Today I found out AstroTurf was originally named “ChemGrass” before being used by the Houston Astros Major League Baseball team in the Astrodome. Contrary to popular belief, AstroTurf was not first used or invented for the Houston Astros. For instance, before being used by the Astros, it was used at such sporting venues as Moses Brown School in Rhode Island, […]
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Today I found out Charles Osborne (1894-1991) had the hiccups non-stop for approximately 68 years, from 1922 to June 5th, 1990. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this is the longest bout of the hiccups ever recorded. His hiccups first started in 1922 while weighing a hog for slaughter. As he says, “I was hanging a 350 pound […]
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Today I found out that the correct term for referring to a group of cats is ‘clowder’. Interestingly, there are also two other valid ways to refer to a group of cats, other than just saying “group of cats” or “cats”. Those other two terms are ‘clutter’ and ‘glaring’. In addition to this, if one wants to refer to a group of […]
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Today I found out Nicolas Cage was originally offered the part of Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. Cage stated in an interview that he turned down the offer due to the around three year time commitment. Cage also stated in the same interview that he was offered the role of Neo in The Matrix, but turned that one down […]
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Today I found out that some Tibetan monks can control the temperature of their skin through meditation. Specifically, they have been shown to be able to raise their skin temperature, measured from their toes and fingers, as much as 17 degrees Fahrenheit, while their core temperature stays normal. Scientists from Harvard University, lead by Herbert Benson, were first able to […]
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Today I found out the French word for “paperclip” is “trombone”. The word trombone originally comes from the Italian “tromba”, which comes from the same Latin word, “tromba”, both retaining the same meaning: trumpet. In this case, the ending with the added “one” (tromb-one), indicates “large”. So, essentially, trombone means “large trumpet”. This has been the name of the instrument […]
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Today I found out that the Jewel Wasp, also known as the “Emerald Cockroach Wasp”, is a parasitic wasp that injects various mind controlling toxins into a cockroach’s brain then leads the roach back to its burrow where its hatched larva ultimately slowly eat the still living cockroach’s body from the inside out. So basically, a lot like my brother’s […]
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Today I found out why flavored carbonated beverages are called “soft drinks”. It turns out, soft drinks aren’t just flavored carbonated beverages. “Soft Drink” refers to nearly all beverages that do not contain significant amounts of alcohol (hard drinks). The term “soft drink” though is now typically used exclusively for flavored carbonated beverages. This is actually due to advertising. Flavored […]
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Today I found out about the “nocebo effect” which is more or less the evil twin of the placebo effect. The nocebo effect is an effect where a patient is given or told something that should make no difference whatsoever to their health, but ends up causing negative side effects because of what they believe about the thing they are […]
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Today I found out the origin of the phrase “pipe dream”, meaning “a fantastic hope or plan that is generally regarded as being nearly impossible to achieve.” This phrase first popped up in the 19th century, with the earliest known documented case coming from Chicago, Illinois; specifically, coming from the December of 1890 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, in […]
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While it is often said that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, this isn’t actually correct. In fact, nobody signed it on the 4th. This is contradictory to Thomas Jefferson’s, John Adams’, and Benjamin Franklin’s account of events. On top of their accounts, the public congressional record of events back their story. So how do we […]
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Myth: You should drink at least eight glasses of water per day to stay properly hydrated. Probably one of the most widely spread urban health myths of all time is that the average person needs to drink at least eight 8oz glasses (approx. 2 liters) of water per day to remain properly hydrated. Popularly known as the ‘8×8’ (for eight, […]
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Today I found out where the words “Crayola” and “Crayon” come from. The word “Crayola” was originally thought up by Alice Binney. Binney, a one-time school teacher, combined the French word “craie”, meaning “chalk”, with “ola”, shortened from the French word “oléagineux”, meaning “oily”. Oléagineux derives from the Latin “oleāginus”, which is the adjective form of “olea”, meaning more or […]
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Myth: Peanuts are nuts. Peanuts are a food with an identity crisis. While most people think of peanuts as nuts, they are actually legumes. What is a legume? It is a type of plant with seeds that grow inside pods such as peas or beans. Unlike nuts, which are grown on trees, peanuts grow underground. Peanut seeds flower above ground […]
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Today I found out it is possible to mummify yourself. One such method of self-mummification was practiced by Japanese Shugendō monks as the ultimate act of self denial. Shugendō is a form of Buddhism that originally combined elements of Buddhism, animism, Old Shinto, mountain worship, and Taoism, among other religions. “Shugendō” itself means something to the effect of “the way […]
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Today I found out about the real life “George Bailey” (It’s a Wonderful Life), who founded the Bank of Italy which became Bank of America. The man was A.P. Giannini who was said to be who Capra modeled the character of George Bailey as well as the bank president in Capra’s 1932 movie, American Madness, after. At the age of […]
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Today I found out Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn once struck a spectator twice in the same at bat with foul balls, the second time as she was being carried off on a stretcher. The event happened on August 17, 1957 during a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Giants. The spectator was Alice Roth. Roth was […]
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Today I found out, until he was nine years old, the woman Eric Clapton thought was his sister was actually his mother. Clapton’s mother, Patricia Molly Clapton, was just 16 years old when she met and subsequently had a very brief relationship with Clapton’s father, Edward Walter Fryer. Fryer was a 24 year old Canadian soldier stationed in Britain during […]
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