10 Facts About Today

1. The word Jeans comes from Italy
   1. Town in Italy named Genes
2. Most common type of jeans are indigo dyed jeans 
   1. Blue on outside
   2. White on inside 
3. Jeans got popular because of the gold rush
   1. Thousands of migrants went west looking for gold 
   2. Denim jeans were strong, rugged, durable, and able to withstand the harsh conditions of gold prospecting.
4. You Shouldn’t Wash Jeans After Each Use
   1. most experts advise against such frequent washing.
   2. Recommend spot cleaning a washing after 2-3 wears. 
5. Jeans that aren’t blue are probably dyed with sulfur. 
   1. black, red, pink, purple, grey, mustard and green.
   2. More time consuming and usually more expensive.  
6. Dry Denim is Made of 100% Cotton
   1. people assume that denim is a unique fabric
   2. actually a manufactured form of cotton.
   3. Cotton isn’t strong but once it’s turned into denim it’s soft and strong. 
7. Stretchy jeans only have 3% spandex. 
   1. Little bit makes them 10-15% more stretchy 
8. Raw Denim is denim that hasn’t been washed
   1. That’s really the only difference
   2. Other denim is washed during production
   3. Some people like it because it lets the material look more lived-in
9. The first Jeans were called “XX”
   1. They were made after the denim they were made from
   2. Eventually they changed the name to 501 which was the lot number they were in
   3. THat was by Jacob davis and Levi Strauss
10. The original Levis headquarters was destroyed
    1. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
    2. It also destroyed 2 factories
    3. It cause a fire that destroyed most of its early company records

1. The Hulk was originally Grey
   1. Green looked better in print so they switched his color
2. Bruce Wayne has an IQ of 193
   1. Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein both had 160
3. Superman doesn’t have an “S” on his chest
   1. Its actually his family crest
   2. Its the symbol for The House of El (L)
   3. Its just a coincidence that it looks like an ‘S’
4. Joker was supposed to die after his second appearance
   1. The comics editor pushed to save him
   2. She saw Joker as a perfect arch-nemesis for batman
   3. Good thing she saved him
      1. We could have missed out on Jarred Leto
5. One of Thor’s powers is “All-Tongue”
   1. He has the ability to speak to anyone and have them understand him
   2. No language barriers for the Son of Odon
6. Superman was supposed to be bald character
7. Superman was supposed to be a bad guy
   1. Obsessed with world domination
8. Superman is a vegetarian
   1. They writers only started thinking about this in 2005
   2. Since he’s so aware of when a life aura ends
9. Marvel has a superhero whose only power is being immortal
   1. Mr. Immortal
   2. Hes like kenny from south park
   3. He tries to end his life but cant
   4. No other super powers, so hes not like deadpool or wolverine
10. Michael Jackson almost bought Marvel
    1. He did that because he wanted to play Spiderman in a movie
    2. Luckily we got Tom Holland

1.  His real name was George Herman Ruth
   1. He’s the only person in professional baseball history to have the last name “Ruth”
2. No one knows exactly when he was born
   1. He didn’t really know either
   2. He thought it was Feb 7th, 1894
   3. Now its accepted as Feb 6th, 1895
   4. What his family thinks is his birth certificate says 1894 but its for an unnamed male in his family
   5. His parents lost 6 kids in infancy and no one is sure which birth certificate is actually his
3. He started chewing and drinking before 8 years old
   1. He tried chewing tobacco and whiskey really young
   2. He ended up going to a cathlic reform school where the nuns said he was “incorrigible”
4. He got the nickname “Babe” his first year playing baseball in the International League
   1. No one knows who gave it to him
   2. No one called him Babe before that
   3. Soon after he went to the Red Sox
5. When he was presumed to be 19 he married a 16 year old
   1. He met her his first day in Boston
   2. She worked at a local coffee shop
6. He was a star left-handed pitcher for the Red Sox
   1. Now he’s obviously more known for being one of the best sluggers on the Yankees
7. In the 6 years he was with the Red Sox, they won 3 world series
   1. When he was traded to New York it started a long streak of loses in the World Series for the Red Sox
   2. Its known as the curse of Bambino
8. In 1919 he hit 29 home runs, which set the new “single-season home run” record
   1. He beat the record again in 1920 and then 1921 again
9. In 1919 only five teams hit more home runs than Ruth did by himself
   1. With the exception of the RedSox
10. The company that made the Babe Ruth Candy bar claim that its not named after the baseball player
    1. The Curtiss Candy Company officially claimed that it was named after President Grover Cleveland’s daughter, Ruth
    2. People think that their claim is just a way to get around legal issues 

