As you probably learned in grade school, there are 5,280 feet in a mile. But, as we usually love to ask…why? Who decided that arbitrary number should be the length of a mile? Not only that, but why are nautical miles different from the miles we use on land? The basic concept of the mile…
With March Madness upon us, lets examine something few people ever really consider while watching our favorite team make their way through the big dance. Pretty much all basketballs usually look a certain way, mostly all the same. Your regular basketball has a pebbled exterior, separated into eight panels by thin black lines. But, what…
Have you ever preserved food? “Canning”, as some people call it? If you have, then you already know how great Mason jars are. Y’know, those thick glass jars that make for a tight seal thanks to their unique screw top lid. They come in a variety of sizes & are great for storing various types…
If you’ve ever been stuck at home in the midst of a water outage, then you’ve most likely had to find the biggest pot, bowl, bucket, or other container that you could get your hands on in order to answer nature’s call as normally as possible. Did you notice, though, that pouring a large quantity…
There’s no denying that the color combo of black & yellow make is eye-catching. I mean, just think of bees, caution tape, Stanley tools…lots more. But the black stripes on yellow school buses aren’t just for aesthetics. Those black stripes that run along the sides & back of the school bus are actually metal “rub…
The term “lukewarm” is used commonly to mean “somewhere between hot & cold”. But, there are certain times that call for a more specific place on the thermometer, such as when you’re baking bread, bathing a baby, or having breakfast with Goldilocks. But, how warm is lukewarm really? It depends, really. It was in the…
You probably hear it all day the day before & likely see it happen on the day, itself: if you don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s day, you get pinched by your friends & family. But, have you ever actually questioned the whole St. Patrick’s Day pinching rule? Is it an ancient cultural practice passed…
It doesn’t matter if you prefer whole milk, 2%, or skim, when it comes to the plastic containers that your milk comes in all share one thing in common: they’ve got an inverted circle built into one side of the jug. If you’re a milk drinker, you’ve probably seen this circle…but do you know the…
“Brownie points” have become synonymous with currying favor with those in authority like teachers or bosses. But, where exactly did “brownie points” come from? And, what happens when you “earn” them? One of the most popular explanations is that they originated with the Brownies, a subsect of the Girl Scouts. Often too young to be…
With another round of stimulus checks going out soon, you may be thinking about hitting the road for a safe, socially-distanced vacation. But, where will you stay: a hotel, or a motel? And, what’s the difference between the two? It comes down to the etymology of the word motel, since it’s a actually 2 words…