I learned this today. Modern ice cream was invented in 1695. Nobody knows when ice cream itself was invented. Ice desserts aren’t possible without ice. Unless people live in a very cold country, before the invention of the refrigerator, the only way to have ice was with an icehouse. The first icehouses were introduced in […]
#266 Who invented ice cream? Read More »
I learned this today. Hardtack is a dense biscuit made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. It was sometimes called “ship’s biscuit” because it was a staple on long voyages. The word “hardtack” comes from the British sailor slang for food, “tack”. It was called “hardtack” because it was extremely hard. Hardtack is a very
#262 What is hardtack? Read More »
I learned this today. The first paper money was issued in China in the 7th century. Many countries around the world had started using different things as “money” by about 3000 BC. They were first used to represent a weight of something. For example, the Mesopotamian shekel represented 160 grains of barley. It was easier
#261 When did people first start using paper money? Read More »
I learned this today. The first war correspondent is technically William Howard Russell. William Howard Russell was a war correspondent during the Crimean War. The Crimean War was a war between Russia on one side and the Ottoman Empire, France, and the United Kingdom on the other side. It lasted from October 1853 to February
#257 Who was the first war correspondent? Read More »
I learned this today. Julius Caesar is supposed to have burned the library of Alexandria down in 48 BC, but it appears that it wasn’t destroyed and probably survived for another three hundred years before fading away. The city of Alexandria is about 150 km to the Northwest of Cairo, in Egypt, on the coast
#254 Who burned down the Library of Alexandria? Read More »
I learned this today. It is impossible to know if the emperor Nero was as bad as people say because all of the contemporary sources were destroyed. Nero became emperor of the Roman Empire in 54 AD. He was the adopted son of Emperor Claudius and came to the throne on the death of Claudius.
#250 Was Nero as bad as people say? Read More »
I learned this today. There is some evidence that paleolithic people were the first to use coal. Humans have been using fire since about 400,000 years ago. Evidence for this was found in Qesem Cave in Israel. Archeologists discovered large quantities of burned bone and moderately heated soil lumps. A 300,000-year-old hearth was also found.
#249 When did people start using coal? Read More »
I learned this today. The expression “mayday” was first used in February 1923. Mayday is used when a plane or a ship is undergoing a life-threatening emergency. The procedure is to say the word three times, “Mayday, mayday, mayday.” This is so that it can’t be issued by mistake. The expression “mayday” was concocted by
#247 When was the expression “mayday” first used? Read More »
I learned this today. Headlamps were first used on horse drawn carriages and then transitioned to the first horseless carriages. The first gas headlamps were used in the late 1880s. I have used the word “headlight”, but the correct term is “headlamp”. The headlamp is the device that emits the light and the beam of
#246 When did cars start using headlights (headlamps)? Read More »
I learned this today. The British and American accents are different because the UK accents dropped a few things that the US kept. It is obviously difficult to generalize about UK and US accents because there are wildly different accents within each country. So, why do accents form? Accents form because of the history and
#245 Why are American and British accents different? Read More »