 Here are 10 tree-riffic facts about trees that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Some states celebrate arbor day on a different date
   1. They do that because the last friday in April isnt an ideal time to plant everywhere
   2. Hawaii celebrates the first friday of November
   3. Alaska celebrates the third monday in May
2.  In 2019 2 youtuber teamed up and got 20,000,000 trees planted
   1. Mr. Beast and Mark Rober
   2. Mr. Beast posts random videos of himself giving away money, houses, and cars
      1. Sometimes as prizes for weird competitions
      2. Sometimes just because
      3. He gives away 10’s and 100’s of thousands in almost every video
   3. Mark Rober does science experiments the occasional prank and sometimes both
      1. He will test interesting theories, like “will people return a lost wallet”
      2. Why do pools smell like chlorine (its because of pee)
      3. And he even made a glitter bomb that pranked package thieves
   4. You can still donate and plant more trees at teamtrees.org
   5. They are up to almost 22,000,000 as of today
3.  Global forests remove about ⅓ of fossil fuels from the atmosphere
   1. These numbers come from tests done between 1990 and 2007
   2. Probably much less now since all the deforestation and wild fires going on
4.  One large tree can provide enough oxygen for 4 humans
   1. Thats daily
   2. Thats crazy
5. Trees help reduce the effects of climate change
   1. They store and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen
   2. In a year an acre of trees offsets about 26,000 miles driven in an average car
      1. That's about 2 average driver’s worth of carbon dioxide thats offset 
6. The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872, in Nebraska. 
   1. More than 1 Million Trees planted.
   2. Since then, the foundation has planted at least 250 million new trees.
7. There are about three trillion trees on Earth? 
   1. About 422 trees for every 1 person.
8.  There are two main types of trees, Deciduous and Evergreen.
   1. Deciduous trees include 
      1. maple trees, 
      2. elm trees, 
      3. oak trees
   2. Evergreen trees have small needles
9.  America’s national tree is the Oak tree. 
   1. 750 species of tree present in the US.
   2. 100,000 tree types in the world
10.  Staring at trees helps reduce stress. 
    1. Visual exposure to settings with trees have been found to produce significant recovery from stress within five minutes. 
    2. indicated by changes in blood pressure and muscle tension.

Here are 10 page-turning facts about books that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Lord of the Ring author, J.R.R Tolkien typed the whole trilogy with just two fingers!
   1. Exhausting
   2. Over 1200 Pages
   3. Only way he knew how to type
2.  “Old book smell” is produced by the breakdown of two chemical components in paper, cellulose and lignin.  
   1.  byproducts of this process produce pleasant and familiar scents
   2. Vanilla, Flowers, Almonds
   3. It can even work like carbon dating and determine the age of old books
3.  In January 2017, Amazon Sold Out of Physical Copies of 1984.
   1. Book by George Orwell
   2. biggest trending topics in the media were “fake news” and “alternative facts”
   3. inspired consumers to buy every physical copy of 1984 from Amazon, worlds largest online retailer, before the end of the month. 
4.  Books used to have curses in the beginning and end of books.
   1. Transcribing a book could take years. Most people were illiterate so it fell on Clergy. 
   2. Medieval book curses involved punishments such as:
      1.  being mutilated by demonic swords, 
      2. the gouging of eyes, 
      3. bookworms eating away at the entrails of thieves. 
      4. book turn into a serpent in the hands of those who borrow and do punctually not return them.
      5. Most curses  involved excommunication
5.  There is at least 1 book at the Harvard University Library that is bound with human skin.
   1. Anthropodermic bibliopegy
   2. Title translates to Destinies of the Soul
   3. From the 1880’s
6.  Winnie the Pooh and The Hobbit have something in common
   1. They were both written as bedtime stories
   2. Their respective authors wrote them to read to their children as they went to sleep
   3. The Hobbit seems a little intense to put kids to bed
7.  The original manuscript of Of Mice and Men was destroyed
   1. It was eaten by John Steinbeck’s puppy
   2. It was 2 months worth of work that he had to do over
   3. He was quoted saying "I was pretty mad, but the poor little fellow may have been acting critically."
   4. Maybe that’s why Lennie kills the puppy
8.  The Harry Potter books are the most banned books in America
   1. Its said to be because of religious beliefs
   2. A bunch of Protestant, Catholic, Christians, and Muslims have argued against the books
   3. Most of the fight comes from devout evangelical christian groups because witchcraft is dangerous for children to read about
   4. Some people claim that it should be banned it schools because witchcraft is a recognised religion in the US
9.  The Cat in the Hat only used 236 unique words
   1. Which was surprisingly low for Dr. Seuss’ editor 
   2. As a joke, his publisher bet him he couldn’t write a book with fewer words
10. Green Eggs and Ham was written as a joke
    1. It was purposefully written to have fewer words than the cat in the hat
    2. One of the most repeated words is “I” which is written 84 times its tied with “not”

April 22, 2020 - 10 Facts About Earth

Today is Earth Day. 

