Ever wonder why there’s a giant wad of cotton shoved into your bottle of aspirin or acetaminophen or ibuprofen? There actually is a reason it’s there, though that reason should gradually be fading away. It was in the early 1900s when the Bayer aspirin folks became the first to stuff cotton into their product bottles…
When Keith Urban sang “Blue Ain’t Your Color”, he clearly wasn’t talking about jeans. Other fashion styles may come & go, but nothing in the garment industry has remained as consistently popular as blue jeans, with their standard features of metal rivets, tiny pockets, and, of course, the blue denim (hence, the name “blue jeans”).…
The lead-up to Lent goes by many names, but the most popular is probably “Mardi Gras”, with its festive celebrations made famous in New Orleans, LA, & Mobile, AL. They’re known for their food, parades, and general rabble-rousing. But what exactly is Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras, which is French for “Fat Tuesday”, celebrates the day…
“30 days hath September…April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except for February, which has 28…and, counting leap year, has 29. Why DOES February have only 28 days? The reason why February has 28 days is because, to the Romans, February was an afterthought. In the 8th century BC, the 10-month Calendar of…
If you watched this year’s Olympics (or any Olympics, really), you may have noticed several winners full-ob old-timey prospector by chomping on their medal. Why do Olympians bite their medals? Do they believe the International Olympic Committee would actually try to pull a fast one? Or are they hoping it’s chocolate? Biting on gold used…
We’ve all known people or businesses that have fallen prey to “phishing” attacks. But what is a “phishing” scam? And why is it called that? Back when the word originated, “phishing” attacks were specific to one single spot: AOL. In 1994, a group of enterprising hackers from across the country started impersonating AOL representatives in…
A cake with frosting. A doughnut with icing. What’s the difference between frosting & icing? The dictionary defines icing as “a sweet flavored usually creamy mixture used to coat baked goods … called also ‘frosting’.” And the definition for frosting? “Icing.” So, is there a difference? From a culinary standpoint, frosting & icing are not…
We’re all trying our best to keep ourselves safe as the pandemic wears on. And one of the most frequently asked questions amidst our precautionary efforts is, “How long can I wear my N95 mask before I need to throw it out?” N95 masks, which are the most effective masks available, don’t have a rigid…
Why is February spelled weird? We have a plethora of oddly spelled words in the English language, but February is pretty much the only of our calendar months to be classified as oddly-spelled. Why is that? Well, like the eleven other, more intuitively spelled months, we have Latin to thank (or blame, as the case…
When you go to the movies, you first get your tickets at the box offices, those enclosed, sometimes detached booths just in front of the theaters. But why do we call them “box offices”? Not once have I ever taken a box to them, have you? The actual beginning of the box office involved a…