Walter K. asks: Why is U.S. paper money mostly green when other countries use different colors for different bills? In Article I of the U.S. Constitution, ratified on June 21, 1788, Congress was granted the power to “coin money” and “regulate” its value, but not to issue paper money. The result of the near complete devaluation of the paper money […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader When you hear the name Eli Whitney, you probably think of his invention, the cotton gin. But you may not realize how profoundly it (and his other inventions) changed the world. Here’s the history they never taught you in school. LOOKING FOR WORK In 1792 a 27-year-old Massachusetts Yankee named […]
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David asks: When did the tradition of rolling out a red carpet for celebrities start? Throughout history, red carpets have led luminaries to momentous events, both good and bad. Aeschylus (525 BC – 455 BC), the “father of tragedy,” wrote various plays where his heroes fell from grace due to a combination of unwinnable circumstances, arrogance and/or simply stepping on […]
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The records of William Buckley’s early life are vague at best. Even Buckley himself stated that he did not remember much of it. What is known is that Buckley was born sometime in 1780, most likely in Marton, Cheshire, England. His parents had three other children, two girls and another boy, and his maternal grandfather was raising Buckley by his […]
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If we learned anything from the excellent Bill and Ted movies, it’s that the word “dude” is a remarkably versatile utterance that can either be used to refer to any male acquaintance or as a general vocalisation of surprise or confusion. Go back a hundred years or so to the 1800s and the word dude could actually roughly be understood […]
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Noah R. asks: What causes people to be claustrophobic? If you have a friend who refuses to ride the elevator to his 15th floor office every day, he may be a fitness freak, but chances are, he is claustrophobic. Similarly, when someone’s action seems illogical as shown by their persistent, determined avoidance of enclosed spaces or restrictive clothing, the likely explanation […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader From our “Dustbin of History” files, here’s the harrowing tale of a little-known milestone in aviation history. LOADED It was January 7, 1785, and two men were preparing for the first ever balloon crossing of the English Channel. The one who financed the adventure was John Jeffries, a well-to-do American […]
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Rachel E. asks: Why are barns usually painted red? Paint, in some form, has existed since prehistoric times. Some of the earliest forms of paint came from mixing together dirt, ash, and organic materials with animal blood and oil. While the practice of painting the exterior of various structures has been around for some unclear amount of time since, not […]
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Back in 1968, one of the fathers of modern sociology and National Medal of Science award winner Robert K. Merton explored the phenomenon of what he called the “Matthew Effect” while writing a paper discussing how seniority or perceived prestige seemed to be the deciding factor in who would be given credit for a scientific discovery or breakthrough, regardless of […]
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Gideon S. asks: Why is a final performance called a swansong? When someone performs for the last time, we often refer to it as a “swan song” which seems odd given that swans aren’t particularly known for their stage presence… So where exactly did this phrase come from? This expression is generally thought to have its genesis in the over […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader The real-life story of a small ball of plutonium, the people it killed, and the researchers who blew it up. THE BOMB On the evening of Tuesday, August 21, 1945, American physicist Harry Daghlian was working at the U.S. government’s ultra-secret Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He was […]
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Laura asks: Is it true that lobsters can’t die of old age? You’ll often hear it claimed that lobsters are biologically immortal. So is it true? Not really, though this is partially an argument in semantics as you’ll soon see. (And while we’re on the topic of lobster myths, no: Lobsters do not mate for life. In fact, the male […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. WHY DO THEY SAY “MUSH” TO MAKE SLED DOGS GO? If we relied on Yukon Cornelius from the 1964 Christmas classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to teach us about dog sledding, we might be slightly misled. In multiple instances throughout the […]
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Of the 300-plus species in the frog family Dendrobatidae, only three members of the Phyllobates genus have been documented as having their poison used for hunting darts: Phyllobates aurotaenia (a.k.a. Kokoe), Phyllobates bicolor (a.k.a. Black-Legged) and Phyllobates terribilis (a.k.a. Golden). While in the wild these frogs harbor poison sufficient to kill a grown man, after they have been held captive […]
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On June 3, 1964 Ringo Starr inexplicably collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where it was found he was suffering from severe tonsillitis that required immediate surgery. Unfortunately for the band, Ringo had collapsed literally the day before they were due to embark on their world tour, for which many thousands of tickets had already been sold and a […]
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While not thought to be directly related to modern Valentine’s Day traditions, the beginnings of celebrating love (of a sort) in February date back to the Romans. The feast of Lupercalia was a pagan fertility and health festival, observed from February 13th through the 15th, that was celebrated at least as far back as 44 BCE (the year Julius Caesar […]
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Like many historical nations, the Ottoman Empire was no stranger to doling out deadly justice to criminals and those the rulers disliked. Unlike most, for several decades, starting sometime in the late 18th century, they did offer some of the condemned a chance to avoid being executed. How? They simply had to beat the palace’ head gardener in what amounted […]
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M. Matthews asks: Why do people with dogs pulling sleds say mush to make the dogs go? If we relied on Yukon Cornelius from the 1964 Christmas classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to teach us about dog sledding, we might be slightly misled. In multiple instances throughout the movie, Cornelius cracks the whip and hollers, “Mush, mush!!” to his dog […]
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