World of Knowledge

10/24/2023

10/24/2023

Terence Kirk was an American soldier who was captured by the Japanese on the day they bombed Pearl Harbor. He spent the entire war at a brutal prison camp. While there, he built a camera out of scrap and took many pictures. After the war, he was put under a gag order, and only told his story 38 years later.

10/24/2023

Michelin goes to huge lengths to keep the Inspectors (who give out stars to restaurants) anonymous. Many of the top people have never met an inspector; inspectors themselves are advised not to tell what they do. They have even refused to allow its inspectors to speak to journalists.

10/22/2023

Northern Elephant Seals were thought to be extinct until eight were discovered on Guadalupe Island in 1874 by a Smithsonian expedition. They then killed seven for their collections.

10/20/2023

There is a bog in Florida that was an ancient burial pond and it contains human remains that were buried almost 2000 years before the first pyramids. The skeletal remains were preserved so well that researchers have managed to collect soft brain tissue from the skulls.

10/07/2023

Duncan Hines was a real person. He was a popular restaurant critic who also wrote a book of hotel recommendations.

10/07/2023

Outside North America, Calico Critters are called “Sylvanian Families.”

10/05/2023

In 1907, an ad campaign for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes offered a free sample of cereal to any customer who would wink at their grocer.

10/05/2023

Juicy Fruit gum, an early version of Cracker Jack, and the Ferris Wheel all made their debuts at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

10/05/2023

Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt once sneaked out of a White House event, commandeered an airplane, and went on a joyride to Baltimore.