The Origin of Everyday

Sunday

Socks are old. The oldest known socks, based on cave paintings and archaeological digs, started about 5,000 BC and were animal skins tied around the ankle. Written records from 8th century BC Greece mention socks made of matted animal hair or leather. Those were called “piloi,” but in English, those garments were called “stockings” until the first use of the term “socks” was recorded in 1690.

Monday

The term “knock your socks off” now indicates something really impressive, but originally meant beating an opponent so thoroughly in a fight that even their socks were knocked off.

Tuesday

You may have heard about attending “sock hops” from your parents or grandparents. These shoeless dances were popular in the 1950s, and though they saved gym floors from shoe scuffing, elders of the time often found this minimal disrobing and dancing to rock music uncomfortably suggestive.

Wednesday

Among the few professional sports teams named for clothing articles (don’t forget knicks = knickerbockers, or knee-length shorts), socks are popular. The Boston Red Sox were originally called the Boston Americans, but after adopting bright red socks as part of a new team uniform, they were renamed in 1908. The original Chicago White Stockings became the Cubs, but then the American League was formed and the name was reapplied to the Chicago A.L. team. The Brown Sox was a short-lived St. Louis baseball team, too. The spelling of “sox” rather than “stockings” or just “socks” was an ink-saving idea of Chicago newspaper publishers.

Thursday

Centuries before the first mechanized sewing machine, the first knitting machine was designed in 1589 to make sock and stocking production faster. Unfortunately for inventor William Lee, Queen Elizabeth I wouldn’t give him a patent, fearing too many hand-knitters would be put out of work.

Friday

You might think something as clearly practical as socks would be universally accepted by active professions, but the Russian army did not adopt socks until well into the 21st century, instead using the same simple rectangular foot wraps – known as “portyanki” – that had been used since the days of Peter the Great.

Saturday

During the Covid-19 pandemic, no clothing items was purchased more than socks, at least in the US.

Sunday

Mines are old. The Ngwenya Mine in northwestern Swaziland was mined for iron ores starting at least 42,000 years ago.

Monday

Broadly speaking, there are four main types of mines: Underground mines, which target deeper deposits, surface mines, which target shallower deposits, placer mines, which sift deposits from sediments in water channels and sands, and in-situ mining, which dissolves the target deposit (usually uranium) in place to be processed at the surface.

Tuesday

Globally, the most mined mineral is iron ore, the most mined gemstone is diamond.

Wednesday

The widest mine in the world is The Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, an open pit copper mine stretching a remarkable 2.5 miles wide. In the other dimension, the Mponeng gold mine in South Africa is 2.5 miles deep, with temperatures so high near the bottom (as it gets close to the Earth’s hot center), it requires a sophisticated cooling system for miners to endure it.

Thursday

Though essential for modern economies, mining is dangerous business. It employs about 1% of all workers, yet causes 8% of fatal occupational accidents, and is unsurprisingly among the world’s most dangerous jobs.

Friday

Many mines are abandoned for one reason or another, often because they’re exhausted or became unsafe or uneconomical. Worldwide, the number of these “orphan” mines is estimated in the millions. These mines often create safety and environmental risks, and with the owner entities often long defunct, remediation can be difficult.

Saturday

You may not think about mineral mining much, but you likely need a lot of it to support your standard of living. The average American lifestyle, for example, requires about 40,000 lbs. of mined minerals per year for the things we use daily.

Sunday

Owls have large, intense eyes, a stoic demeanor, and were often pictured with Athena, goddess of wisdom, and for these reasons they may have become considered wise. Great hunting instincts aside, however, owls are not particularly bright among bird species, nor are they very apt learners compared to other birds.

Monday

Intelligence critiques aside, however, owls are night hunters of the highest order, with remarkable adaptions for that lifestyle. They don’t have eyeballs, but rather “eye tubes” which act as low-light telephoto lenses that can spot movement at distances and in darkness that would be impossible for humans. Their neck can spin 270 degrees to spot prey, all while pooling the blood needed to feed their brain while this twist otherwise cuts off flow. Also, their wings have feather edges furled upward on both the front and back to make their flight among the quietest of raptors, all the better to snatch unsuspecting prey.

Tuesday

You may have seen owls bob their heads while they stare ahead. Since owls cannot move their eyes, this head bobbing gives it a view from several positions so as to judge distance, triangulate, and gather a picture of the world in which they live and hunt.

Wednesday

Owl on owl violence is real. Though the vast majority of the raptor’s diet is rodents, several owl species will eat smaller owls if the opportunity arises.

