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  The ruff collar is one of the most recognizable symbols of Elizabethan fashion. Picture Queen Elizabeth I, her head surrounded by a crisp, fanlike collar, or William Shakespeare, the most famous author of the time, whose own likeness and theatrical productions depict the prominent garment. Though the collar began as a modest ruffle on a shirt, it went on to become an elaborate piece of its own. In 16th-century England, it would have been hard to miss the sight of these towering, fluted sculptures circling the faces of the English elite. But why did people wear these stiff, awkward garments? Like many sartorial choices of the time, ruff collars signified more than just taste; they were statements of status, wealth, and power. In the first half of the 1500s, English men exposed just a  hint of a collar of their shirt,  ruffled up from underneath their doublets. By the mid-1500s, however, Spanish fashion began to infiltrate England, and the exaggerated collar worn by Spain...

  F rench Revolutionary Time was a short-lived concept that used a base-10 timekeeping system. Otherwise known as “decimal time,” this unprecedented method  included  10-hour days, 100 minutes per hour, and 100 seconds per minute. Each day was divided into 10 equal parts, with “zero” marking the start (what is now midnight) and “five” denoting the midpoint (noon). This meant that every hour was more than twice as long as an hour of standard time. New clocks and watches were even manufactured displaying both decimal time and standard time, to considerable confusion.  While France formally adopted this practice on November 24, 1793, the idea was first promoted in 1754. That year, mathematician Jean le Rond d’Alembert drew inspiration from the base-10 numeral system that had existed since ancient times and argued that it would be easier and more convenient to calculate times that were divisible by 10. The concept was revived in 1788 and met with enthusiasm from French r...

  Original photo by Iana Miroshnichenko/ iStock Gerber once attempted to launch a “meal in a jar” product for young adults. The Gerber baby food company has long operated under the  slogan  “Babies are our business… our only business.” But for a brief period in 1974, that promise wasn’t exactly true. That year, the company unveiled  Gerber Singles , a line of glass jars containing ready-to-eat meals that were advertised to young adults and college students. This new product was part of a larger effort by Gerber to expand its customer base in response to a  25% drop  in the U.S. birth rate from 1960 to 1972, which heavily impacted the baby food market. With the  tagline  “We were good for you then, we’re good for you now,” Gerber Singles were essentially advertised as whole meals for single people on the go or those who chose not to cook. Flavors included Beef Burgundy, Mediterranean Vegetables, and Blueberry Delight, and all you needed to do was h...

  S.O.S. Doesn't Actually Stand for Anything After more than a century of use as a maritime distress signal, “SOS” has become shorthand for just about any emergency. You may have heard that it stands for “save our ship” or “save our souls,” but that’s actually a backronym, or an acronym made up after the fact. The letters in “SOS” didn’t initially stand for anything; they were originally chosen because they form a sequence of Morse code that can be transmitted more quickly than others. Morse code (named for Samuel Morse) is a way of transmitting phrases with light flashes or electrical pulses; each letter and numeral has its own sequence of between one and five short bursts (known as “dots” or “dits”) and long bursts (“dashes” or “dahs”). In 1901, inventor Guglielmo Marconi created a radio transmitter that could send Morse code signals across the Atlantic, allowing ships to communicate with other vessels and land-based stations. British operators were   already using “CQ,” ...

  Original photo by Mathias Berlin/ Shutterstock Kangaroos can’t walk backward. Kangaroos are one of several biologically unique creatures endemic to Australia. One of their most unusual traits is that their  long hind feet and muscular tails  prevent them from being able to walk backward except with great difficulty. In fact, kangaroos can’t even really walk  forward  like other animals. Instead, they ambulate using a hopping motion called  saltation  in which their hind feet touch the ground synchronously instead of alternating one at a time. They also use their long tails to balance and propel themselves forward, almost like a third hind leg. This physiological composition makes it effectively impossible for kangaroos to walk or hop backward, as their tails are far too heavy and cumbersome to allow for easy reverse navigation. When they do want to move “backward,” they do so by turning around and facing that direction. Much like their marsupial mate...

