{"id":34324,"date":"2014-07-12T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2014-07-12T07:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=34324"},"modified":"2014-07-12T00:16:02","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T07:16:02","slug":"weekly-wrap-volume-46","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/weekly-wrap-volume-46\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Wrap Volume 46"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\"braille-atm-e1288198244242\"<\/a>Why There is Braille on Drive-Thru ATM Machines<\/a><\/p>\n

Mainly, it is because it is required by law, thanks to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities.\u00a0 There are certain exceptions, in terms of these requirements, when it comes to drive-up ATMs vs. walk up ATMs, such as the differing requirements on the \u201cReach Ranges\u201d in section 4.34.3.\u00a0 However, being able to get rid of the Braille is not one of these exceptions, despite initial protests from the American Banker\u2019s Association who argued that any visually impaired person could simply get the driver to help.\u00a0 The committee in charge of coming up with these standards rejected this argument because it would no longer allow a visually impaired person to use the ATM independently. Blind people actually do use the drive up ATMs all the time too, contrary to what many people think.\u00a0 It\u2019s not uncommon… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"nellie-bly-340x558\"<\/a>The Remarkable Nellie Bly and Her Adventure in a Mad-House<\/a><\/p>\n

Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in 1864, Nellie Bly was considered the most rebellious of her father\u2019s fifteen children. (Yes, fifteen) Her family was thrown into poverty when her father died when she was just six years old; in a time when women weren\u2019t expected to hold down a job, it was difficult for her mother to find work enough to support the family. By the time Elizabeth was fifteen, she decided to go to school to become a teacher. Unfortunately, she didn\u2019t have enough money to continue studying past the first semester, and she returned home to her mother in Pittsburgh. There weren\u2019t a lot of options there, either\u2014she helped to run a… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"ice-cubes\"<\/a>Why are Some Ice Cubes Clear and Others Cloudy?<\/a><\/p>\n

Unless you happen to have a specialized ice machine in your home, it is practically guaranteed that the ice your freezer makes is of the cloudy variety. A popular and well known trick to making clear(er) ice is to either boil the water first or use distilled water. However, even doing this won\u2019t guarantee the kind of perfectly clear ice you\u2019d find in a high-end bar or restaurant. This is because how clear ice is, is only partially dependent on the purity of the water you use, meaning even\u00a0 if you managed to procure the tears of a Saint and pass them through the world\u2019s best water filter, you\u2019d still likely end up with ice that was a little cloudy. So what\u2019s going on here? For those of you have the time, go to any nearby sink… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"female-pilot\"<\/a>Why Aren\u2019t There Many Female Commercial Pilots?<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to gender disparity, the world of commercial airline piloting is one of the most skewed with a whopping 97% of all commercial pilots being male (4000 female commercial pilots vs. 130,000 male worldwide according to The International\u00a0 Society of Women Airline Pilots).\u00a0 Those numbers shift slightly when you factor in women who are qualified to fly private planes but not commercial. But there is still a huge difference in the number of males compared to females even in this case. According to the US Civil Airmen Statistics, in 2011 there were about 617,000 qualified pilots in the United States, 41,000 of which were women, which means just over 93% of all pilots in 2011 were men. So what gives here?\u00a0 Do women just not like flying? Are the airline industry and the training schools just sexist? On the latter issue, at one point like in so many industries, yes. As discussed in this article on Helen Richey, who became the world\u2019s first female pilot \u201cto fly a commercial airliner on a regularly scheduled mail route\u201d on December 31, 1934, she quit after only 10 months… (more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"amazons\"<\/a>Did the Warrior Women Known as the Amazons Ever Exist?<\/a><\/p>\n

They are mentioned time and again by the ancient Greeks in both their history and mythology, going all the way back to Homer in approximately the 8th century B.C.\u00a0 They were described as formidable warriors who cut off one breast to be better archers (one wonders if being lopsided would affect their aim ;-)). They lived in women-only communities, taking lovers once a year solely for the purpose of procreation. These ferocious, independent, goddess-worshipping women were called the Amazons. Some of the most memorable Amazons from antiquity include Antiope, who the hero Theseus won during a raid and made his concubine (you can imagine how well that went over); Pentheselia, who met Achilles in battle during the Trojan War; and Myrina, Queen of the African Amazons. Their name has since been used through the ages to describe warrior…(more<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Quick Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n