Gracen asks: How did the tradition of predicting weather by checking to see if a rodent did or didn’t see their shadow get its start? Like so many holiday traditions, the origins and progression of Groundhog Day to what we think of it today as are a bit murky. However, we’ll try to shed some light on the subject, starting […]
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(Editor’s note: this is a continuation of the “Top 5 First Aid Tricks Everyone Should Know” series written by our resident paramedic/firefighter, Scott. For the other parts of this series: Part 1: Direct Pressure; Part 3: Recovery Position; Part 4: CPR; and Part 5: Defibrillation) #4 Temperature control: This one seems like a no-brainier, but outside of temperature being the […]
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In my profession as a paramedic / firefighter one question repeatedly gets asked of me- “What are some simple first aid tricks to know in case of an emergency?” As such, I thought it would be a good idea to do a little article series on the subject. This will be a 5 part series published throughout this week on […]
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This is a guest post by List25.com for more interesting lists, subscribe to their newsletter here. 1) Origin of “Bite the Bullet”: This phrase was first attested in the late 18th century in the military. At the time, it was a common practice during emergency, battlefield surgeries to have the person being operated on bite down on a lead bullet […]
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Embed This Infographic [Source: Today I Found Out] For Part 1 of this series go here: 10 Amazing Facts About Animals For Part 2 of this series go here: 10 Amazing Animal Facts (Part-2) For Part 3 of this series go here: 10 Amazing Animal Facts (Part-3)
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Embed This Infographic [Source: Today I Found Out] For Part 1 of this series go here: 10 Bizarre Facts For Part 2 of this series go here: 10 Bizarre Facts (Part-2) For Part 3 of this series go here: 10 Bizarre Facts (Part-3)
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The man was Lt. Col William Rankin. How did he almost drown in the sky? In 1959, while ejecting from his F-8 Crusader at 47,000 ft (14,325 meters) and at a speed of Mach .82 (624 mph or 1004 km/h), he got caught up in a cumulonimbus tower (basically a dense, vertical cloud, generally found in areas of extreme atmospheric […]
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1. Where the term Volcano came from: The word “volcano” was derived from the Italian word “vulcano” from the Latin “vulcanus” meaning “burning mountain”. In ancient Roman mythology, the God of fire/ flames (referred to as the blacksmith of the gods) went by the name “Vulcan”, the etymology for which is still debated, but is believed to be related to […]
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Byron H. asks: What causes dandruff? Ah, dandruff! That white flaky stuff we see on the shoulders of homeless people everywhere. We’ve all seen that guy in front of us at the supermarket who looks like he just came out of a snow storm. Ever wonder what causes this embarrassing blemish on our hygiene? Dandruff is simply dead skin cells […]
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Have you ever looked at the shiny dome of your grandfather and wondered, “Should I start stocking up on head wax soon?” Statistically at age 30 you will have a 30% chance of going bald. This increases by 10% every 10 years. So someone 50 years old will have a 50% chance of being bald. Due to the genetic factors […]
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All three animals come under the class of reptiles, in the taxonomic order of Testudines or Chelonia (which comes from the Greek word ‘kelone’, meaning interlocking shields or armor). They all have the major characteristics of reptiles as they are cold-blooded (eco-therms), have scales, breathe air, and lay eggs on land. The distinction between them comes mainly from what living habitat […]
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This is a guest post by List25.com for more interesting lists, subscribe to their newsletter here. 1) In 2002, the BBC aired a report about German scientists who discovered that blond hair would be extinct in the next couple centuries due to being a recessive trait. Barely a year later, the New York Times published a report about how the […]
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Aaron asks: Why don’t fingernails grow at the same rate? The short answer is that there is no 100% definitive known reason as to why nails grow at different rates. However, there is a really good theory (which also covers why fingernails and toenails grow at drastically different rates) that is backed up by an awful lot of ancillary evidence. […]
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This Day In History: January 24, 1848 On this day in history, 1848, James W. Marshall was checking on the progress made the night before in expanding a drainage channel at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California (which at the time was part of the Mexican territory, but just 9 days later would be ceded to the U.S.). Marshall was using […]
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Mushyrulez asks: What’s the difference between Kosher salt and table salt? In truth, not much. The primary ingredient to both, not surprisingly, is sodium chloride. In fact, the U.S. government requires that any food-grade salt be a minimum of 97.5% pure, so any type of salt you consume in the U.S. (and most developed countries) is going to be almost […]
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It was 1949, then as now, countless thousands of young actresses in Hollywood were unemployed. Many give up the struggle. Others take a wrong turn and make decisions they will later regret. A certain unknown, very small, percentage persevere. That songbird they are all chasing, called “success”, inevitably proves elusive. But this article isn’t about the countless scores of would […]
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Tristan asks: Does Mountain Dew kill sperm? Tristan- If you’re thinking that a 3 pack of condoms costs around $5 and Mountain Dew is only $1.99 for the 2-liter, so why not save yourself $3 on your contraception, think again! Pay the extra money! Mountain Dew does not kill your sperm, lower sperm count, make your penis smaller, or shrivel […]
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This is a guest post by Adam Kutner. (more on Adam at the bottom) Today I found out about a shocking weather incident that happened in London not very long ago. In December of 1952, the city of London experienced a 5-day bout of “fog” that killed at least 4,000 people and made an estimated 100,000 sick. Fog? Isn’t that […]
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