I learned this today. Russia didn’t think it would be able to defend Alaska from Britain, had no real reason to keep Alaska, didn’t want Britain as a neighbor, and needed the money, which is why they agreed to sell it. First, we need to go back a few hundred years in time to look […]
#164 Why did Russia sell Alaska to the United States? Read More »
I learned this today. The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th June 1914 started World War 1 because of a series of treaties that existed across Europe. It should be noted that the assassination didn’t cause the war. Because of the rising tensions in Europe, war was probably going to happen at some
#163 Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand start World War 1? Read More »
I learned this today. No one seems to know the definite cause of Alzheimer’s Disease but it seems to be connected with the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, entanglement in the neurons, and inflammation of neurons. Alzheimer’s Disease was named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. The disease had obviously existed for thousands of years,
#162 What causes Alzheimer’s Disease? Read More »
I learned this today. A nut is a hard-shelled pod that contains the fruit and a seed. The difference between a nut and a seed is the hard outer shell. A seed is an embryonic plant. It contains protein, vitamin B, minerals, fat, and dietary fiber. These are all of the things that the seed
#161 What is a nut? Read More »
I learned this today. West Point is the United States Military Academy. It used to be a fort and is now the most famous military academy for officer training in America. There are 5 American service academies and West Point is the oldest. The others are the US Naval Academy, the US Air Force Academy,
#160 What is West Point? Read More »
I learned this today. A battery works because the chemical reaction within it produces electrons. There are different kinds of batteries that use different chemicals, but the general principle is the same. A battery is an energy storing unit. The energy is stored in the form of chemical energy. A chemical reaction happens that causes
#159 How does a battery work Read More »
I learned this today. Dinosaurs were able to grow so big because they had hollow bones, could get more nutrition out of less food, and they didn’t need to chew their food. The largest land animal today is the African elephant and they grow up to about 3m and weigh about 6 tons. The largest
#158 How could dinosaurs grow so big? Read More »
I learned this today. The first fire extinguisher was patented in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey. For thousands of years, the only way to fight fire was to bring water to it. If you lived too far from a water source, then your house was going to burn down. Friends, family, or anyone available would rush
#157 When did we start using fire extinguishers? Read More »
I learned this today. Superglue works because a chemical reaction occurs that makes it harden. Superglue is made from ethyl cyanoacrylate, which is an acrylic resin. Cyanoacrylate hardens when it comes into contact with water. Cyanoacrylate is an acrylic monomer. A monomer is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form
#156 How does superglue work? Read More »
I learned this today. Reuters is an international news agency that started in Germany 150 years ago. Reuters was started by Paul Julius Reuter in 1851 and he could have had no idea what he was starting. Paul Reuter was born in Germany as Israel Beer Josaphat. He moved to London in 1845 and changed
#155 What is Reuters? Read More »