1.  The largest living thing on earth is a fungus
   1. Armillaria or honey mushroom
   2. There is 2,200 acres of this mushroom in Oregon
2.  Earth Used to have 2 moons
   1. It was about 750 miles wide, so it was very small
   2. It eventually crashed into our current moon
3.  The Earth is overdue for a pole-flip
   1. For the past 20 million years the poles have pretty consistently flipped every 200-300,000 years
   2. They occur over hundreds or thousands of years
4. 70 percent of Earth’s freshwater is on Antarctica
   1. Its in the ice cap
   2. 90% is ice
5. Earth’s moon gets “moonquakes”
   1. Similar to earthquakes but not as common
   2. They are caused by the tidal stresses associated with the varying distance between earth and the moon 
6. NASA planted a special seed to honor earth day in 2009. 
   1. Called the Moon Tree
   2. Apollo 14, 1971
   3. astronaut Stuart Roosa 
   4. Curious whether or not exposure to the microgravity of space would impact the growth of these seeds. 
7.  A single popular song can consume more electricity than entire countries. 
   1. Remember, “Despacito”
   2. Streamed more than 4.6 billion times worldwide
   3. “used as much electricity as the combined annual electricity consumption of Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic,”
8. According to the EPA, the first Earth Day in 1970 inspired the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. 
9. Twenty of the warmest years on record worldwide have occurred in the past 22 years. 
10. Using a dishwasher is more eco-friendly than hand-washing dishes, according to a recent study from the University of Michigan.

April 21, 2020 - 10 Facts About Kindergarten  

Today is National Kindergarten Day. 

In this episode we learned:

1.   Kindergarten means Garden of Children
2. The first Kindergarten in the US opened in 1856
3. One of the first Kindergarten schools was a “Play and Activity” Institute

Here are 10 educational facts about Kindergarten that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1.  Kindergarten dates way back to 1779. 
   1. a couple of citizens in Strasbourg 
   2. provide learning and enrichment to the young children of workers. 
   3. The idea soon spread world-wide as cities and countries realized the importance of caring for the youngest members of their population.
2. There are about 3.5 million Kindergarten students each year. 
   1. Eleven of those states require districts to provide full-day kindergarten.
3. Full Day Kindergarten is a thing
   1. Kids see both academic and social-emotional gains, 
      1. especially when they are in low-income districts.
4. Ages in Kindergarten can range as much as 18 months. 
   1. four to six years old
   2. This holds true for developmental differences too, where the developmental age range can vary between three and eight years old mentally.
5. The behaviors of students in kindergarten has shown to indicate the learning outcomes of 1st and 2nd grade. 
   1. If they aren’t doing well, this is the time to address it. 
6.  Kindergarten means Garden of Children
   1. It comes from the german words:
      1. Kinder- children
      2. Garten- Garden
   2. It was coined by Friedrich Froebel
   3. Because kids are like tiny flowers and they are varied and need care 
7.  One of the first Kindergarten schools was a “Play and Activity” Institute
   1. It was opened by Friedrich Froebel
   2. It was supposed to be an experimental social experience for kids entering school
8.  The first Kindergarten in the US opened in 1856
   1. Almost 80 years after kindergarten started in Europe
   2. It opened in Wisconsin
9.  Kindergarten became publicly-funded in the late 1970s
   1. This is for 96% of the US
10. It wasn’t until the 1980s that kindergarten became universal in the US
    1. The main activities they teach and participate in are addition, subtraction, and recess 

April 20, 2020 - 10 Facts About Cold Brew

Today is National Cold Brew Coffee Day. 

Here are 10 energizing facts about cold brew that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1.  Cold Brew tastes sweeter than regular coffee
   1. This is because it has only ⅓ the acidity than a hot brew.
   2. It can still be as “full-bodied” and smooth as regular coffee but without bitter aftertaste
2.  It can make a great pre-workout
   1. Since a lot of cold brew is high in caffeine it helps release endorphins
   2. This can helps you get through workouts with less fatigue and muscle pain
3.  Cold Brew is better for dieting
   1. Since its tastes sweeter and is smoother, its easier to drink with less sugar and cream
   2. There are also ways to drink it with all the benefits of adding cream with none of the extra calories and fat
4.  You can make ice cream out of it
   1. If you add a whipped cream or whipped coconut cream and whisk it you can make a frothy eatable coffee
   2. Then you can freeze it to make a coffee ice cream
   3. You can also add it in browning mix for coffee brownies
5.  It can make you live longer
   1. **WE ARE NOT DOCTORS OR SCIENTISTS**
   2. New research claims that drinking a cup of cold brew everyday can be good for your heath*
   3. It even suggests that it may lengthen your life*
   4. It burns fat, increases insulin sensitivity and decreases the risk of dementia* 
   5. *https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-finds-coffee-drinkers-have-lower-risk-death
6. Cold brew is better for sensitive stomachs
   1. When you brew coffee cold, you extract different acids form the coffee
   2. They tend to be easier on your stomach
7.  Coarse grounds make all the difference 
   1. When brewing cold, coarse ground coffee is recommended. 
   2. Better filtering
   3. Cleaner result
8.  There are multiple ways to cold brew coffee
   1. Immersion
   2. Kyoto Style
9.  Cold brew has more and less caffeine than regular coffee
   1. I’ve seen many people claim that cold-brew has more caffeine. 
   2. I’ve also seen many people say it has less caffeine
   3. Truth is, it depends on multiple factors.
10. You can infuse cold brew with nitrogen and serve it on draft
    1. Like a Guinness
    2. Creamy without cream
    3. Does not mean more caffeine.

