Why do Chinese step back when a coffin's closed?

Daily Trivia / March 25, 2025

At funerals in ancient China, when the lid of the coffin was closed, mourners took a few steps backward lest their shadows get caught in the box.

How do you make toffee?

Daily Trivia / March 25, 2025

Toffee is made by boiling together brown sugar, butter, and vinegar.

What color is a baby white whale?

Daily Trivia / March 25, 2025

At birth, the white whale is black.

When was the first jury hung?

Daily Trivia / March 24, 2025

The term “hung jury,” a jury that cannot agree on a verdict, was coined in the 1840s.

Who was first with 'tranquilizer?'

Daily Trivia / March 24, 2025

In 1822, in his book Confessions of an English Opium Eater, Thomas DeQuincy invented the word "tranquilizer" to describe the effect of opium.

What was writings on blindness taboo?

Daily Trivia / March 24, 2025

After Helen Keller graduated magna cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904, she began writing about blindness, a subject taboo in women's magazines because so many cases were related to venereal disease.