklyn, NY (1960) was the first of its kind – two airliners trying to make their way through a soupy mess of snow, sleet and fog only to violently collide over New York City, falling to the ground below in a huge fiery explosion of flaming wreckage. The accident […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Soviet Superman: Red Son If you’ve ever sat around thinking, “What if Superman was a communist?” (Who hasn’t, right?) Well, wonder no more. The answer was masterfully provided in Superman: Red Son written by famed comic book writer and member of […]
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The first step in the creation of the Beanie Baby began in 1983 when 39 year old former aspiring actor H Ty Warner, who had recently either been fired from or simply chose to leave the Dakin toy company he’d worked for during much of his adult life, opened his own toy company that manufactured small stuffed animals. Modeling the […]
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Becky asks: Why is there a dance called “Sadie Hawkins”? Was this a real person? Sadie Hawkins’ renown, which evolved into an American folk-holiday in some places, doesn’t really originate from a dance, but rather from a race, as we shall soon see. Sadie was the product of the fertile imagination of cartoonist Al Capp. She was a character in […]
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This Day In History: December 13, 1545 The Council of Trent, which began on this day in history, 1545, was the Catholic Church taking stock after the drama and challenges presented by Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Despite internal bickering, external dangers and a couple of lengthy interruptions in the proceedings, the council was indispensable in revitalizing – and rehabilitating […]
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You’ll note in the header bar (TIFO Shop) that we’ve just launched a TodayIFoundOut store. For now, it includes our new book, The Wise Book of Whys, along with some nerdy t-shirts and hoodies. Later, we’ll be adding many other things, particularly focusing on original and entertaining education products, as well as all things nerdy. 🙂 For a limited time, […]
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Imagine you dedicated your adult life to helping those less fortunate than yourself -that you spent your entire adult life trying to make the world a better place, and when you died (after sacrificing your own life for someone else’s) all most people remembered about you was that you once ran really fast… You’d be pretty annoyed right? Well that’s […]
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On March 12, 1928 at approximately 11:57 pm, the St. Francis Dam broke. 12.4 billion gallons of water that was supposed to fill the sinks, bathtubs, and mouths of Los Angeles residents was now surging down the San Francisquito Canyon. At 11:58 pm, the power lines surrounding the dam snapped and powerhouse number two was destroyed, darkening the surrounding towns […]
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Jeremy asks: Why do we drop the ball on New Year’s eve in Times Square? When Adolph Ochs purchased the floundering New York Times in 1896, he made it his mission to make the newspaper the number one paper in all of New York. He started by forming the New York Times Company and made himself the majority owner, ensuring […]
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Today in History: December 12, 1408 The medieval chivalric Order of the Dragon was founded on this day by Sigismund, King of Hungary (who later became Holy Roman Emperor,) and his queen Barbara of Celje. It was similar to other military orders of the time, such as the Order of St. George, that was a distinction granted to those defending […]
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Preston asks: Why are rabbits paws lucky? Raccoon penis bones. Vulture heads. Lucky pennies. A vast and eclectic array of amulets, talismans, and charms meant to bring good fortune to their owners have been put to use as long as humans have walked the planet. To the ancient Egyptians, images of the scarab beetle helped ward off evil. The Romans […]
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Carmen asks: Does stormy weather really cause people’s joints to ache? You might have heard grandma or grandpa predicting a storm because they “could feel it in their bones” and when a storm hit you probably thought they’d been watching the weather channel. Turns out, their joints *probably* do get a little achy when it’s about to rain. “Weather pain” […]
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Centuries in the making, Modern French owes its existence to a strange combination of conquest, evolution, authoritarian control and revolution. Linguistic Ancestors Long before it was France, Gaul (as it was known to the Romans) was occupied by a variety of Celtic tribes. After Julius Caesar conquered it in the 1st century BC (veni, vidi, vici), native Celtic tongues were […]
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