February 29, 2024

Julius Caesar introduced the first leap year around 46 B.C., but his Julian calendar had only one rule: Any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. That created too many leap years, but the math wasn't tweaked until Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar more than 1,500 years later. Caesar's concept wasn't bad, but his math was a little off; the extra day every four years was too much of a correction. As a result, there's a leap year every year that is divisible by four, but to qualify, century years (those that end in 00) must also be divisible by 400. So, the year 2000 was a leap year, but the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not.

- Thoughtco.com (July 7, 2020)

February 28, 2024

Nearly 220,000 bags were “mishandled” by U.S. airlines in April 2022, meaning they were lost, damaged, delayed or stolen, according to the most recent data published by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The number of mishandled bags in April was more than double the roughly 94,000 cases of mishandled luggage in April 2021, though slightly less than the tally in March 2022 and the level in April 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to department data.

- CNBC, Greg Iacurci (July 19, 2022)

February 27, 2024

Downy Woodpecker Male (Eastern) Small with a short bill. White below, upperparts mostly black with a white back and bold white spots in the wings. Head striped black and white, with a red nape. Note spotting on white outer tail feathers. Female (Eastern) Small and short-billed. Females lack the red nape found on males.

- AllAboutBirds.org

February 26, 2024

North may be at the top of maps today, but that wasn’t always the case. During the middle ages, most Western maps put east at the top instead. This 1300 Christian Mappa Mundi put East at the top, towards the Garden of Eden with Jerusalem in the centre. In Latin, the word for east is ""oriens"", so to hold the map correctly, you had to “orient” it—that is, make sure East was on top. This is where we get the word “orientation” today.

- Futuremaps.com (August 31, 2019)

February 25, 2024

Pilots can only fly one type of aircraft at a time. If they want to fly another model- they have to go through extensive training

- Sheena Wakely, MiFlight Crew Member (gomiflight.com)

February 24, 2024

We all know that it’s almost impossible to frown while on vacation, but did you know your brain is prone to a major boost in happiness just from thinking about an upcoming vacation? Research shows that one of the biggest boosts in happiness comes just from planning the vacation. A person can feel the effects up to eight weeks before the departure date. And let’s not forget the happiness that continues during and after the trip.

- Select Health (May 2019)

February 23, 2024

Luke Aikins Became the First Person to Successfully Skydive Without a Parachute On July 30th, 2016, skydiver/stuntman Luke Aikins performed the highest successful skydive without a parachute. Aikins landed safely in a 100’ x 100’ net in Simi Valley, CA. Aikins used an oxygen tank for the first 10,000 ft of his freefall, which a fellow skydiver then collected.

- Guinness World Records

February 22, 2024

Around 70% of the planet’s surface is covered by oceans. In fact, the oceans hold about 96.5% of all water on Earth.

- NatGeo Kids

February 21, 2024

Water covers about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface.

- U.S. Geological Survey (November 13, 2019)

February 20, 2024

Beaches first became popular destinations in the mid-18th century in Europe.

- Smithsonian (June 23, 2016)

February 19, 2024

Surfers seek out strong waves called swells. Swells are stable waves that form far away from the beach. Swells are formed by storm systems or other wind patterns.

- NationalGeographic.com (October 19, 2023)

February 18, 2024

Studies have shown that round plates make our brain think the food served on them tastes sweeter than food served on square plates.

- Harvard.edu (January 11, 2016)

February 17, 2024

Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas has 16 total decks, 1,612 crew members, 4,198 guests; weights 167,704 gross tons, and is 1,138 feet long and 162 feet wide.

- Royal Caribbean Press Center

February 16, 2024

The world record for static apnea, a discipline in which a person floats on the surface or stands on the bottom in a pool, holding their breath for as long as possible is 11 minutes and 54 seconds.

- gitnux.org (Febrary 7, 2024)

February 15, 2024

While modern technology has led to newer and more effective locks, some of the world’s first locks were created thousands of years ago. In Egypt, archeologists unearthed rudimentary wooden-bolt locks dating back to about 2,000 B.C. It’s believed that these wooden-bolt locks were used on doors. The wooden-bolt locks were similar to the deadbolt locks used on doors today. But instead of metal, they were made of wood.

- commandolock.com (September 13, 2019)

February 14, 2024

Giving red roses may be an obvious romantic gesture today, but it wasn't until the late 17th century that giving flowers became a popular custom. In fact, the practice can be traced back to when King Charles II of Sweden learned the "language of flowers" — which pairs different flowers with specific meanings — on a trip to Persia, and subsequently introduced the tradition to Europe. The act of giving flowers then became a popular trend during the Victorian Era — including on Valentine's Day — with red roses symbolizing deep love.

- Good Housekeeping (December 27, 2023)

February 13, 2024

The air doesn’t need to be super-moist to produce impressive amounts of snow. Unlike plain rainfall, a bank of fluffy snow contains lots of air that adds to its bulk. That’s why what would have been an inch of rain in the summer equals about 13 inches of average snow—or up to 50 inches of super-dry, ski-able powder—in the colder months.

