I learned this today. We say “the press” to refer to the media because the first newspapers were made on a movable type printing press. Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press somewhere between 1440 and 1450. By 1450, it was in operation. Before his invention, printing was done using wooden blocks. The page to […]
#59 Why do we say “the press” to refer to journalists and newspapers? Read More »
I learned this today. The tallest a human could potentially grow is about 9 feet, 274cm. Humans grow because of a growth hormone called somatropin. It stimulates growth by telling cells to reproduce. It is released by the pituitary gland. It reacts with a specific receptor on the surface of cells, and it stimulates cell
#58 How tall could a human grow? Read More »
I learned this today. Spot welding was discovered by accident by Elihu Thomson in 1877 when he was giving a lecture on electricity and accidentally passed a current through two pieces of wire. Spot welding is obviously a form of welding. Welding is the process of joining any two pieces of metal together through heat.
#57 How does spot welding work and what is it used for? Read More »
I learned this today. Gold is so rare because it takes a staggeringly large amount of energy to produce it naturally. Gold has been treasured for as long as humans have been able to find it because of its unique properties. It is resistant to corrosion, conducts electricity and heat very well, doesn’t tarnish, is
#56 Why is gold so rare? Read More »
I learned this today. Black Friday started in the 1950s when police in Philadelphia had to deal with the crowds and mayhem that came after Thanksgiving. Thousands of people came into the city for the Army-Navy football game that was held on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving every year. These days, Black Friday refers to
#55 Where does Black Friday originate? Read More »
I learned this today. Cats can jump up to 6 times their length because of their powerful hind legs and their flexible joints and vertebrae. Cats can jump 6 times their length, approximately 180cm. It is obviously not fair to make a straight comparison, but a human would have to jump a little over 10m
#54 Why can cats jump so high? Read More »
I learned this today. Blue cheeses (like stilton and gorgonzola) are blue because they have veins of penicillin running through them. Legend says that blue cheese was discovered in the 7th century in a cave outside the village of Roquefort in France. The story is that a shepherd was eating a lunch of bread and
#53 What are the blue bits in blue cheese? Read More »
I learned this today. The first ever Nobel Peace Prize was given to Henry Dunant in 1901. He was the man who founded the Red Cross. The Nobel Prize was created through the will of Alfred Nobel. He was a chemist, engineer, and inventor. He invented 355 things during his lifetime. The most famous thing
#52 Who won the first Nobel Peace Prize? Read More »
I learned this today. The symbol of the Red Cross is the Swiss flag reversed. The Red Cross was started by a Swiss businessman called Henry Dunant. He was born in 1828 and died in 1910. Dunant had started a business that operated in French-occupied Algeria, but the local government was not very helpful. Dunant
#51 Where did the symbol for the Red Cross come from? Read More »
I learned this today. White blood cells kill invading bacteria, germs, and viruses in your body by eating them. White blood cells are produced by bone marrow. They are produced by hematopoietic stem cells, and they are stored within the bone marrow or lymph tissue until they are needed. They are also called leukocytes. When
#50 How do white blood cells kill pathogens? Read More »