Thursday

Don’t typecast all owls as hooters! They also hiss, shriek, toot, coo, cry, growl, and in the case of the Saw-whet owl, sound like a whetstone sharpening a saw.

Friday

Owls are among the bird species which regurgitate odorless pellets of undigested food, much of it hair and bones, and from these pellets you might find the bones of six or more small animals.

Saturday

Owls are poor nest builders, so they have to move into vacant nests built by other birds or use low-effort spots like cavities in trees and rocks or move into empty spots in human buildings.

Sunday

Wheat is old and popular. Cultivated for at least 10,000 years, wheat is now the most common crop on Earth, supplying about 20% of all human calories and protein.

Monday

To “separate the wheat from the chaff” means to isolate the more valuable thing in a group from the less valuable, since the edible wheat kernels were more valuable to farmers than the papery husk, or chaff. They are separated by the processes of winnowing and threshing.

Tuesday

Wheat is a member of the grass family with thousands of varieties, but six are the most common, each best for producing particular products, like breads, crackers, pasta, cookies, etc. These are known as hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, soft white, hard white, and durum. The “wheat berries” or seed kernels are the part of the plant which is actually eaten.

Wednesday

The difference between whole grain wheat flour and white or “refined” flour is that whole grain is made from the entire wheat kernel, including the nutrient-dense bran and germ portions, whereas white flour is just the endosperm, which is primarily starch and some protein.

Thursday

Gluten is protein found in wheat, rye, and barley products. It makes dough from those flours stretchy (like pizza dough) and chewy when eaten. However, those with a gluten allergy, or celiac disease, have adverse reactions to this grain protein.

Friday

Globally, the biggest wheat producers are in Asia, with China and India leading the pack.

Saturday

The “amber waves of grain” described in the patriotic poem-turned-song “America the Beautiful” were vast wheat fields. These were among the many sights author Katherine Lee Bates encountered in her 19th century westward journey.

Many parts of your anatomy are named for people real and mythical. Some among the many:

Sunday

Broca’s Area of the brain, which is connected to speech processing, is named for French neurologist Pierre Paul Broca

Monday

Fallopian tubes are named for Gabriele Falloppio, Italian anatomist.

Tuesday

Achilles tendon are named for Greek mythological hero Achilles.

Wednesday

Eustachian tubes are named for Bartolomeo Eustachi, Italian anatomist.

Thursday

The Grafenberg spot (AKA G-spot) is named for Ernst Grafenbert, German-American physician.

Friday

Cowper’s Gland is named for William Cowper, English anatomist.

Saturday

Atlas, the uppermost vertebrae which supports the skull, is named for mythological titan Atlas, who bore the weight of the heavens on his shoulders.

Sunday

IYKYK = If you know, you know

Monday

TOEFL = Test of English as a foreign language

Tuesday

DOB = date of birth

Wednesday

BOLO = Be on the lookout

Thursday

HARIBO = Hans Riegel, Bonn, which is the name of the company founder and original location in Bonn, Germany.

Friday

AFAIC = As far as I’m concerned

Saturday

OATUS = On a totally unrelated subject

Sunday

Globally, about 1.2% of live deliveries are twins. This number has increased dramatically in the last century, both due to improved fertility treatments, and because twins are more likely with older mothers, who are having more children these days.

Monday

Identical twins look alike because they come from a single fertilized egg which splits in two, and so have the same genetic info. Fraternal twins come from two eggs fertilized by two sperm, so genetically, they have no more in common than any other two siblings, despite arriving together. Fraternal twins are about twice as common as identical.

Tuesday

Global mythology is packed with twins, particularly Greek and Roman mythology. After all, it was twin brothers Remus and Romulus who founded Rome, and we still see the Greek twins Castor and Pollux in the night sky within the Gemini constellation.

Wednesday

Since people traveling near the speed of light experience time more slowly relative to the slower-moving, the “twins paradox” describes a situation where one twin leaves Earth to travel near the speed of light, to find upon returning that her twin has aged more than herself, despite both starting at exactly the same age. Because of their real-life space travels, twin NASA astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly are about 0.01 sec different in age.

Thursday

There is no genetic predisposition to having identical twins, since they come from an egg which splits randomly. However, fraternal twins come from multiple eggs, so women with a gene for hyperovulation, or releasing multiple eggs per cycle, are more likely to have fraternal twins. As such, fraternal twins can run in families.

