This is probably the most popular weekend for carving pumpkins. You might be cutting up a few Jack-o-Lanterns the next few days. But where did it all start? Why do we carve pumpkins? Much like Halloween costumes, pumpkin carving started out as a way for people to scare off evil spirits around Halloween. Back in…
We’ve all done it when getting in the car for a road trip or with friends. You call “shotgun!” to get the front seat. But why do we say that? The phrase is a reference to back in the Old West, even though no one actually called it “shotgun” back then… it refers to that…
It’s Halloween season so today’s mystery is about one of the most famous monster movies ever. Frankenstein. Why is his skin green? Green is a very monster-y color but there is a very practical reason to why he’s green. Back when Universal Studios was making the movie Frankenstein they realized that the green shows up…
The word “phony” when you’re referring to someone or something as being fake comes from a shortened version of the word “telephone”. Older phones had such bad audio quality that it would make people’s voices sound fake. I feel like this sounds like a “phony” explanation (haha)… but it’s true! Photo credit: Getty Images
Halloween is 20 days away and between now and the 31st you will hear and see a lot of ghosts saying “BOO”. But why? And where did that come from? The Oxford English Dictionary says that the term “boo” came from the Latin term boare and the Greek word boaein which mean “to cry aloud,…
I’ve often wondered this while walking the cereal aisle in the grocery store. Cap’n Crunch looks like he would be the most likely cereal mascot that was actually based on a real person. Turns out it’s true, he is! Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch. Which is amazing. He was named after the…
The idea of saying “o’clock” sounds kind of Irish in a way. We’ve always just said it after announcing the time but when did it start? It goes back to simpler times when it was rare to find an actual clock to see the time. People would use other means to tell time like a…
If you’re like me you have had the same bear shaped bottle of honey in your pantry for as long as you can remember. Is there a time it needs to be tosses? Maybe not? There is actually no expiration date on honey, simple because it never goes bad. It’s the only food that can…
This is one of those weird things you never think about but totally makes sense. Almost every airline requires their pilot and copilot to eat different meals while in-flight. The reason? In case there’s something wrong with the food they can’t have a scenario where both pilots can’t function to fly. Smart! Photo credit: Getty…
You’ve probably experienced this more than a few times over the summer with bug bites. Anytime you scratch something itchy it only makes you itch worse, but why? The reason is that it causes your brain to release serotonin, which increases the sensations all over your body. Including the sensation of the itch. My trick…