10 Food Myths Dispelled
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January 30: President Andrew Jackson Beats Richard Lawrence with a Cane After Lawrence Attempted to Assassinate Jackson
This Day In History: January 30, 1835 On this day in history, 1835, Richard Lawrence became the first known person to attempt to assassinate a U.S. President, attempting to fire two guns at Andrew Jackson at close range. His assassination attempt failed only because the guns he pointed at Jackson jammed when he pulled the trigger. Interestingly, when the guns […]
Read moreWhy Cats Like Catnip
Today I found out why cats like catnip. Catnip, which is a perennial herb in the mint family, contains a chemical called “nepetalactone” that is released when catnip is crushed. When cats get a whiff of nepetalactone, most will start rubbing themselves against it, playing around with it, sometimes eating it, and generally will act quite bizarrely. It is thought, […]
Read moreMark Wahlberg was a Drug Dealer and was Charged with Attempted Murder Before Forming Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
Today I found out Mark Wahlberg was a drug dealer and was tried for attempted murder before forming Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Wahlberg, born the youngest of nine children all living in a three bedroom apartment, dropped out of school around the age of fourteen and joined a gang. During this time, he was reportedly in trouble with […]
Read moreThe Word “News” Does Not Derive from the Four Cardinal Directions (North, East, West, South)
Myth: the word “news” derives from the four cardinal directions. While this potential origin of the word news seems plausible enough, it isn’t true. The truth is, the word news can be traced back to late Middle English around the 14th century as a plural for the adjective “new” or “new thing”. This is a somewhat rare instance of an […]
Read moreJanuary 24: James W. Marshall Discovers a Small Amount of Gold at Sutter’s Mill in California, Sparking the California Gold Rush
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 […]
Read moreWhat Causes Arms, Legs, and Feet to “Fall Asleep”
Today I found out what causes limbs to “fall asleep”. Technically known as “paresthesia”, this syndrome is caused by the compression of specific nerves. When you sit cross-legged, sleep with your arm above your head, or position any limb in such a way to put excess pressure on a nerve, that nerve will stop sending impulses normally. Should the pressure […]
Read moreJanuary 23rd: One of the Last Instances of a “Testimony of a Ghost” Being Given Credence to in a U.S. Court Trial Takes Place in the Murder of Elva Zona Heaster
This Day In History: January 23, 1897 On this day in history, 1897, Elva Zona Heaster was found dead in her home, apparently from natural causes. Her body was discovered by a boy who had been sent to the home by her husband of only a few months, Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue (also called “Edward”). Shue had sent the boy […]
Read moreHow Scars Form
Today I found out how scars form. One of the main components of skin is a protein called collagen. Skin collagen is primarily made from specialized cells called fibroblasts. After scab formation, fibroblasts that are hanging out under the surface of the skin will begin leaking into the clot just under the scab. Once the clot is sufficiently soaked with […]
Read moreThe Origin of Basketball
Today I found out the origin of the sport basketball. Surprisingly, unlike most sports whose origins are somewhat obscure, often being the combination of other sports and developed gradually through time, basketball has a very precise and fully known origin (the inventor himself wrote an account of it, published after his death; see the “Sources and Further Reading” below). Even […]
Read moreNavel Orange Trees are All Clones of Each Other
Today I found out navel orange trees are all perfect clones of one another and all originate from a single tree in Brazil. In 1820, a mutation occurred in a group of sweet orange trees growing on the grounds of a monastery in Bahia, Brazil. The mutation created a seedless orange that was much sweeter than the original citrus fruit. […]
Read moreJanuary 19th: The Last Leader of the Fifth Monarchy Men is Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered in London
This Day In History: January 19, 1661 On this day in history, 1661, Thomas Venner was hanged, drawn, and quartered. Venner was originally a wine-cooper (someone who makes casks) before taking over leadership of the radical group, The Fifth Monarchy Men, after General Thomas Harrison, the previous leader of the group, was hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason himself in […]
Read moreMarshmallows Were Originally Made from the Sap of the Marshmallow Plant
Today I found out marshmallows were once made from the sap of marshmallow plants. Whether they are a hot chocolate topping treat, in the form of a sugar-coated critter, or roasting over a campfire, marshmallows are a favorite treat for many people. Marshmallows date back to as early as 2000 BC and were considered a delicacy deemed worthy only for […]
Read moreJanuary 18th: The Internet Revolts Against SOPA and PIPA and the General Trend Towards the Censorship of the World Wide Web
This Day In History: January 18, 2012 This day in history thousands of websites, including Wikipedia, Reddit, Boing Boing, TheOatmeal (which gives the most amusing of all the protests, though slightly inappropriate for younger audiences), WordPress, Makezine, Mozilla, and the entire O’Reilly Media network went black (complete list of confirmed websites that are participating), their owners voluntarily taking the sites […]
Read moreJanuary 17th: A B-52G Bomber Collides with Another Plane Over Spain, Dropping Four Nuclear Bombs on Accident
This Day In History: January 17, 1966 On this day in history, 1966, at around 10:30 a.m. a B-52G Bomber collided with a KC-135 Stratotanker, accidentally scattering its payload of four nuclear bombs, 70-kilotons each. Three of the bombs fell near the fishing village of Palomares, Spain, and the fourth landed in the Mediterranean Sea, taking a full 80 days […]
Read moreClifford the Big Red Dog was Originally Going to be Named Tiny
Today I found out Clifford the Big Red Dog was originally going to be named “Tiny”. Most of us know the story of Clifford the Big Red Dog: being born the runt of a litter of puppies; no one expected him to grow very big, but when Emily Elizabeth chose him as her friend, she gave so much love to […]
Read more10 Common Misconceptions Dispelled (Part4)
Embed This Infographic: Source: Today I Found Out For Part I, Part II & Part III: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Read moreWhere The Term Goodbye Comes From
Today I found out the origin of the term “Goodbye”. “Goodbye” comes from the term “Godbwye” a contraction of the phrase “God be with ye”. Depending on the source, the contraction seems to have first popped up somewhere between 1565 and 1575. The first documented use of the “Godbwye” appeared in a letter English writer and scholar Gabriel Harvey wrote […]
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