  Original photo by David Havel/ Shutterstock Hippo sweat is red. As evidenced by  Moo Deng , the pygmy hippopotamus whose pint-sized appearance and big personality took the internet by storm, hippos can be adorable. They’re also highly unusual creatures for several reasons, including the fact that  their sweat is red . Some biologists  disagree  with calling it “sweat” because it serves a different purpose, moisturizing the animals’ skin and repelling water rather than cooling them down, but no one denies the  color  — it’s even sometimes known as “blood sweat.” In fact, the ancient practice of  bloodletting  stemmed from ancient Egyptians’ mistaken belief that hippopotamuses intentionally injured themselves when they were sick in order to drain their veins of apparently bad blood. It took several years to safely and accurately figure out why this substance is red, as hippopotamuses, despite their endearing appearance, are in fact quite dang...

  Fun Facts for the Kids Table at Thanksgiving As we all prepare for Thanksgiving, we wanted to take a moment to share some fun facts about Thanksgiving. These are fun little anecdotes to share around the kids' table, and a few are pretty surprising! Take a look: The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 over a three-day harvest festival. It included 50 Pilgrims, 90 Wampanoag Indians, and lasted three days. It is believed by historians that only five women were present. Turkey wasn’t on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Venison, duck, goose, oysters, lobster, eel, and fish were likely served, alongside pumpkins and cranberries (but not pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce!). Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863. Sarah Joseph Hale, the woman who wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” convinced Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday after writing letters for 17 years. The history of U.S. presidents pardoning turkeys is patchy. Harry Truman i...

  L ong before bright orange basketballs made their way onto NBA courts, the earliest basketball games were played using  soccer balls . Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, who sought to create a new indoor activity that could be played by students during the winter months. Naismith asked the school’s janitor to fetch him two 18-square-inch boxes for “goals,” but the janitor returned with two peach baskets instead. Naismith nailed those baskets to the railing of the gymnasium balcony, which happened to be 10 feet off the ground (this is why official NBA hoops measure 10 feet high today). After Naismith procured a soccer ball, as basketballs of course didn’t exist yet, the new game was ready to be played. The original version of basketball followed a  list of 13 rules  regarding fouls and ball movement. Players were required to remain stationary when in...

  What Your Last Name Says About Your History Last names, also known as surnames, can be more than just family identifiers — they can be gateways to understanding more about our ancestral history, cultural heritage, and even ancient migration patterns. The practice of  using last names  began as populations expanded and it became necessary to distinguish individuals with the same first names. The origins of these surnames are often tied to geographical regions, occupations, or even personal traits — think “Hill,” “Baker,” or “Armstrong.” In the United States, where the population is a diverse mix of cultures, surnames also carry with them the marks of migration, colonization, and assimilation. Whether a last name suggests our ethnic heritage, an occupational trade, a geographical region, or the influences of colonization and religion, the identifiers we carry with us can reveal intriguing stories about our past and connect us to a broader story of human movement and settl...

  A t the turn of the 20th century, gas engines hadn’t become the standard yet; electric, gas, and steam-powered vehicles each held around one-third of the U.S. automobile market. Electric vehicles stood out from the pack because they didn’t produce unpleasant pollution (sound familiar?) and because they were much quieter than their gas or steam counterparts. The big disadvantage was that they didn’t have great range, something that drivers still worry about today.  One of the very first electric cars in America was the  Electrobat , a heavy, utilitarian carriage powered by an adapted ship’s motor and built specifically for rough city roads. It had to safely lug around a 1,600-pound lead-acid battery, but it was the ideal vehicle to make short trips throughout the city. It became the basis for the first cab company in New York City, the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company, founded in 1896. The founders also came up with a clever way of working around the battery problem: ...

  Photo credit:  Fine Art / Corbis Historical via Getty Images Myth: He Skipped a Silver Dollar Across the Potomac Legend   says that Washington once tossed a silver dollar a mile across the Potomac River to the other side. This enduring claim plays into the mythos surrounding his physical strength and larger-than-average   height   (he was 6 feet, 2 inches tall). But the tall tale probably stemmed from stories of lesser feats, including Washington’s grandson’s claim that the former President tossed a piece of slate across the Rappahannock River, which is much narrower than the Potomac. Indeed, silver dollars didn’t even exist during Washington’s lifetime. The use of   silver   for coins didn’t begin until 1794 (five years before his death), and true silver dollars weren’t   minted   until 1878.  Note:  The above comes directly from their website.

