Who was Jim Crow? Jim Crow was a fictional character played by a white actor in blackface in the 1830s, called Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice. He portrayed an African American slave called Jim Crow. The name later got taken up and made famous in the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws are not one […]
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How do owls fly silently? Owls have specialized feathers that allow them to fly silently. If you live outside of a city, you may have heard owls hooting at night. You may even have heard them if you live in a city, because these days there are a lot of urban owls. It is not
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How do skyscrapers withstand wind? Skyscrapers use a combination of aerodynamics, structural materials, and counterweights to withstand the high winds they are subjected to. The first skyscrapers appeared in the 1880s. The Chicago Home Insurance Building of 1885 is often said to be the first true skyscraper, although there are a few others that vie
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Why do we say left and right in politics? Left and right came from where politicians were sitting in the assembly hall during the French Revolution. Many democracies use the left and right terms to apply to politics. Left are usually the liberals and right are usually the conservatives. Ultra-left is sometimes considered communist and
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Why do some sand dunes sing? Sand dunes sing because the grains of sand slide down their sides and make vibrations that become sound waves. Sand dunes can form anywhere with sand, but the really large ones are more common in deserts. Different types of sand can make different dunes, but they are formed in
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What is the fizz in fizzy drinks? The fizz in fizzy drinks comes from carbon dioxide, which is why the process is called carbonation, and they are called carbonated beverages. A lot of drinks have a natural fizz. Beer has fizz and bubbles because it is made with yeast. The yeast eats sugar and releases
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What is scurvy? Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C. It can be fatal is not treated, although that is rare. The majority of us easily get enough vitamin C these days and we don’t even really need to think about it. We get it from fresh fruit and vegetables, or
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What happens if you drink too much water? Your brain can swell up and you can have seizures and possibly even die. Overhydration is the opposite of dehydration, and just like dehydration can be fatal, overhydration can be as well. However, it is much harder to be overhydrated than it is to be dehydrated. To
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Why was the Great Wall of China built? It was built to protect the territory of the new Chinese empire, to protect the silk road, because the labor was available, the emperor wanted to be remembered, and as a show of power. The official length of the Great Wall of China is 21,196.18 km long.
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Depending on the size of the tree and on the type and size of the paper, it is often somewhere in the rough range of 10,000 to 20,000 sheets. Paper is a thin sheet made from cellulose fibers, most commonly taken from wood. All plants contain cellulose. It is what gives plant cell walls much
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