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Tag Archives: inventions
the Powerful Secret of Pop Rocks
Pop Rocks combine candy with explosions in your mouth. Obviously a genius idea. It first popped up in 1975 and as soon as it caught on the urban legend evolved that eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda at the same time would cause death-by-stomach-explosion. The rumour was so widespread that the FDA (Food and Drug [...]
The origin of the hamburger: Great sandwich or greatest sandwich ever?
Speaking of hamburgers, which I was (specifically, hucking them across continents), are you aware just how close we came to going out for “tartars and fries”? The Tartars (or Tatars) are an ethnic group found around Russia, descendants of Mongolians, who were once at the leading edge of finely chopped meat. The legacy remains in [...]
FACT: chia pets are very nutritional
Ch-ch-ch-chia! The Chia Pet is deeply rooted in the popular culture of North America so much that it is part of the Smithsonian Institutions permanent collection. It started as an authentic bit of Mexican culture before becoming an “As Seen on TV” sensation. It is a small animal figurine made of terra cotta pottery. You [...]
FACT: a CD track is five kilometers long
I’d like to start off by saying that a CD (compact disc) works very much like a vinyl record, but I’m afraid it would be almost as current to say a CD works much like a telegraph machine. Still, I’ll soldier on with my record analogy, since they both store music (data) in a very [...]
FACT: your Chapstick has the power to kill you
Chapstick is a trade-marked brand name for lip balm, but the name has become so popular to use with any kind of lip balm that they could be in danger of losing their trade-mark. (like what happened to the Yo-Yo) The one and only Chapstick was invented in the 1870s by Dr. Charles Browne Fleet, [...]
FACT: penicillin owes everything to the cantaloupe
Penicillin remains one of the most significant medical advancements, umm, ever. Before its first use in 1940, infections from a skinned knee or a shaving cut could prove fatal. There was nothing doctors could do to fight bacteria. Until the P-bomb came along. Alexander Fleming is credited as the one who discovered penicillin while working [...]
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