Friday

The term “Siamese twins” originated with conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker, born in 1811 in Thailand (then known as Siam). After traveling with the circus and becoming known worldwide, they settled in the US, married sisters and became farmers who fathered 21 children between them.

Saturday

Some types of “twins” really aren’t. The term “Irish twins” refers to children born within 12 months of each other, and is a 19th century American idiom referring to Irish immigrant families who often had many children born very close together. The similar “Dutch twins” refers to to children born between 12 and 18 months of each other.

Sunday

In modern use, “cutting corners” means to skip some work or complete a task in a less honest or thorough way. Initially, the term meant to hurriedly drive your horsecart very close to a corner while rounding it, rather than taking a slightly longer right angle, although this tiny shortcut often meant hitting the curb and flipping the cart.

Monday

The idea of “the four corners of the Earth” representing all of Earth’s domains, especially the most remote, seems to originate in several Bible verses, with the “four corners” idea likely based on the four cardinal directions or possibly corners of a flat plane.

Tuesday

In contract law, the “Four Corners Rule” dictates that all terms of an agreement should be found within the document itself, particularly if those terms are clear and unambiguous. As such, outside evidence such as verbal or implied agreements between the parties should not be considered when enforcing the contract.

Wednesday

The “corner store” usually means a small convenience store where you can quickly find snacks or household essentials, whether or not it is actually on a street corner, where the name derived. Such stores are found around the world with a great variety of names, among them bodega, party store, deli, spa, package store, sari-sari, dep, packie, milk bar, pulperia, and mama shop.

Thursday

The corporate status symbol of the corner office began with the skyscraper boom of the late 19th century, but really solidified in the post-WWII years, when perimeter offices offered more privacy and natural light than the open, cubicled central areas, and none had more privacy and light than a corner office. However, corner offices and the status they convey have been declining in the Zoom era as they’re increasingly replaced by conference rooms and communal areas.

Thursday

The western United States has several famous corners, for reasons geographical and cultural. At the Four Corners Monument, you can have some body part in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah simultaneously. In San Fransisco, the legendary corner of Haight and Ashbury Streets was the epicenter of 1967’s “Summer of Love” and much of the 1960s countercultural revolution, and Los Angeles’ intersection of Hollywood and Vine is home of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Capital Records Building (famously shaped like a stack of records) and many other buildings from the golden age of broadcast and film studios.

Friday

To “corner the market” means to control such a large amount of a commodity or stock that you can set the price for it and profit. While this illegal to do in stock trading, it is more loosely controlled (but regulated) in futures trading.

Saturday

To “turn the corner” means to be headed toward improvement. This idiom appears to have several possible origins, including medicine, when an ill patient passed a critical point and could start recovering, when a racehorse passed the final turn into the home stretch, and in the sense of an individual’s financial recovery.

Sunday

Tattoos are old. The oldest were found on Otzi the Iceman, who lived over 5,000 years ago. His well-preserved and well-tattooed body was found in a melting glacier in the Italian Alps in 1991.

Monday

Taken from the Tahitian word “tatau,” meaning to mark or strike the skin, Captain Cook introduced this word to English. Done over the course of days with a tapping hammer, the centuries-old art of traditional Polynesian tattoos he’d observed had earned respect, conveyed status, and showed genealogy on those who could afford and endure the ritual.

Tuesday

Modern electric tattoo needles can penetrate the skin up to 200 times per second while delivering ink, and the ideal depth is about 1.5 mm (about the thickness of an American nickel), where the skin’s dermis layer lives. Shallower, and the ink might fade or disappear in the ever-replacing epidermis layer. Deeper, and the ink will spread out in the subcutaneous fat layer, creating a pooled, blurred look known as a “blowout” in the trade.

Wednesday

Globally, women under age 50 are most likely to have at least one tattoo, and “honoring or remembering” something or someone is the most commonly cited reason for getting one. Tattoos are most common in Italy (47% of people) and least popular in India (3%).

Thursday

Early tattoos were overwhelmingly black because the “ink” was often just soot or charcoal mixed with water, so was readily available.

Friday

Historically, tattoos have also marked the prosecuted and persecuted. In ancient Greece and Rome, convicted criminals, slaves, and prisoners of war were tattooed, sometimes on their foreheads, and the Nazis infamously tattooed identifying numbers onto concentration camp prisoners.

Saturday

Laser tattoo removal is a very modern process that uses lasers to superheat tattoo ink, causing those ink molecules to break apart. The much smaller remaining molecules are naturally absorbed and flushed out by the body.