{"id":36548,"date":"2014-10-25T00:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=36548"},"modified":"2014-10-24T22:13:19","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T05:13:19","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-61","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/weekly-wrap-volume-61\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 61"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\"blackmail\"<\/a>Why We Call Certain Types of Threats \u201cBlackmail\u201d, and The Origin of the Lesser Known \u201cButtockmail\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBlackmail\u201d has its roots in the early 16th century, first used by English farmers living on the England\/Scotland border. It derives from the Middle English word \u201cmale\u201d which itself is thought to derive from the Old English word \u201cmal\u201d. In Old English \u201cMal\u201d is described as thus: \u201clawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement\u201d. Over time, the word \u201cMal\u201d became \u201cMale\u201d which in Middle English roughly translated to either \u201cRent\u201d or \u201cTribute\u201d. As such, the rent paid by a farmer living on the Scottish border was known as \u201cSilver Rent\/Mail\u201d because it was normally paid in silver. This gave rise to \u201cWhite Money\u201d… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"witch-broomstick\"<\/a>The Fascinating Reason Witches are Commonly Depicted Flying on Broomsticks<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve heard this one. To get high, of course! But seriously, it\u2019s thought the idea of witches flying around on broomsticks came from the practice of concocting \u201cwitches flying ointment\u201d (read\u00a0 hallucinogens) and then using a broomstick to administer the drug to certain sensitive regions, thereby bypassing some of the negative side effects these hallucinogens cause when taken orally. Until quite recently, rye was the primary grain from which bread was made. Susceptible to a disease known as ergot, caused by the fungus, Claviceps purpurea, rye was so commonly infected with it that until the 1850s, people thought the purple ergot that… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Vulture\"<\/a>Why Don\u2019t Vultures Get Sick When Eating Dead Things?<\/a><\/p>\n

As an animal that is synonymous with death and disease, the vulture understandably has a poor reputation in many cultures across the globe, despite, ironically enough, being a huge boon to humans in terms of being able to reduce instances of death and disease. While it\u2019s important to note that many animals eat carrion, vultures are fairly unique in that they\u2019re able to eat carrion that has succumbed to the effects of decay and disease, a feat few stomachs in the animal kingdom can match. As an idea of just how ridiculously hardy vultures are, experiments have shown that they are all but immune to botulism and that they can happily chow down on the flesh of an animal coated in Bacillus anthracis which is better… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Jean-Leon_Gerome_Pollice_Verso\"<\/a>The Truth About Gladiators and the Thumbs Up<\/a><\/p>\n

There are few hand gestures out there as well known or ubiquitous as the humble thumbs up. But why is this seemingly innocuous gesture so widespread; how did it come to mean \u201ceverything is okay\u201d in so many cultures and where did it come from? The commonly told origin is that it came from the Romans and their gladiatorial games: thumbs up meant live and thumbs down meant die. This is unequivocally false. While it is true that in the days of gladiatorial combat in the Colosseum and the earlier (and significantly larger) Circus Maximus<\/a>, the audience could decide the fate of a fallen gladiator with a simple hand gesture, this isn\u2019t typically depicted accurately and has little to do with… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"bad-apple-340x226\"<\/a>Why One Bad Apple Spoils a Bunch<\/a><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just a popular metaphor, it\u2019s actually true. One bad apple will absolutely quickly spoil an entire box of apples. The obvious way this can happen is simply if one of the apples is infested with some fungi or critters that reproduce and spread throughout all the apples in a box, ruining them as they go. The less obvious, but perhaps even more common, way this can happen has to do with a hydrocarbon chemical known as ethylene. Ethylene is a hormone produced and released into the air by most plants, including from the fruit of certain plants, such as apples, bananas, pears, etc. So what does this have to do with one \u201cbad\u201d apple? The \u201cbad\u201d apple is usually one… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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