Important Links:

https://www.drinkcandid.com/

https://www.instagram.com/candidcoffeeco/

Here are 10 worldy facts about Ellis Island that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Ellis island was was originally privately owned. 
   1. Samuel Ellis
   2. Tried to sell in 1785, but no bites
   3. City leased it in 1794
   4. City bought it when he died 
2. Ellis island was mostly man-made?
   1. The original island was smaller than the immigration inspection building that stands on it today. 
   2. Land that was elevated during the construction of the subways was used to increase the size of Ellis island by 6 acres. 
3. Only half of Ellis Island is in New York.
   1. The other half is in New Jersey. 
   2. The side that is man-made is considered New Jersey. 
   3. In reality though, its a federal island so the government pays to maintain it. 
4. Ellis Island used to have a hospital on it that was considered to be the best in the world at the time. 
   1. All its corners are rounded corners because, at the time,  corners were thought to harbor disease. 
5. In the 1950’s the government tried to sell Ellis Island. The winning bid was a company that pitched a “completely self-contained city of the future”. 
   1. Hire famed Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
   2. Last commission that was accepted before his death. 
6. Ellis Island use be where pirates would go to die
   1. It was an executioner island
   2. Pirates would get hanged 
   3. The bodies would actually be displayed from posts or “gibbets”
7. The first people to immigrate through ellis island were 3 kids
   1. They weren’t accompanied by parents or any family members
   2. It was Annie Moore and her 11-7year old brothers
   3. They were from County Cork, Ireland
   4. There is a statue still there commemorating them
8. The Transatlantic ships carrying immigrants didn’t ever stop at Ellis Island
   1. They would stop in Manhattan, let off travelers, and then ferries would take the immigrants to Ellis Island to be inspected
9. During WWII it was used as a prison for suspected nazi-sypathisers
   1. They did almost the same thing during WWI since immigration started to taper off
   2. They held around 1,500 potential enemies of state there
10. Immigrants didn’t change their names at Ellis Island
    1. Some people say that when traveling through Ellis island, people with very ethnic sounding names would change them at Ellis island, but that's not true
    2. When being processed the Ellis Island crew would just use the names on the ships manifests
    3. Names changes either happened in the travelers home country or after being processed through ellis island

Here are 10 germinated facts about orchids that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Orchids have the tiniest seeds in the world.
   1. Challenge to grow and cultivate. 
   2. Long time to turn into a plant! 
   3. Growing orchids from seeds is only for the patient and very green-thumbed.
   4. only visible under a microscope. 
2. There can be up to 3 million seeds in a single orchid seedpod.
   1.  lack an endosperm and have no nutrients within. 
   2. Underdeveloped embryo
   3. require contact with a particular fungus to germinate It takes patience to grow an orchid.
3. Some Orchid's first flowers won’t appear until 5 to 7 years after germination. 
   1. The houseplants you find in stores are often a decade old.  
4.  Orchids are Bilateral Symmetric
   1. They can be divided into 2 perfectly equal sides
   2. 99% of animals have this
   3. Most plants have radial symmetry
      1. Think sunflowers
5.  Some orchids can live to be 100 years old
   1. That’s when they are in nature, not cut
   2. But cut orchids still outlive most other cut plants
      1. Up to 3 weeks
6.  The flavor Vanilla is extracted from a species of Orchid.
   1. Vanilla planifolia
   2. Extracted from its pod. 
   3. Only commercially grown orchid. 
7.  Orchids are the largest and oldest known family of flowering plant. 
   1. They are found on every continent. 
   2. Suggests they were in existence before the continents split apart. 
8.  There are 25000 different species of orchids. 
   1. 4 times the different species of birds 
   2. 4 times the different species of mammals 
9.  The smallest orchid is the size of a dime. 
10.  Mature orchid plants always grow upside down. 
    1. The weight of the blooming flower causes it to hang down.

