On this day in history, November 6th… 1572 : Wolfgang Schüler observed a Supernova (i.e, a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, caused by a star exploding) in the constellation ‘Cassiopeia’. Although it’s hard to say if the astronomer Schüler was actually the first to observe this phenomenon, dubbed one of the most important events in astronomy, he published Stella Nova (Latin: […]
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This is a continuation of the four part “Interesting U.S. President Facts” series. If you’re interested in the other parts, you can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4. 25) William McKinley Facts: McKinley worked jobs as a postal clerk and as a teacher before the Civil War. He joined the army as a Private and rose to the […]
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Text Version: Before toothpaste as we know it today, people tried several different things to clean their teeth. To name a few, egg shells, ash, ground oyster shells, and salt. It wasn’t until 1824, when American dentist named Peabody started adding soap to his paste that things started to change. John Harris in the 1850’s then added chalk, and in […]
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Text Version: If you ever get tangled up with a male octopus, be careful which arm you touch. If you reach out to touch the third right arm, it’s more than just his arm, it’s also his reproductive organ, or “manhood”. The octopus uses this specialized arm called a ‘hectocotylus’ to insert ‘spermatophores’ which are packets of sperm, into the […]
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Presidents only get to keep this after they have given it. It is something they often give. But even though they are allowed to keep it after giving it, they rarely choose to. I have been observed by every human who ever lived. Yet no one has ever seen me in person and I’m replaced daily. I have a tongue, […]
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This is a continuation of the four part “Interesting U.S. President Facts” series. If you’re interested in the other parts, you can find them here: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4. 13) Millard Fillmore Facts: Fillmore was the first President to have running water in the White House. While touring Europe later in life, the University of Oxford offered him […]
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On this day in history, November 5th… 1492 : Columbus was among the first Europeans to encounter corn(maize) from the Indians of Cuba. When Columbus landed in Cuba (claiming it for Spain) he had sent two Spanish scouts to explore the interior of the island. According the explorer’s journal that day, the Spanish scouts came back with stories about an amazing […]
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I saw a peanut stand, Heard a rubber band. I saw a cuckoo wind up its clock. But I think I will have seen everything, when I hear an elephant talk… Without being trained to do so, Koshik the elephant has learned to speak five Korean words: “anja” (sit down); “aniya” (no), “nuo” (lie down); “choa” (good); and the one […]
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Jesse asks: Why are the notes taken at a meeting called the “minutes”? Was this because the note taker records the notes along with the time? Not quite. In fact, the “minutes” here have nothing to do with time, but rather “small”, as in “minute” (my-newt). “Minutes” in this sense first popped up in the early 18th century, possibly directly […]
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Text Version: In the 1500’s most Roman Catholic countries & Scotland adopted the Gregorian Calendar (established by Pope Gregory XIII to compensate for the errors in time that had built up over centuries) over the Julian Calendar (introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC) . A lot of protestant countries however, ignored this new calendar for another 200 or so […]
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Text Version: The term “Skid Road” or “Skid Row”, a slang term for a run-down or dilapidated urban area, was an actual road in Seattle, Washington during the late 1800’s. The real name of the road was Yesler Way (now better known as Pioneer Square), and it was the main street along which logs were transported. It soon became a […]
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Cups, containers, caskets, and cans What do you fill with empty hands? Though everyone has had me, none has ever noticed when they lost me. I have feathers, but I don’t fly. I have legs, but I don’t walk. I am constantly being used and never get any rest. Yet no one ever says thank you. With bloodless strokes I […]
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There have to date been 43 people who’ve held the highest political position in the United States since the founding of this republic under the current constitution. (And quite a few more Presidents under the old system, but we’ll ignore them in this piece.) Here now is a variety of interesting “President Facts” you may not know about every […]
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On this day in history, November 4th… 1842 : Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd, at the Edward’s home (her sister’s place) in Springfield, Illinois. Nicknamed Molly, Mary Todd first met Lincoln in 1840 when she was 21 and he was 31. Her family wasn’t too happy about the relationship because of Lincoln’s poverty & lack of political prospects. Nevertheless, she […]
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