This Day In History: September 14, 1982 “I would like to be remembered as a decent human being, and a caring one”- Princess Grace Before Princess Diana came along, the world’s favorite princess was Princess Grace of Monaco, the beautiful movie actress who married the handsome Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She left Hollywood for his picturesque principality on the […]
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Robert Frost is one of the most critically acclaimed American poets of the 20th century, which is a roundabout way of saying you almost certainly studied one of his poems in school. Most likely, it was a short piece called The Road Not Taken- a poem famous for being one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted poems ever written, and […]
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This Day In History: September 11, 1599 “There is a fixed and pale composure upon the features; she seems sad and stricken down in spirit, yet the despair thus expressed is lightened by the patience of gentleness … The lips have that permanent meaning of imagination and sensibility which her suffering has not repressed … Her eyes, which we are […]
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Meri K. asks: Who invented pole vaulting? Although it’s difficult to find written accounts, it appears that people have been propelling themselves through the air with poles since ancient times. In fact, depictions of people leaping with poles can be found as far back as 400 BC. A practical and inexpensive way to traverse swampy marshy areas, propelling over wet […]
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In this video from MinuteEarth, they look at the best way to survive a lightning strike that happens near you. If you like TodayIFoundOut, odds are you’ll also greatly enjoy their videos. So go check them out and subscribe to their channel here. You can also join us in supporting their efforts to make more videos like this by donating […]
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At the close of the 19th century, a young immigrant arrived in New York’s Chinatown. Within a year, Sai Wing Mock, better known as Mock Duck, had taken control of one of the neighborhood’s principal criminal syndicates, the Hip Sing Tong. Immediately challenging the power of rival On Leong Tong, in 1900, Mock Duck started a war between the gangs […]
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This Day In History: September 10, 1940 “I am glad we have been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face” – Queen Elizabeth In September of 1940, Londoners were in the midst of a Nazi bombardment that became forever known as the Blitz. On September 10, an air raid completely destroyed the Royal […]
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In this video from our new YouTube channel (click here to subscribe), we take a look at the remarkable individual who invented the world’s first known robot and what that robot did. For many more videos like this, be sure and subscribe to our channel. If you liked this video, you might also enjoy: The Greatest Practical Joke of the […]
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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is an institution known and respected the world over for its relative impartiality and objectivity compared to many other news sources, with numerous surveys showing that the BBC is one of the most trusted sources of news in both the UK and the US. But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about […]
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This Day In History: September 9, 1776 “Monday September 9, 1776. Resolved, that in all Continental Commissions, and other Instruments where heretofore the Words, ‘United Colonies,’ have been used, the Stile be altered for the future to the United States.” If you want to get all technical about it, today is the birthday of the “United States.” The country may […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Sherlock Holmes, Jean Valjean, and the FBI can all trace their roots back to one Frenchman who turned a life of crime into a life of fighting crime. SPLIT PERSONALITY In 1809 a 34-year-old petty criminal named Eugène François Vidocq (pronounced vee-DOCK) was doing yet another stint in a French […]
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In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we discuss who was the real first person to circumnavigate the globe, the superhero who powered up by smoking, what a “blue moon” really is, the sad story of the exploding anti-tank dogs of WWII, why aluminum foil is shiny on one side and not the other, and what people used for toothpaste […]
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This Day In History: September 8, 1560 When Amy Robsart and Robert Dudley married in 1550, it was a love match, or “a carnal marriage, begun for pleasure” as Baron William Cecil described it. But there had always been another woman in his life, Queen Elizabeth I, who he’d known since childhood. They were both imprisoned in the Tower at […]
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In 1744 at the age of 18, François-André Danican Philidor (1726-1795) enthralled Parisian society after playing two simultaneous games of chess in a public demonstration, all while blindfolded. And even though he lost one game and only drew the other, the display established Philidor as a chess master par excellence, and blew new life into the ancient practice of blindfold […]
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In November of 1557, the Mapuche warrior, Galvarino, led a division of his fellow soldiers in a desperate battle against Spanish colonial forces in the Araucania in central Chile. Remarkably, since he no longer had hands, Galvarino rushed headlong into the fray armed only with his teeth and a knife strapped to each wrist. The Spanish campaign to conquer Chile […]
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This Day In History: September 7, 1813 On September 7, 1813, the Troy Post in New York published an article on the War of 1812 that contained an early reference to “Uncle Sam” as the personification of the United States of America: “Loss upon loss, and no ill luck stir[r]ing but what lights upon Uncle Sam‘s* shoulders, exclaim the Government […]
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Our very good friends over at Neatorama are currently running a big sale offering their ridiculous number of awesome T-shirts for up to 20% off with free worldwide shipping on orders of $75 and up. The sale ends soon (this Monday), so if you’re looking to stock up on some great T-shirts for the school year at a great price, […]
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Alex P. asks: Why are baseball dugouts built below ground? Imagine attending a game with no stadium seating where you have great tickets right near the action on the infield. The pitcher winds up, releases the ball, and as it speeds toward the batter, the runner on third makes an attempt to steal home. When the ball and the runner […]
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