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Sarah Hale, Author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, Was Largely Responsible for the Establishment of the United States’ Thanksgiving Holiday

November 19, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out Sarah Josepha Hale, author of Mary Had a Little Lamb, was largely responsible for the establishment of the United States’ Thanksgiving Holiday. Hale, one of the great women in American history, campaigned for nearly 20 years to get Thanksgiving made a national holiday. It previously was only celebrated, as we think of it, in New England; […]

How the Black Friday Tradition Got Started

November 18, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out how the Black Friday tradition got started. While it wasn’t called “Black Friday” until the 1960s, and then not popularly called such until the last two decades, retailers have been trying to push people to shop the Friday after Thanksgiving since the late 19th /early 20th century. Around this time, it was very popular for various […]

Black Friday Is Not the Biggest Shopping Day of the Year

November 17, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Myth: Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year. In fact, it’s typically not even in the top five, though has cracked the ranks a few times in recent years. The real biggest shopping day of the year is nearly always the Saturday before Christmas, excepting a […]

How the Tradition of the Detroit Lions Playing on Thanksgiving Got Started

November 17, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out how the tradition of the Detroit Lions playing on Thanksgiving got started. In 1934, radio executive G.A. Richards bought the Portsmouth, Ohio Spartans NFL team, moved them to Detroit, and renamed them the Lions. Unfortunately for him, nobody in Detroit cared much for watching the Lions. Despite winning all their games but one before Thanksgiving, having […]

Phil Collins Did Not Write “In the Air Tonight” About a Guy Who Watched Another Guy Drown

November 16, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Myth: Phil Collins wrote “in the air tonight” after a friend of his drowned and a person on shore could have saved him, but didn’t. Phil Collins did not write the song In the Air Tonight about a guy who could have saved another guy from drowning, but chose not to do so. Twists on this urban legend include stories […]

The Actor Who Played “Scotty” on Star Trek Was Shot Six Times on D-Day

November 16, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out the actor who played “Scotty” on Star Trek, James Doohan, was shot six times storming Juno beach on D-Day. Doohan, a Canadian, after leading his men through a mine field on Juno beach and personally taking out two German snipers in the process, eventually took four rounds in one of his legs; one in his hand, […]

Chameleons Don’t Change Color to Match Their Environment

November 15, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Myth: Chameleons change color to match their environment. Chameleons don’t change color to match their environment. Rather, they change color as a response to mood, temperature, health, communication, and light. Now, not all kinds of chameleons have the ability to change color and some only have limited ability for color changing; for instance, many types of chameleons can only turn, […]

Ben & Jerry’s Was Originally Going to Be a Bagel Company

November 15, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out Ben & Jerry’s was originally going to be a bagel company. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield ended up changing their minds when they found out how much it would cost to get all the needed equipment for making bagels. Instead, in 1978, they both took a $5 correspondence course from Pennsylvania State University on ice cream […]

Why Rice Krispies Pop

November 12, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out why Rice Krispies pop when milk is poured over them. Specifically, the popping is a result of the walls of the Rice Krispies kernels fracturing. There are two prevalent theories as to the exact process that results in this fracturing and it’s entirely possible that both are occurring. Rice Krispies, also known as “Rice Bubbles”, in […]

Violin Strings Were Never Made Out of Actual Cat Guts

November 11, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Myth: Violin strings were once made out of cat guts. Violin strings were not made out of actual cat guts. Catgut is (and was) made from the walls of various animal intestines though. Generally sheep or goat intestines are preferred, but occasionally other intestines are used, such as intestines from pigs and cows. This practice of making strings and cord […]

Domestic Cats Can Fall From Any Height With a Remarkable Survival Rate

November 11, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out domestic cats fall from any height with a remarkable survival rate. This is, of course, assuming they don’t suffocate- say, if you dropped them from 40,000 feet- and that they land on relatively flat ground (nothing pointy or the like). This one seems like it shouldn’t be true. However, it turns out, a typical domestic cat’s […]

Where the Word “Amen” Came From

November 10, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out where the word “amen” came from. Specifically, “amen” comes from the Hebrew word… *wait for it*… “āmēn” (אָמֵן). More interestingly, amen is one of the rare examples where a word has survived thousands of years and been adopted into a few different languages without any real modification to its meaning across time and those languages, dating […]

Handling a Baby Bird Will Not Cause the Parent Birds to Reject It

November 9, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Myth: Handling a baby bird or bird egg will cause the parent birds to reject it. You’ll often hear this myth stated that if you touch a baby bird, the parents will completely abandon it and it will die. In fact, most birds have a very poor sense of smell, so in most cases are unable to even notice human […]

50% of the Ownership of Domino’s Pizza Was Once Traded for a Used Volkswagen Beetle

November 9, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out fifty percent of the ownership of Domino’s Pizza was once traded for a used Volkswagen Beetle. The year was 1961, just a little under one year after brothers Tom and James Monaghan had purchased a pizza restaurant, DomiNick’s, for $500. After eight months of running the business as a partnership, James Monaghan got the bright idea […]

Why Fingers Wrinkle in Water

November 8, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out why fingers wrinkle in water. For the quick answer, water washes away an oily substance that protects your skin. When that happens, a certain type of dead cell on your skin will absorb the water causing the cells to swell up, but the layer underneath does not. So the swelling, combined with the places the skin […]

Why Onions Make Your Eyes Water

November 5, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out why onions make you cry. Onions, along with many other plants in the Allium species (garlic is another popular one), absorb sulfur from the soil. When onions are chopped, it ends up breaking cells within the onion, which releases certain enzymes. These enzymes then react with the sulfur, creating amino acid sulfoxides. These, in turn, create […]

Gun “Silencers” Don’t Make Them Anywhere Near Silent

November 4, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Myth: Gun silencers make guns nearly silent. “Silencers”, also known as “suppressors”, on guns don’t make them anywhere near silent. Silencers primarily only suppress the noise due to the pressure wave from the rapidly expanding propellant gases. This is only a portion of what makes a gunshot loud. The primary other source of noise in a gunshot is the sonic […]

Why Turkeys Are Called Turkeys

November 4, 2010 Daven Hiskey

Today I found out why turkeys are called turkeys. In the 16th century, when North American turkeys were first introduced en masse to Europe, there was another bird that was popularly imported throughout Europe and, most relevant to this article, England, called a guinea fowl. This guinea fowl was imported from Madagascar via the Ottoman Empire. The merchants who did […]

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