This is where Beatlemania begins. Along with the then “shocking” Beatle haircuts, this song is “the” symbol, “the signature tune” of the early Beatles- the four happy, cheerful, chipper, and harmless moptops. This is the Beatles before drugs, before Yoko Ono, before the facial hair, before the in-house fighting and bickering, before John said they were “more popular than Jesus.” […]
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Deep in the heart of Indonesia’s Sumatra rainforest, where tigers hunt, rhinos stampede, orangutans play, and cuckoos sing, blooms a flower that does its very best to attract more attention than any of the animals. The rare Amorphophallus Titanum, or Titan Arum, or known by its more descriptive nickname the “Corpse Flower,” is described as the world’s largest flower. But […]
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Pandemics have been the bane of humanity throughout history. Although the past few centuries have witnessed numerous epidemics, and even a handful of pandemics, none compare to the Black Death of the 14th century in terms of percentage of the Earth’s human population killed in a very brief period of time. The Bubonic Plague Caused by the bacteria, Yersinia Pestis, […]
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Melissa K. asks: The other day you had an article about the Great Depression with that famous picture of the impoverished mother and her kids. Who was she and what ever happened to her? The Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the United States and the Western world, began on October 24, 1929, a day that […]
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MK23 asks: How do they figure out the maximum occupancy for a building? Generally speaking, the maximum occupancy of a room or building is primarily determined by the available exits, with each exit accommodating only a certain number of people before bottlenecking occurs. The other key component in determining the max occupancy of a building or room is the intended […]
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Jim P. asks: Whenever I ride a bike it always seems to hurt a certain sensitive region. Is this doing any damage down there or should I just suck it up for the exercise? Although bicycle riding affords a terrific aerobic workout, at times avid cyclists may suffer from genital discomfort, sexual dysfunction, and even, possibly, cancer as a result. […]
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Body Integrity Identity Disorder, or BIID, is a condition where a person feels an overwhelming desire to become an amputee. Some also consider it to include those who feel a desire to have some sort of other disability like becoming paralyzed or deaf. In the case of those desiring to become amputees, the limb that they want to amputate is […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. A Brief History of the Ballpoint Pen and Whether NASA Really Spent Millions Developing a Pressurized Version Instead of Just Using Pencils The humble ballpoint pen is an item so ubiquitous the chances of you not having one near you right now […]
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If we were to tell you that there is a parasite out there that can infect virtually any warm-blooded creature on Earth; is found just about everywhere; approximately 33% of humans are infected; and is also mysteriously linked to people committing suicide and brain cancer, then we told you that it was most commonly found in cats, you’d say we […]
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Heroes come in many forms; some are even furry and four-legged. Due in part to their superior ability to sniff and hear trouble, dogs have long been a fantastic ally and a great protector of humans. After all, it was Lassie who, through a series of barks, told the grown-ups that Timmy was in trouble again (Note: Timmy never actually […]
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The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania has been on fire for more than fifty years. Founded in 1862, Centralia popped up in response to the booming coal mining industry. Anthracite coal, a type of coal once in high demand for heating homes, lay under the town and surrounding area in massive quantities. (In fact, approximately 95% of all anthracite coal in […]
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Chicken nuggets are delicious. I know this isn’t a particularly controversial statement. Despite pink slime, chemical preservatives, and sometimes questionable nutritional value, it’s hard to argue the basic point that these deep-fried, previously frozen, nugget-shaped “chicken” pieces are at least somewhat appealing to the human taste bud. The common assumption is that McDonald’s was the first to give us these […]
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Glossyhorses asks: Why can’t you have your fences over 6 feet tall in the backyard and half that in the front? The primarily purposes of a fence include to keep animals in, people out, and perhaps even so others can’t see into your yard. But if this is the case, why are there laws that limit how tall fences can […]
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Kyle S. asks: There’s a story circulating around that NASA found out pens didn’t work in space, but still needed a writing device that would work there, so they spent millions of tax payer dollars developing a ball point pen that could be used in space. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, just used pencils. Is this true? Thanks! […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Greatest Practical Joke of the 19th Century, the Berners Street Hoax The year was 1809. Famed English author, Theodore Hook, made a bet with one of his close friends, the noted architect and writer, Samuel Beazley, that within one week, he […]
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On October 29, 1929, on what would become known as “Black Tuesday,” the stock market crashed. In one terrible day, the market lost fourteen billion dollars (about $188B today), signaling the beginning of the (roughly) ten-year-long Great Depression, with most of the last vestiges of the downturn only ceasing around 1939 due to the onset of World War II. Just […]
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Whether it’s a Bachelor Party, Dollar Drinks, Ladies’ Night or just Happy Hour, many of us get carried away once in awhile, and end up suffering the next day. While most home remedies are ineffective for managing the pain and nausea, there are a few steps you can take to either prevent, or alleviate, the ill-effects of having one (or […]
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Steve S. asks: Who was Monterey Jack and when did he invent his cheese? Cheese predates written history. Ancient Egyptians loved cheese so much that depictions of the cheese-making process were painted in tombs. Homer’s Odyssey talks about how Cyclops stored his cheese. The Greeks and Romans used cheese as a delicious currency. During the Middle Ages, if there was […]
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