{"id":47132,"date":"2016-05-07T00:28:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-07T07:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=47132"},"modified":"2016-05-07T00:43:04","modified_gmt":"2016-05-07T07:43:04","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/weekly-wrap-volume-98\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 98"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\"question-mark\"<\/a>When Did People Start Using Punctuation?<\/a><\/p>\n

The earliest writings, which were syllabic and\/or logographic (think Mayan and Chinese), had no need for either spacing or punctuation, as each word was typically self-contained in the symbol. However, as previously demonstrated, the lack of punctuation and spacing in alphabetic writing made comprehension difficult; so hard, in fact, that in ancient Greece it was a rare feat for an individual to understand a text they were reading the first time through and the idea of reading out-loud to a group without extensive practice beforehand was also not something typically done.\u00a0Nonetheless, a few notable exceptions aside, punctuation in the West didn\u2019t really appear until about the end of the 3rd century BC when Aristophanes of Byzantium, head librarian at the Library of Alexandria (see: What Really Happened to the Library of Alexandria?), introduced the precursors of today\u2019s punctuation…(more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"red-tape\"<\/a>Why are Bureaucratic Obstacles Referred to as \u201cRed Tape\u201d?<\/a><\/p>\n

The practice of referring to \u201cexcessive bureaucratic rigmarole\u201d as red tape dates back more than 400 years to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V (1500-1558). As heir to three of Europe\u2019s most powerful dynasties (Habsburg, Valois-Burgundy and Trast\u00e1mara), at the height of his power, Charles\u2019 empire stretched from Spain in the west to Hungary in the east, and from the Netherlands in the north to Sicily in the south. In addition, Charles had significant holdings in the New World, and an enormous administration to manage his vast empire. \u00a0At the time, administrative documents were bound in some fashion, either with rope, string, ribbon or cloth. Sometime during the early 16th century, in order to distinguish the most important documents that required immediate discussion at the highest levels of government (such as the Council of State), from those of less significance, Charles\u2019 ministers began tying important…(more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"layering-clothes2\"<\/a>Can You Really Avoid a Baggage Fee by Wearing All Your Clothes?<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a trope that has appeared in dozens of movies and countless TV shows, but can you actually circumvent an airline\u2019s baggage fee by just turning up to the airport in all of your clothes?\u00a0Now the first thing we should point out is that there are a handful of documented cases of people doing just this. Consider the story of James McElvar, a member of a Scottish boyband called Rewind, who successfully managed to board a plane wearing: \u201cFour jumpers, six T-shirts, three pairs of jeans, two pairs of jogging bottoms, two jackets and two hats\u201d.\u00a0According to the BBC, McElvar was so annoyed at learning that his chosen airline wouldn\u2019t let him take two pieces of hand luggage onto the plane without paying extra that he decided…(more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"horses2\"<\/a>Why Engines are Commonly Measured in Horsepower<\/a><\/p>\n

We owe this unit of engine power measurement to Scottish engineer James Watt. In the early 1780s, after making a vastly superior steam engine to the then classic Newcomen steam engine, Watt was looking for a way to market his invention, advertising the fact that his engine used about 75% less fuel than a similarly powered Newcomen, among many other improvements. At first, he tried selling his engine on a royalty scheme, where the customers would owe him one-third of the money they saved by using his engine over other steam engines. Of course, many at the time used horses, not steam engines, so it was difficult to compare without them actually buying the engine to see how it would perform for their particular usage. Thus, he scrapped the royalty scheme and decided to try a different tack… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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