Here are 10 smudge-free facts about rubber erasers that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Erasers are made with Volcanic ash
   1. The pink ones in particular
   2. The pumice, or volcanic ash, is used to make the eraser a little rougher
      1. This extra abrasiveness gives them more traction and helps the erase easier
2. Pencil Manufacturers don’t refer to them as erasers
   1. They call them plugs
   2. And the metal bands that hold them to the pencil are called ferrules
   3. They Pencil/Eraser combo came to market in 1858
3. There are electric erasers
   1. They don’t erase with electricity
   2. They are long sticks of different gages of erasers
   3. They are electronically pushed up
   4. They are supposed to be better for artists
      1. Less tears in paper
      2. Easier to use
4. Erasers aren’t always made of rubber
   1. some are made from synthetic rubber or natural rubber
   2. A lot are made from vinyl
      1. More durable
      2. More flexible
      3. Less flakes and crumbling
   3. Used to be made from Latex
   4. Synthetic Petroleum based
5. The first rubber erasers would rot
   1. Eventually a curing process was created which allowed them to last longer
   2. Now its usually done with high heat and high pressure
6. Original Erasers were made out of bread.
   1. Until the 1770s
   2. de-crusted, moistened and balled up.
   3. cheap and plentiful,
   4. Rotted and Molded
7. The guy who discovered oxygen helped invent erasers. What a guy!
   1. Joseph Priestley
   2. He didn’t invent them, but he did note that rubber was excellent at wiping up lead from paper.
8. Rubber actually got its name from erasers.
   1. Initially referred to as "India gum"
   2. The first know use for the substance was erasing which required rubbing.
   3. Thus the name, Rubber.
9. Erasers are partly a chemical process.
   1. Pencils put graphite on paper and it mingles with the fiber particles.
   2. The polymers in rubber erasers are sticker than paper so the fiber moves to the eraser.
10. Pencils with erasers on top are mostly an American phenomenon.
    1. Most European pencils are sold without eraser.

April 14, 2020 - 10 Facts About Dolphins

Today is National Dolphin Day. 

Here are 10 flipping facts about dolphin that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1.   They use advanced communication
   1. Scientists are still trying to decode their language
   2. They make clicking sounds to find prey
   3. They whistle to talk
   4. They use a burst-pulse sound
      1. Use this when they are excited
      2. Use this when they are afraid
      3. They use this when they are reprimanding their young
   5. They use intentional communication
      1. A group of dolphins in florida have a system
         1. One swims in circles making a mud net to surround fish
         2. One uses whistles and clicks to call other dolphins
         3. They all surround the circle
         4. Then the fish can’t escape without getting eaten
         5. This is the only known pod that does this
2.  42 types of dolphins and none of them are porpoises
   1. Porpoises are from a different family
      1. They are actually whales
      2. They also have different physical attributes
         1. Flat noses/no beak
         2. Different teeth
         3. Smaller than the average dolphin
         4. Pointier dorsal fin 
   2. There are a few types of river dolphins
      1. Swim in freshwater
      2. Most are pink
      3. Amazon
      4. Bolivian
      5. Araguaian
      6. Indus
      7. Some saltwater dolphins have migrated to freshwater and live there exclusively now.
3.  They don’t chew with their teeth (*usually)
   1. They use their teeth to catch prey
      1. Fish 
      2. Squid
      3. Seals and sea lions
   2. They have multiple chambers in their stomachs to help with the digestion
   3. They have 1 set of teeth that last them their whole lives
   4. They are born under the gums like humans
      1. Takes 5 weeks for them to come out
   5. The average dolphin has about 80-100 teeth
      1. The long-beaked common dolphin has the most
         1. Up to 240 teeth
   6. There are a few species that have molars and they crush crab and crustacean shells with them
4. They can’t breath out of their mouth
   1. They can only breathe out of their blow-holes
      1. These are actually nostrils
      2. When they sleep only half their brains rest
         1. This allows them to swim up for air
         2. Check out the sleep episode of 10 Facts About Today
   2. They evolved this way so they wouldn’t drown when hunting and eating
   3. These type of underwater mammals can hold more oxygen in their blood
      1. This makes them able to hold their breath longer than land mammals 
5.   They are extremely intelligent
   1. They seem to be about as smart as apes
   2. Their brains have developed very similar to humans
   3. They are self aware
      1. If you put a mirror in front of them they stop swimming and stare
         1. This is different from how they react to seeing other dolphins
      2. They do self directed behaviors
         1. They will make fin movements not usually seen in the wild
         2. Look inside their mouths
         3. Twisting to see their bellies
   4. They use echolocation
   5. Their brain to body size ratio is the largest in the worth after humans
6. Killer Whales (Orcas) are actually a type of Dolphin
   1. Largest Dolphin 
   2. 30 Ft long
   3. Smallest Dolphin is Maui Dolphin (5ft)
7.  Dolphins are highly social and they have squads
   1. Close friend groups
   2. Don’t spend equal time with all dolphins
8. Every dolphin has a unique “name”.
   1. They have a unique whistle
   2. Use them for life           
   3. Female dolphin teach their calves their whistles before they are born                                                                                           
9.  There was a lady that was in a relationship with a dolphin.
   1. 1960’s
   2. NASA Funded Research
   3. Working to understand Dolphin communication and see if they could be taught human languages or if we could understand theirs.
10.  The U.S. Navy has trained dolphins to protect nuclear weapons.  
    1. Trained to find enemy swimmers, 
    2. locate underwater mines
    3. guard nuclear arsenals.

