Today I found out how people swallow swords. But, don’t try this at home! If you always considered swallowing swords a gimmick, you may be surprised to find out that is not always the case. Besides the gimmicky acts where special trick swords are used or when performers prepare for the event by swallowing a metal tube, this amazing feat […]
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Myth: Tang was invented for the NASA space program. In fact, Tang was actually invented by chemist and occasional playwright William A. Mitchell in 1957 while he was working for General Foods. General Foods introduced Tang to the public in powder form in 1959, but it wasn’t popular initially. This changed when NASA decided to use it in 1962 during […]
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Myth: Swimming within an hour (sometimes stated 30 minutes) after eating is dangerous and can cause you to cramp up and drown. It is believed by many that you should not swim for at least an hour after eating, as it could be dangerous. This old wives tale has been told to kids around the world and has become more […]
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Today I found out where the tradition of yelling “Geronimo” when jumping out of a plane came from. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army was testing out the feasibility of having platoons of soldiers parachute from air planes. One of the first units to attempt to group jump out of a plane was located in Fort Benning, Georgia. On the […]
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Today I found out why the number four is considered to be unlucky in some East Asian cultures (mainland China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, among others). In the Chinese culture, whether a number is considered auspicious or not typically depends on whether the number’s name sounds similar to other words with positive or negative meanings or connotations. With respect to […]
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Myth: One dog year equals about seven human years. There is a popular belief that dogs age seven years for each calendar year because the lifespan of a dog is about one seventh in duration to a human’s average lifespan. So a two year old dog corresponds to a fourteen year old human teenager in the terms of this aging […]
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Today I found out the difference between an asteroid and a comet. A comet is simply a relatively small astronomical object that has a “tail”, known as a coma, which makes up a temporary atmosphere for the comet. Asteroids, on the other hand, do not exhibit this tail and are classically defined as simply an astronomical object that orbits around […]
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Some users are reporting that a vertical skyscraper ad is occasionally showing up blocking the main content of the articles. I’ve not seen it yet and am obviously on my site all the time, so I’m hoping the problem isn’t affecting most of you. *crosses fingers* I’ve contacted my ad company to get them to remove them, but it takes […]
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Today I found out that a cockroach can live without its head for up to a week. While many have commonly heard cockroaches are the species most likely to survive a nuclear war, which isn’t entirely accurate by the way, and they are well known as being among the most adaptable creatures on the earth, it’s still somewhat of a […]
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Today I found out why you get goose bumps when it’s cold or as result of a strong emotion. It turns out, goose bumps are an involuntary reflex of mammals called piloerection, usually triggered by a hormone released on certain situations that causes their body hair to stand. With time, humans have evolved to have less body hair, so what […]
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Please help me welcome Julia as a regular contributing writer to Today I Found Out. Julia is yet another talented writer from BuzzFactory, along with Noreen who joined Today I Found Out about five months ago and occasionally contributes articles, as well as makes the awesome infographics you’ll find in the Infographic section on Today I Found Out. Julia will […]
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Today I launched a new section on Today I Found Out: Quick Facts This section of the site will be updated several times daily with various interesting quick facts on a variety of different topics. Unlike most short “facts” you’ll find around on the internet, the quick facts you’ll find in this section have all been thoroughly researched to verify […]
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Today I found out why garlic makes your breath smell bad. There are a few things going on to cause this bad smell, but principally the root cause is various sulfuric compounds from the garlic. Initially, most of the bad breath resulting from eating garlic comes directly from the sulfuric compounds introduced into your mouth. Not only that, but garlic […]
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Today I found out why Amish men grow beards but not mustaches. This tradition stems back to the early days of the Amish when wearing elaborate mustaches was common among those in the military. In their early days, the Amish and other Mennonites in Europe were often persecuted by these groups. In addition to that, the Amish, being a pacifist […]
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Today I found out the color orange was named after the fruit, not the other way around. Before then, the English speaking world referred to the orange color as geoluhread, which literally translates to “yellow-red”. The word orange itself was introduced to English through the Spanish word “naranja”, which came from the Sanskrit word nāraṅga, which literally means “orange tree”. […]
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Today I found out why Pop Rocks pop. Much like other hard sugar candies, Pop Rocks are made primarily of sugar, corn syrup, water, and artificial flavoring. It turns out, what causes it to pop when it comes in contact with the moisture and heat in your mouth is not due to any ingredient. Rather, it is due to the […]
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Today I found out Alfred Nobel, who left most of his fortune to start the Nobel Prizes, was once nicknamed “The Merchant of Death”. The “merchant of death” title was given to him due to Nobel inventing, and making most of his vast fortune off of, dynamite and other types of explosives, such as “ballistite”, which was the precursor to […]
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Note: This is a guest article contributed by frequent TIFO visitor and owner of DumpADay, Jon. Today I found out that the dragonfly can fly up to 60 miles per hour, which makes it the fastest insect on the planet. Interestingly, dragonflies only have their wings for about 3 to 4 weeks of their lifespan. Dragonflies lay their eggs in […]
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