{"id":36844,"date":"2014-11-08T10:09:49","date_gmt":"2014-11-08T18:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=36844"},"modified":"2014-11-08T10:09:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-08T18:09:49","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-63","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/weekly-wrap-volume-63\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 63"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\"language2\"<\/a>Did English Speakers Really Not Use Contractions in the 19th Century as Depicted in True Grit?<\/a><\/p>\n

Contractions in some form of English date back to Old English (450 AD \u2013 1150 AD), a language that bears little resemblance to our English today. Before this period, although the Romans had already invaded, the dominant language on the island was Celtic. In the 5th century, several groups, notably the Angles and the Saxons, began to invade, and they brought their Germanic languages and rune alphabets with them, along with several well-established contractions. These included shortened forms for \u201cis not\u201d (nis, today, \u201cisn\u2019t\u201d), \u201cdid not have\u201d (ne haefde), \u201cwas not\u201d (ne waes, today \u201cwasn\u2019t\u201d) and \u201cwould not\u201d (wolde, today \u201cwouldn\u2019t)… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"dad-340x226\"<\/a>Why Do We Call Parents Mom and Dad?<\/a><\/p>\n

Calling our parents anything other than mom, dad or one of the many variations thereof is an almost alien concept to many (and in some cultures is considered downright rude). So why is it we refer to our parents in this way? Where did it come from and perhaps, more curiously, is there any culture that forgoes this seemingly universal nickname custom for parental figures? The words can be traced back to the 1500s for \u201cdad\u201d and the 1800s for \u201cmom\u201d. As with so… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"bursting-stomach\"<\/a>Can You Really Bust a Gut If You Eat More?<\/a><\/p>\n

Although extremely rare, some people actually have ruptured their stomachs after eating too much, and, perhaps not surprisingly, many did not survive. When a stomach ruptures, the billions of bacteria that normally live inside the gut flow out into the abdominal cavity where they thrive. The infection that ensues causes acute abdominal pain, a tensing of the belly muscles, fever, nausea, bloating and vomiting. Without treatment with antibiotics, cleaning of the cavity and repair of the stomach, the person dies. So why wouldn\u2019t… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"crowd\"<\/a>How Do the Media and Police Estimate Crowd Size<\/a><\/p>\n

Although the task of determining how many people attend something as large as say, a political rally or a protest may seem like a daunting, almost impossible undertaking to do with any accuracy, with some basic information, it\u2019s actually not that difficult to get reasonably accurate results. The most well-known method of estimating the size of a given crowd is simply called \u201cThe Jacobs\u2019 Method\u201d as an ode to its inventor, Herbert Jacobs. Jacobs spent a few decades working for the Milwaukee Journal before retiring into teaching journalism at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s.\u00a0 He thought up his very simple crowd size estimate method after observing numerous Vietnam War protests outside of his office window. Jacobs noticed that… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"new-york-340x340\"<\/a>Why New York is Called “The Big Apple”<\/a><\/p>\n

The earliest documented reference to New York being referred to as \u201cThe Big Apple\u201d comes from a 1909 book by Edward Martin, called The Wayfarer. In it, he uses the moniker in a metaphorical sense, rather than a proper name for the city: “Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city\u2026 It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap\u2026” The next known documented instance of New York being called \u201cThe Big Apple\u201d comes from sportswriter John J. Fitz Gerald who began popularizing the name starting on May 3, 1921, where he stated… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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