10 Facts About Today - Podcast

April 13, 2020 - 10 Facts About Scrabble

Here are 10 wordy facts about scrabble that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Scrabble wasn’t invented by a writer, reach or librarian, it was invented by an architect.
   1. Alfred Butts
2. Scrabble wasn’t always named Scrabble.
   1. Originally named Lexico
   2. Then called Criss-Cross Words
   3. Friend and eventual business partner James Brunot came up with Scrabble in 1930’s
3. Scrabble can be found in 3 out of every 5 American households.
4. The points are based on letter frequency in the English language.
   1. Q is the letter that occured least often It’s worth 10 points
   2. Used dictionary and other available literary sources to manually calculate frequency.
5. There is a robot equipped with arms, a camera and AI. It never loses.
   1. Made by Taiwanese Company called ITRI
   2. Maximizes obscure words with high letter values
6. No one wanted to buy scrabble
   1. When Butts was trying to sell the game he couldn’t find a manufacturer that wanted to pick it up
   2. It got bought and sold a few times until finally it got acquired by hasbro games
   3. The first company to mass produce it only printed a few hundred sets for the first run
7. The game hasn’t changed since it was invented
   1. There are different ways to play now like
   2. Ecological (you can replace and reuse the black tile)
   3. Speed scrabble which is just like how it sounds
   4. Or Tag Team where you have a partner and you take turns
8. During Scrabble tournaments they use non-standard pieces
   1. They are the same letters, but they are not engraved
   2. People used to feel the pieces in the bag to pick good letters
9. The best word to play is OXYPHENBUTAZONE
   1. If you play this in the right spot you can get 1782 points
   2. You would hit 3 triple words and get 7 downward crosswords
10. Even the iphone app is extremely popular
    1. According to the iphone app store
    2. Its in the top 25 most popular games in the country

10 Facts About Today - Podcast

April 10, 2020 - 10 Facts About Golf

Here are 10 green jacket facts about golf that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1.  Golf balls were originally made of feathers
   1. They were made with chicken or goose feathers
   2. Wrapped in leather
   3. They would cost between $10-20
2. Golfers used to tee-off on piles of sand
   1. Before tees were invented it was common practice to make a little mound of sand to tee off on
   2. They would make them by hand
   3. This started to switch over when the tee began getting popular in the 1920’s 
3. Woodrow Wilson loved golf
   1. He would play rain or shine
   2. He would even play in the snow
   3. He had black golf balls for when it was snowing
4.  In the golfing movie Happy Gilmore Bob Barker really gets in a fight on the golf course
   1. There is an amazing scene where Happy and bob barker are golfing together and they start to argue
   2. They eventually start to fight and bob barker did all the fighting in that scene
   3. He was his own stunt man
   4. He studied martial arts under chuck norris 
5.  Bill Murray improvised his cinderella story speech in caddyshack
   1. He did it all in 1 uninterrupted take
   2. It lasts about 1:20
6. St Andrews Golf Course was established in 1552.
   1. Old course considered oldest in the world.
7. Tiger Woods got his first while in one at 8 years old. 
8. Longest whole is one in history made on a 517 yard par 5 hole. 
   1. 2002
   2. Mike Crean in Denver, CO
   3. So rare only a few are known in the history of golf. 
9. The most famous left-handed golfer is actually right-handed!
   1. , Phil Mickelson 
   2. mirrored his father
   3. never used right-handed clubs in his entire career.
10. An astronaut  played golf on the moon! 
    1. Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr
    2. Apollo 14
    3. Feb 1971
    4. He used a 6 iron 

10 Facts About Today - Podcast

April 09, 2020 - 10 Facts About Name Changes

Here are 10 identifying facts about name changes that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. A woman name Karin Robertson changed her name to goveg.com. 
   1. 23 year old
   2. Norfolk Virginia 
   3. Raises awareness for vegetarianism 
2. A man named Andrew Wilson changed his name to “They” 
   1. They did this
   2. They did that 
   3. Whole new meaning 
3. A Vietnamese man named his 5th kid after the fine he received for having him: “Fined Six Thousand and Five Hundred."
   1. Son kept getting teased In School and wanted to change it. 
   2. New name translates to Golden Dragon
4. An English l Mechanic named Steve Bolton changed his name to Buzz Lightyear
   1. Apparently he joked his girlfriend would love saying she’s going out with buzz light year. 
5. 23 year old named Tyler Gold changed his name to Tyrannosaurus Rex. 
   1. T- Rex for Short 
   2. As an entrepreneur, name recognition is important and the new name is more recognizable."
6. Elton John was originally Reginald Kenneth Dwight
   1. When he started to make a name for himself… literally and figuratively
   2. He didn’t like the name Reg
   3. He had  "unhappy memories" with that name
   4. Not just a stage name
   5. He legally changed it in 1972.
7. Peter Gene Hernandez is better known as Bruno Mars
   1. Record labels were trying to make him the next Enrique Iglesias
   2. He wanted to stop that kind of stereotyping on himself
   3. So he tried to come up with a name that sounded like it was from another planet
   4. Thats why he is bruno mars
8. Nick Cage is related to the Godfather’s director Francis Ford Coppola
   1. He was born Nicolas Kim Coppola
   2. He didn’t want people to associate him with his uncle francis ford coppola
   3. He changed it to Cage because he loved the comic book, Luke Cage
9. Iggy Azalea changed her name from Amethyst Amelia Kelly
   1. Her name is the classic stripper name concept
   2. The name of her dog + the street she grew up on
   3. She originally used Iggy because when she was younger she was bit by a snake, and her dog ended killing the snake and getting paralyized in the process
   4. He ended up getting anti-venom and went back to normal
   5. She bought a necklace in his honor that said iggy and everyone just kind of thought that was her name
   6. Then she needed a last name and picked Azalea
10. Jamie Foxx changed his name to sound more feminine
    1. His real name is Eric Marlon Bishop
    2. When he was doing stand-up it was so hard to get on stage
    3. Every night about 100 guys would sign-up to go on stage
    4. Only a couple girls would sign up and they would usually all get to go
    5. He came up with Tracey Brown and Jamie Foxx
    6. Jamie Foxx got a standing ovation so it stuck

