What happened to the dodo? The dodo went extinct in 1662 because of hunting and the introduction of invasive species. We all know the saying, “as dead as a dodo,” but where does it come from? Well, interestingly, “dead as a dodo” doesn’t appear until 1904 and is probably an adaption of “dead as a […]
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How did London Bridge end up in America? London Bridge ended up in Arizona, America because it was bought by an industrialist called Robert McCulloch who bought it and shipped it over the Atlantic. The London Bridges that is in America was built in 1831 and it was sold by the City of London in
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What is the oldest still spoken language? This is a question that can never have a satisfactory answer because written records only go back so far, and a lot of languages were not written down until relatively recently. A reworking of this question could be how many speakers of modern languages would be able to
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What is snuff? Snuff is a form of powdered tobacco that you can inhale, giving you a quick nicotine hit. Snuff has been around for a long time. Native people living in the area that is now Brazil used powdered tobacco leaves as snuff. They ground the leaves using a rosewood pestle and mortar, which
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Why does America use the Electoral College system? America uses the Electoral College because the early American government didn’t trust the voting people to be able to vote for the correct candidate instead of the one whose name they just happen to recognize. How does the Electoral College system work? The Electoral College has 538
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What caused the Irish potato famine? The direct cause of the Irish potato famine was a potato fungus called Phytophtora infestans, which wiped out several years of potato crops. Other factors were the style of farming, the dependence on potatoes, continuing exports from Ireland, and the UK government’s unwillingness to help. The Irish potato famine
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What is Angkor Wat? Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia. It is where the old capital of Cambodia used to be and it was a tomb. Angkor Wat is constructed of beautifully carved sandstone. There are thousands of images all over the walls, depicting figures from the Hindu and Buddhist religions. The Angkor
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Are pasta and noodles the same thing? No, they aren’t, although it is a very ambiguous topic. Pasta doesn’t contain enough egg to be classified as a noodle. You might often hear pasta being called “noodles”, although you almost never hear of noodles being called pasta. What is the difference? It is very unclear for
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Why is the Forbidden City forbidden? It isn’t today, but for most of its history, access was forbidden to most Chinese people. The Forbidden City is found pretty much at the heart of the city of Beijing. At least it was. These days, Beijing has sprawled so far that it is difficult to know where
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Why is a sandwich called a sandwich? It is named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, but he isn’t the person who invented it. There is no way to work out when sandwiches were invented because people presumably ate them once there was bread. A sandwich merely consists of a filling between two
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