- Mental Floss (November 6, 2023)

February 12, 2024

How to Avoid Overpacking 

Ideally, you should take several passes at packing for a long trip. For best results, leave your luggage alone then reevaluate your packing job on the following day. The decision to take or leave items often changes over time.

- tripsavvy.com (June 26, 2019)

February 11, 2024

In 2020, the National Chicken Council projected that Americans would eat a record-breaking 1.4 billion chicken wings over Super Bowl weekend According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, this Sunday in February is the second-highest day of food consumption in the US, behind Thanksgiving.

- businessinsider.com (February 10, 2023)

February 10, 2024

How Far Can The Eye See on a Clear Day? 

From the ground, a human’s vision range is up to three miles—until the horizon line. However, a person can see many more miles from a greater elevation and even farther if the object they are viewing is also high above ground level.

- warbyparker.com (June 28, 2023)

February 09, 2024

Printed circuit boards are almost always green because they are made from a glass-epoxy, which is naturally green.

- creationtech.com (May 31, 2017)

February 08, 2024

The placement of candles on birthday cakes has various potential origins. Ancient Egyptians used candles during coronations, which were held to raise the status of humans to gods. Later, ancient Greeks placed candles on moon-shaped honey cakes made for the goddess Artemis. The Greeks thought that the smoke from blown-out candles lifted prayers and wishes to the tops of Mount Olympus. Another hypothesis as to the origin of birthday candles is rooted in the German practice of placing a candle in the center of bread or cake baked into the likeness of baby Jesus, which symbolized the light of life.

- psychologytoday.com (April 7, 2020)

February 07, 2024

The total number of new book titles released annually is around 4 million.

It can be estimated that between 500,000 to 1 million of these new titles are published through traditional publishers.

At least 1.7 million self-published titles each year are considered to be produced.

- wordsrated.com (February 2, 2022)

February 06, 2024

In 2020, everyone spent more time at home. They also spent more money to furnish it: according to a recent report, furniture and appliance spending grew from 373 billion dollars to 405 billion dollars over the year. And while, yes, e-commerce sites across the board saw substantial growth, one market segment in particular saw a boom: vintage and consignment.

Then there’s the fact that vintage and consignment is expected to become even more popular in the next few years. Statista projected that the furniture resale market will increase 70 percent from 2018 to 2025.

- Vogue (November 17, 2021)

February 05, 2024

What is AR? Augmented reality is an enhanced, interactive version of a real-world environment achieved through digital visual elements, sounds, and other sensory stimuli via holographic technology. AR incorporates three features: a combination of digital and physical worlds, interactions made in real time, and accurate 3D identification of virtual and real objects.

Augmented reality offers a better way to design, curate, and deliver consumable instructions by overlaying digital content in real-world work environments. When a business understands what AR is and how to utilize it successfully, everyone can work remotely while collaborating efficiently.

- Microsoft

February 04, 2024

A camera takes advantage of [light] by combining optics and mechanics, chemistry and electronics, in such a way that light gets imprinted on a light-sensitive material.

In the case of analog cameras, the medium is the photographic film. In the case of digital cameras, the medium is an electronic sensor. Both the film and sensor react differently to different amounts of light, therefore recreating the scenery in front of the camera.

- Adorama (August 15, 2023)

February 03, 2024

If a vehicle isn’t kept clean on a regular basis, it will be de-valued at the time of trade-in or resale. According to auto trade-in experts such as Kelley Blue Book, cars in excellent mechanical condition and appearance can be valued as much as $1,500 higher than those in good or fair condition.

- ScrubaDub.com (April 22, 2016)

February 02, 2024

Wristwatches were actually first designed for women. At the time watches were created it was the fashion for men to have a pocket watch. The first women to wear a wrist watch was in fact Elizabeth I, which was gifted to her by Robert Dudley, her suspected lover. It became fashionable for men to start wearing wristwatches much later in history, around the the start of the first world war.

- Firstclasswatches.co.uk (February 2018)

February 01, 2024

There are five categories of cart users: Returners. These people always return their carts to the receptacle regardless of how far away they've parked or what the weather is like. They feel a sense of obligation and/or feel badly for the people responsible for collecting the carts. Never Returners. People who never return their carts. They believe it's someone else's job to get the carts or the supermarket's responsibility, and show little regard for where the carts are left. Convenience Returners. People who will return their carts if they parked close to the receptacle, or if they see a cart attendant. Pressure Returners. People who will return their carts only if the cart attendant is present or if the adjacent car's owner is present, which means they don't have an easy avenue for abandoning their carts. Child-Driven Returners. These are people with children who view it as a game to return carts, often riding them back to the receptacle or pushing them into the stacked lines.

- Scientific American (April 26, 2017)