April 08, 2020 - 10 Facts About Empanadas

Today is National Empanada day.

Here are 10 deep fried facts about empanadas that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1.  They used to be made with bread dough
   1. Now they are usually made with pastry dough
2.  Afghanistan has a variant of empanadas called bolanis
   1. They are usually stuffed with spinach or potatoes
   2. They are eaten during the evenings of ramadan 
3.  There are a wide variety of fillings for empanadas
   1. Obvious ones are meats and vegetables
   2. Sometimes fruits or other sweet foods
4.  In cuba they are usually just a snack
   1. Sometimes they will be a side dish
   2. Usually they are just something to eat between meals
5.  Empanadas were brought to the Philippines and latin america by early spanish colonists
6. They originated in northwest Spain, in a region called Galicia. 
7. They have been around for half a millennium. They date back to the 1520’s. 
8. Jamaica’s call them Jamaican patties instead and they are stuffed with seasoned ground beef. 
9. In Spanish “Pan”means bread. Empanar is a verb that means “to bread”. Empanada means “breaded”. 
10. The first empanada in the US was supposedly served at Taco Bell.

April 07, 2020 - 10 Facts About Beer

Today is National Beer Day.

Here are 10 hoppy facts about beer that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Many civilizations of medieval times relied heavily on beer as the safest available drink since water quality was normally poor. 
2. In 1983, 49 licensed breweries existed in the U.S. By 2017, it was 8,863.
3. Drinking a ÿard of ale” is a traditional coming-of-age ceremony in Britain. One must drink 3 pints without stopping from a yard long glass. 
4. Women did the majority of brewing in ancient Egypt. 
5. In 2001, some Belgian elementary schools served low-alcohol beer to school children at lunch. 
6. The guiness book of world records was made to help settle bar arguments
   1. Hugh Beaver the Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin
   2. People would drink beer and argue about random facts “the tallest man was 13 ft” and Hugh wanted to have a definitive answer for these arguments
7. An Austrian brewery has a swimming pool full of beer
   1. You can go for a swim there
   2. Its called Schloss Starkenberger brewery and its in Tarrentz, Austria.
   3. It’s said to promote healthy skin
8. The melody of star spangled banner is based on an old english drinking song
   1. To Anacreon in Heaven
9. When a Danish physicist won the nobel prize he got a lifetime supply of beer
   1. Niels Bohr
   2. The carlsberg brewing company gave him a house and a direct pipeline of beer from the brewery
   3. It went in his house and he could drink as much as he wanted for life
10. A cloud near the constellation Aquila contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer
    1. Thats enough beer to supply the entire world for over a quadrillion years

Bonus:

1. Ancient Egyptians used beer for a wide variety of purposes, including as an enema and douche.
2. Beer is the third-most popular drink on Earth, after water and tea.
3. Beer is as old as human history. Beer brewing and drinking predate written language.

April 06, 2020 - 10 Facts About Siamese Cats.

Today is National Siamese Cat day.

Here are 10 purrtastic facts about Siamese cats that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. They are extremely intelligent
   1. You can train them to play fetch, to walk on a leash, give high fives, and even use the toilet
   2. If they are left alone they will also explore and teach themselves how to open cabinets and turn on faucets 
2. They are very social cats
   1. They love people and bond with their humans
   2. They get along very well with other cats and also kids
   3. They get depressed if they are isolated which is why they are usually adopted in pairs
3. They were once thought to be royalty
   1. When a member of the siamese royal family died they believed their soul would go into one of these cats
   2. That cat would live its whole life in the temple 
   3. Literally being treated like roalty
4. Unlike other cats, they have a hard time seeing in the dark
   1. Its because of their blue eyes
   2. They are missing a layer of tissue in their eyes that reflect
5. In Thailand, Siamese cats are called Moon Diamond
   1. wichien-matt
6. Siamese Cats used to have crossed eyes and crooked tails.
   1. According to legend, a Siamese cat was tasked with guarding a golden goblet for a king. It stared at the goblet for so long its eyes crossed and it latched the cup so hard it’s tail kinked. 
7. Siamese Cats have temperature sensitive tips. 
   1. Temperature sensitive enzyme
   2. Causes development of color on the cooler parts of its body (paws, ears, facial features).
   3. Pale on the warmer parts (torso).
8. Siamese used to be the worlds fattest cat.
   1. Her name was “Katy”.
   2. 50 lbs (more than the average 6 year old human)
9. One Siamese cat gave birth to 19 kittens!
   1. That’s a lot. 
   2. Still recognized as world's largest litter of domestic cats. 
10. Siamese cats caught the Russians spying on a Dutch Embasy. 
    1. Dutch Ambassador Henri Held had 2 Saimese cats
    2. They were alseep but woke up suddenly and arched there backs and clawed at the wall. 
    3. Help figured they heard a noise that human ears don’t pick up. 
    4. Found 30 tiny microphones in the wall. 
    5. He didn’t protest espionage, he actually decided to use it to his advantage and began complaining about delays in repairs and packages. All were resolved within 24 hours.