  Photo credit:  Print Collector / Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images Myth: He Wore a Powdered Wig Portraits of Washington in his older years showcase his distinct, neatly coiffed hair, pulled into a ponytail in typical founding father fashion, but it’s a common   misconception   that this was a wig. Powdered wigs from this era looked identical to Washington’s hairdo, but the military commander still had a full head of hair. Instead, he used white powder on his hair to make it appear brighter — white hair was very fashionable during the 18th century. What’s more, Washington was one of   five redheaded Presidents , as seen in his younger portraits.  Note:  The above comes directly from their website.

  Photo credit:  Interim Archives / Archive Photos via Getty Images Myth: He Won Most of His Military Battles Washington is often touted as a military genius and expert strategist, but he actually   lost   many battles to the British during the American Revolution. In fact, of the 17 Revolutionary War   battles   the general was present for, he won six, lost seven, and four ended in a draw. His unparalleled   reputation   was earned by the battles he did win, including the Battle of Trenton and the Siege of Yorktown, the latter of which was the decisive battle of the Revolutionary War. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington displayed resilience, determination, and leadership, and earned the respect of his soldiers and the rest of the country, who in turn selected him as the first President of the new nation. Note:  The above comes directly from their website.

  Photo credit:  Star Tribune via Getty Images Myth: He Had Wooden Dentures  Half of this myth is correct: Washington definitely did wear dentures, and a set is even   on display   at Mount Vernon. He began   losing   teeth in his 20s and was forced to wear painful dentures for the rest of his life. Eighteenth-century dentures were a little different from modern versions and were made with all sorts of unique materials, including human teeth, cow and horse teeth, ivory (possibly of elephant or hippopotamus origin), and metal alloys such as lead-tin, copper, and silver. Wood, however, was never used in the construction of Washington’s dentures, though due to the discoloring of some of the materials, they might have appeared wooden, fueling this myth.  Note:  The above comes directly from their website.

  Photo credit:  MPI / Archive Photos via Getty Images Myth: He Was the First President to Live in the White House It’s a common   misconception   that George Washington lived in the White House — he was the first President, after all — but the building wasn’t completed until 1800, one year after Washington’s death. The President’s successor, John Adams, was the first commander in chief to call the White House home. However, Washington did play a large   role   in the planning and construction of the famous residence. He chose the site of what was then called the “President’s House” at what is now 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The first cornerstone of the White House was laid in October 1792. During this time, Washington   lived   in executive residences in New York and Philadelphia, both of which served as the nation’s capital before it was moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800.  Note:  The above comes directly from their website.

  Photo credit:  Bettmann  via Getty Images Myth: Washington Chopped Down His Father’s Cherry Tree Washington telling his father, “I cannot tell a lie… I did cut it with my hatchet,” is coincidentally one of the biggest lies about this larger-than-life figure. Legend  says   that George Washington received a hatchet as a gift when he was 6 years old, and  took the ax to one of his father’s beloved cherry trees. During the subsequent confrontation with his father, he came clean, unable to tell a lie. The encounter was recreated in artist John C. McRae’s 1867 engraving “Father, I Can Not Tell a Lie: I Cut the Tree.” There’s just one problem: None of this ever happened. The famous legend was   devised   by biographer Mason Locke Weems in the 1806 edition of his book “The Life of Washington.” Published shortly after Washington’s death, the book immortalized the founding father as a national hero with a steadfast moral compass despite his faults, inclu...

  Photo credit:  Gibson Green / Alamy Stock Photo The Youngest American Soldier in WWII Calvin L. Graham was the  youngest  U.S. military member during WWII, and is still the youngest recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. It wasn’t unusual for boys to lie about their age to enlist, but Graham was just 12 years old when he forged his mother’s signature and headed to Houston to enlist. The 125-pound, 5-foot-2 boy was miraculously cleared for naval service and assigned to the USS South Dakota as an anti-aircraft gunner. On November 14, 1942, the South Dakota was ambushed by Japanese forces at the  Battle of Guadalcanal . Graham was severely burned and thrown down three stories of the ship, but still mustered the strength to tend to his severely wounded shipmates. He was honored for his heroism, but when his mother found out about the honor, she informed the Navy of his real age and he was stripped of his medals and thrown into the brig for three months. In...