{"id":27136,"date":"2013-10-26T00:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-10-26T07:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=27136"},"modified":"2013-10-25T15:16:12","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T22:16:12","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/weekly-wrap-volume-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 10"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here.<\/a><\/div>\n

\"comet\"<\/a>Mark Twain Was Born and Died in the Same Years That Halley\u2019s Comet Flew By the Earth<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a somewhat uncommon occurrence given that Halley\u2019s comet only passes by the Earth approximately every 76 years. What makes it even more remarkable is that Clemens predicted the year of his death. In 1909, Clemens\u2014known by his pen name, Mark Twain\u2014said, “I came in with\u00a0Halley\u2019s Comet\u00a0in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don\u2019t go out with Halley\u2019s Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: \u2018Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.” Clemens was indeed born just… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"newton\"<\/a>Did Newton Really Have an Apple Fall on His Head, Inspiring Him to Come Up with His Theory on Gravity?<\/a><\/p>\n

In grade school you probably learned Newton\u2019s apple story around the time you learned that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree<\/a>, that people in Columbus\u2019 time thought that the world was flat<\/a>, or that the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America and invited the Native Americans to join them<\/a>. Since literally none of the latter three\u00a0 stories here are true (follow the preceding links for full details), you probably have your doubts about whether Newton actually sat under an apple tree and had something of a \u201ceureka\u201d moment concerning gravity. It might surprise you to learn, then, that your teachers got one of these stories (partially) correct. Newton… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"luckyunlucky\"<\/a>The Man Who Cheated Death Seven Times, Then Won the Lottery<\/a><\/p>\n

Depending on how you look at it, Frane Selak, a now 85 year old retired music teacher from Croatia, is either the luckiest, or unluckiest man in the world, having lived a life that resembles the plot to Final Destination; <\/em>except after cheating death seven times, rather than be killed by a falling sign, he won \u00a3600,000 in the lotto in 2005. His first brush with death was while traveling from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik in 1962 on a train. During the trip,… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"halloween-candy\"<\/a>Has Anyone Ever Actually Poisoned Or Put Razor Blades or Needles in Halloween Candy?<\/a><\/p>\n

Remember your mom sorting through your Halloween candy as a kid, looking for signs of \u2018tainted\u2019 candy laced with poison, needles or razor blades?\u00a0 It turns out, unless she was just using it as an excuse to steal the good candy before you got it, she was wasting her time.\u00a0 You are more likely to get attacked by a samurai sword wielding bear while trick or treating than be poisoned by a stranger.\u00a0 Further, it\u2019s more likely that your Halloween candy will be poisoned or otherwise tampered with by one of your parents or family members, than a stranger.\u00a0 Think about that<\/em> while your mom… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"heinz-57-340x340\"<\/a>The \u201c57\u2033 in \u201c57 Varieties of Heinz\u201d Has No Real Meaning<\/a><\/p>\n

By 1892, H.J. Heinz Company had grown from a small company selling horseradish in clear glass jars, to having over 60 products.\u00a0 Despite having more than 57 products, at the behest of the founder of H.J. Heinz Company, the business instituted their now famous \u201c57 Varieties of Heinz\u201d slogan. Henry Heinz had come up with the slogan while riding on a train in New York City in 1892.\u00a0 While on the train, he spotted a shoe store advertisement that… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Quick Facts:<\/p>\n