10 Facts About Today - Podcast

April 03, 2020 - 10 Facts About Film Scores.

Today is National Film Score day. 

Here are 10 intense facts about film scores that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. It’s said that film scores weren’t originally artistic, they were needed to drown the noise made by the projector.
   1. In those times,  there were no sound-absorbent walls between the projection machine and the auditorium.
2. Up until 1929, many film scores were performed live by real musicians
   1. either a pianist improvises to the film or a small ensemble of musicians performs a classical piece
   2. During silent film
3. Many scores are reused.
   1. Nino Rota was eliminated from Oscar competition, because he had used the "Theme from THE GODFATHER" in a previous score.
4. Hans Zimmer claimed to have heard an important musical segment from The Dark Knight Rises (2012) in a dream.
   1. “I dreamt that whole sort of insane Bane opus. And, so I wrote it out, and went to Warner Brothers and said 'You know, I had this idea, and I don’t know if it’s going to work,'”
5. Max Steiner, “The Father of Film Music” Steiner made first use of leitmotif (late motif) in 1933 score for King Kong.
   1. A Late Motif is a recurrent piece of music associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.
   2. Probably the best known leitmotif in film is John Williams' shark leitmotif in Jaws.
6. JAWS, Star Wars, and Harry Potter were all composed by the same composer:
   1. John Williams
   2. He also composed E.T., Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and Superman (81)
7. The Imperial March wasn’t originally in Star Wars
   1. Darth Vader's Theme
   2. wasn't actually written until the second film
   3. You won’t hear it in a New Hope
8. The soundtrack to the Exorcist contains the sounds of angry bees
   1. It was an attempt to make the sound track scarier
   2. The buzzing of bees triggers an innate fear response in most people
   3. They also included ominous industrial sounds
9. The famous murder scene for Psycho was originally planned to be without music
   1. Made by Bernard Herrmann
   2. Is now known as the definitive sound of horror music
10. The score for Braveheart did not have any bagpi pes
    1. They are actually Irish Uillean Pipes (ill in)
    2. The main player of these pipes was also featured in the titanic soundtrack

April 02, 2020 - 10 Facts About Burritos.

Here are 10 spicy facts about burritos that you didn’t know, that you didn’t need to know:

1. Burrito means “little donkey”
   1. No one knows why but some common theories:
      1. They look like donkey ears
      2. They were sold out of a donkey cart
      3. They look like the bedrolls that donkeys carry on their backs
2. Burritos Aren’t a Traditional Dish in Southern Mexico
   1. They started in Northern Mexico
   2. Because wheat only grows in the north
3. They’re not called burritos in central mexico
   1. They are called “Tacos de Harina” or flour tacos
   2. Not very popular in mexico
   3. Very Popular with Americans
4. A Chimichanga is a deep fried burrito
   1. Definitely not popular in mexico
   2. You can buy them in some touristy places in mexico
   3. Much more popular in the US
   4. Like burritos you can pretty much fill it with anything
5. “Burrito” is a generic term
   1. There are multiple types of burritos:
      1. Mission Burritos - Chipotle, Moes
      2. “Burrito Suizo” Smothered Burrito, or Wet Burrito  - usually in sit-down restaurants, covered in sauce, and usually baked
6. Sushi Burritos are on the rise
   1. Gaining in popularity
   2. Much healthier than the mexican counterpart
   3. It's basically a big sushi roll
7. A group of people pranked the world with a burrito
   1. They got a justin bieber look alike
   2. Sat him on a bench
   3. He ate a burrito sideways, like not from the top
8. The mission style burrito was invented in San Francisco
   1. From the mission district in san francisco
   2. Most popular style of burrito in the US
9. Burritos first came to the US officially in the 1930’s
   1. They were first added to the menu at El Cholo Spanish Café in Los Angeles
10. The record for fastest burrito eaten was 44 seconds
    1. Leah Shutkever
    2. From Birmingham, UK
    3. Set in May of 2019