When did April Fools’ Day start? No one knows. Although, most theories have it connected to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. The expression “April Fools’ Day” was first used in English in 1686. A British historian called John Aubrey first used it in his book “Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme”. This […]
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Was Ferdinand Magellan really the first person to circumnavigate the world? No, because he died about two-thirds into the journey. Ferdinand Magellan’s name was actually Magellan. He was born Fernão de Magalhães in Portugal, I n1480. He was born into nobility and he was a page of Queen Eleanor, the consort of King John II,
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Why does the USA use the dollar? Because, in the early days of the American colonies, the Spanish dollar was more prevalent than the British pound. There are twenty countries around the world that have a dollar as their currency. The symbol for the majority of them is the $ sign with possibly letters before
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How is Easter calculated? Easter is the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. When to celebrate Easter is a problem that has taxed the church for centuries. The date of Easter is very important for the Christian church because the whole religion revolves around the birth and
#536 How is Easter calculated? Read More »
What happened to biplanes and triplanes? They produce too much drag, which means they can’t fly fast enough and they use a lot more fuel. The first planes built were biplanes. The first heavier-than-air plane was a triplane. Sir George Cayley built a glider with three wings in 1848. He managed to convince a local
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Why is Greenland part of Denmark? Greenland was a colony of Denmark, but it didn’t officially become a part of Denmark until 1953. It is technically defined as a district of Denmark. The reason why Greenland is a part of Denmark goes back to before Denmark was actually a country. People have lived in Greenland
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Why are there 12 signs of the Zodiac? Because the Babylonians decided that there should only be 12. What are the signs of the zodiac? The signs of the zodiac are the symbols that represent the 12 different constellations that the sun passes in front of throughout a year. They are all found in a
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When did people start using flushing toilets? It was invented in 1596, but didn’t start to become common until the 1850s. People have used toilets for thousands of years, but they were usually just a pit or a hole. The first toilet to use a drainage system and running water was found by archaeologists in
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How did the Rothchild family start? They were able to start a banking house and install it in several different countries. The Rothschilds are a family that are involved in international banking and finance, amongst a host of other occupations, one of which being the famous Bordeaux wine. At one point they were the richest
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Why was the FBI formed? J. Edgar Hoover did a lot to build the FBI, but it was actually started by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to investigate corruption in government. Policing goes back to the origins of the United States of America, but the police are not that old. In the early colonies that
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