Big Questions Answered, How and Why

Despite the name, it’s completely alcohol-free.

This classic American soda started as a brewed tea made from a potentially toxic plant.

You might not want to eat a hot dog after reading this.

You’ve probably wondered what’s really inside a hot dog before. We have the answer—though we don’t recommend reading it before your next cook-out.

The holiday is always a three-day weekend for a reason.

Discover the real reason why Memorial Day always happens on a Monday, plus how the holiday actually does differ from Veterans Day, and more.

Covering the potatoes can help prevent a potentially dangerous toxin from forming.

If the colony of Carolina and the Dakota Territory hadn’t decided to split themselves up, we’d have only 48 states right now. But why did these particular places become geographic variants of each other?

Flags displayed a Boston Common for Memorial Day.

Both Memorial Day and Veterans Day are meant to celebrate military veterans, but there's one important distinction you should remember.

It doesn’t get much more suburban than this.

The popularity of the once-iconic family car has dwindled quite a bit.

The earliest Swiss Army knives weren't from Switzerland at all.

Corsages and boutonnieres are still popular. It‘s about time you learned their origins.

Ever wondered why prom-goers wear corsages and boutonnieres? Learn the fascinating history behind these floral trends and their evolution through time.

There's a legitimate reason, and it isn't purely aesthetic.

Natural rubber is white, and so were the earliest car tires. So, why are modern-day tires black? The answer is linked to Crayola and carbon black.

The bow of the USS ‘Samuel B. Roberts,’ lying more than 4 miles under the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

These are the five deepest shipwrecks ever discovered, including the USS ‘Samuel B. Roberts,’ which went to the depths of the Philippine Trench during the Second World War.

All over the world, people use the terms 'England,' 'Great Britain,' and the 'United Kingdom’ interchangeably, even though they all mean different things.

We associate left-handedness with intelligence, out-of-the-box thinking, and artistic talent. But are these flattering generalizations backed up by science?

Miracle Whip may remind you of mayo, but it‘s not the same, according to the FDA.

One theory says it comes from an Irish word; another says we have the ancient Romans to thank. But the joke is on those theories, because the real story is more complicated than that.

Signs like this are a familiar sight to visiting teams.

Baseball’s score-keeping system is full of abbreviations, but why exactly is the letter ‘K’ synonymous with a ‘strikeout’? Discover more about the evolution of baseball terms like this here.

Determining the world’s smallest country isn’t as easy as simply calculating area or population.

The fact that all shells sound just a little bit like the ocean is purely coincidental.

‘Pulling out all the stops’ means that someone is holding nothing back and making every conceivable effort to do or accomplish something. But where did the phrase come from? Pipe organs have a little something to do with it.

Made an awkward blunder in a conversation? You might have just put your foot in your mouth. Learn more about the history and origins surrounding this commonly used phrase here.