Did You Know?
Did You Know Interstate Travel May Be Faster, But Country Roads Can Lead to Unexpected Mysteries?
How often do you get off the main highways and take smaller country backroads? If you’re like me, not often enough. All those years driving between Tennessee and Texas—and making the trip in one day—meant I never had the time to deviate off my route, no matter how...
Did You Know The Heart of the Pearl Industry Was Once Located In The Appalachian Mountains?
Today we travel across the country with ease. The first settlers weren’t so fortunate. Discoveries Recently, I took Mom to see the Tennessee State Archives and Library in Nashville. (I wrote about the TSAL in December’s DYK Tomorrow Never Comes?) To our...
Did You Know A “Silly Head” Isn’t A “Silly” Blonde?
How do you feel about pennies? Superstitions I have a cousin who won’t pick up a penny if it’s not heads up. (Me? A penny is a penny, and I’ll pick it up regardless of its position.) Many superstitions surround the penny. But where did they come from? Why do we...
Did You Know Human Zoos Were Once Major Attractions?
Have you ever attended a World’s Fair? Do you even know what it is? The Fair In the U.S., it’s called a “World’s Fair.” Continental Europe and Asia know it as an International or Universal “Exposition”—Expo for short—while the United Kingdom refers to it as an...
Did You Know 50,000 People Do This Daily?
For more than two hundred years, people dreamed about connecting England and France by tunnel. In 1994, the dream finally came true. This is a look at the Channel Tunnel after the build. (To learn how it became a reality—from concept to construction—read “Did You Know...
Did You Know Loyalty and Retribution Birthed One Of Our Country’s Greatest National Treasures?
This is the story behind the story of Arlington National Cemetery. The Beginning A couple of years after he married, John Parke Custis (Martha Washington’s son and George Washington’s stepson), purchased two plantations in northern Virginia to be closer to his...
Did You Know This National Cemetery Has Gone High Tech?
The federal government officially established Arlington National Cemetery on June 15, 1864. Though now our most honored military burial ground, that’s not how it began. National Cemeteries The Civil War claimed so many lives, the U.S. had to create the...
Did You Know The Tunnel Under The English Channel Was Designed to Leak?
Thirty years ago, the Channel Tunnel—the tunnel connecting England and France—began operations. The Idea Wanting to build a tunnel under the English Channel goes back centuries. French mining engineer, Albert Mathieu-Favier, pitched it to Napoleon Bonaparte in...
Did You Know An 1880’s Storm Led To This Popular Candy’s Name?
What do you get when you combine and boil variations of two basic ingredients: sugar and butter? Answer: A sweet treat and sweeter memories. The Beginning Invented in the U.S., this boiled candy’s first confirmed written reference as “taffy” is found in the...
Did You Know Anyone Can Be A Guardian Angel?
Guardian angels. They protect and guide us. And they can be anyone. “Real ” Guardian Angels When talking about guardian angels, you first must consider the “real” thing. God created them. They don’t face the same physical constraints, like gravity, that humans...