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Sunday

The original breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, came from an accidental discovery at a sanitarium. When brothers John Harvey Kellogg and Will Keith Kellogg found some wheat they’d cooked had gone stale, they nonetheless put the wheat through rollers hoping to make dough sheets. When they got flakes instead, they decided to toast them. This cereal was very popular at the Battle Creek, Michigan sanitarium they were managing at the time, and since it was neither spicy nor sweet, it did not risk arousing any of the “passions” which their Seventh Day Adventist religion attributed to such food. Various grains were tested, and eventually their corn cereal was mass produced starting in 1906. The green rooster mascot, still on the box today, is named Cornelius (“Corny”) and came about because a Welsh-speaking friend noted that her language’s word for rooster was “ceiliog,” which sounded like “Kellogg.”

Monday

Charles W. Post, previously a patient of the Battle Creek Sanitarium which the Kellogg brothers oversaw, started a competing cereal company, The Postum Cereal Company, Ltd., and produced a rival corn flake cereal called “Post Toasties”. Grape Nuts Cereal (still around today) soon followed, and through aggressive marketing and dubious health claims regarding his products, this other Battle Creek food company became a major industry player.

Tuesday

Tony the Tiger has been around since long before the cereal changed its name from “Sugar Frosted Flakes” as sugar consumption concerned more consumers. It was previously revealed that Tony is Italian-American, has a mom Mama Tony, a wife Mrs. Tony, a son Tony Jr., and a young daughter Antoinette.

Wednesday

Grape Nuts cereal is made from wheat, barley, yeast, salt, and some added vitamins. The cereal never contained grapes nor nuts at any point in its 125-year history, so that now the product’s own website only has speculation as to why it was named so.

Thursday

The first face to appear on a Wheaties box was fictional “all-American boy” Jack Armstrong in 1934, who was replaced later that year by real-life baseball legend Lou Gehrig. Prior to focusing on athletes, The Lone Ranger, pioneer female pilot Elinor Smith, and other non-athletes appeared on Wheaties boxes, though it was not until the 1950s that individuals appeared on the front of the box instead of the back. Notably, Wheaties was also the first product promoted with a musical jingle in its radio commercial.

Friday

The first appearance of iconic cereal mascots Snap, Crackle, and Pop began with a solo appearance by Snap in 1933. His brothers soon joined him, all first appearing as elderly gnomes rather than the youthful elves of later makeovers. A brief appearance of a taller, brawnier, fourth elf named Pow (short for “Power”), appeared dressed in spacesuits during the space race of the 1950s, but was soon retired.

Saturday

We call it “cereal” after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain.

Sunday

The term “to cut your teeth on ___” derives from the old description of when a baby first “cut his teeth,” or had them emerge through the gums.

Monday

Horse teeth grow their whole lives, and a trained eye can age the animal accordingly, hence the reference to older folks being “long in the tooth.”

Tuesday

To “lie through your teeth” means to lie unabashedly, often, and by some accounts, even while smiling and showing your teeth.

Wednesday

Not everyone develops wisdom teeth, or “third molars,” but those who do often find they crowd other teeth or become impacted and fail to fully emerge or “erupt” into the jaw. One reason for this is that modern humans have smaller jaws than our distant ancestors, so there is less space for these somewhat vestigial teeth than before.

Thursday

Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury was famously self-conscious of his prominent front teeth, but refused orthodontic treatment, believing they played a role in his remarkable vocal range and projection. In 2016, European scientists (and admitted fans) studied this question and found that Mercury’s singing voice likely came from not only his outstanding control of his vocal chords, but use of his vestibular folds, membranes found above the vocal chords and not usually used in voice at all.

Friday

A snake’s teeth tell you how it kills prey. Venomous snakes have long fangs which inject poison into prey, while the more common constrictors have smaller even teeth to latch onto prey while the rest of the muscular snake wraps around it to suffocate it.

Saturday

Cavities aren’t new, and neither are fillings. Archaeologists have found human remains from about 6,500 years ago with beeswax fillings and remains from 13,000 years ago with tar fillings.

Sunday

IMAX = Image MAXimum

Monday

NORAD = North American Aerospace Defense Command

Tuesday

HUD = Housing and Urban Development

Wednesday

IRC = International Rescue Committee

Thursday

COP = Conference Of the Parties (to treaties, typically international ones like those relating to climate change)

Friday

COLA = Cost of Living Adjustment

Saturday

SAG = Screen Actors Guild

Sunday

Silver’s chemical symbol on the periodic table is not “Si” (which is silicon), but “Ag” after the Latin “argentum,” meaning “shiny” or “white.”

Monday

“Quicksilver” actually describes mercury, which is both silvery in color and the only metal which is liquid at room temperature, making it seem alive, or “quick.”

Tuesday

Silver gets the gold medal for being the most malleable and ductile metal, able to be drawn into a wire one atom (yes, atom) wide.

Wednesday

Since silver platters were traditionally serving dishes used in formal, wealthy settings, to have things “handed to you on a silver platter,” means to receive something without necessarily deserving or earning it in the first place.

Thursday

However, if that thing brought on a silver platter is a severed human head, this is refers to a harsh punishment based on a grisly biblical story. In it, King Herod grants his stepdaughter Salome her wish of receiving the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. John, Jesus’ cousin, had been speaking ill of the queen and was already imprisoned for fear he might spark rebellion.

Friday

There’s not much actual silver in the sky, but a “silver lining” refers to the light seen around the edge of dark clouds. It is a metaphor for a positive outcome born of a negative one.

Saturday

“Silver Surfer” is both a Marvel Comics character introduced in 1966 and an amusing term for senior citizens who are proficient in “surfing” the Internet.

Among the many everyday terms originating from the ancient practice of falconry:

Sunday

The leash by which a falconer holds onto his bird is called a “jess,” and when the handler’s thumb pins down the jess to hold it secure, the bird is “under his thumb.”

Monday

Likewise, the jess can be wrapped around a little finger to secure the bird, the origin of this other term for full control.

Tuesday

“Haggard” describes a mature wild-caught hawk, which are also often thin and scruffy when caught after a taxing migration.

Wednesday

When a falconing bird is tethered and restrained, it is “bated,” so “waiting with bated breath” refers to holding your breath in anticipation.

Thursday

A leather “hat” or hood is sometimes put over the eyes of the bird to calm them. From this we get “hoodwinked,” meaning deceive, since wink means to close the eyes quickly.

Friday

“Ruser,” from the Old French, describes when a hawk shakes its tail feathers. From this comes “rouse,” which means to awaken yourself or someone else.

Saturday

References to a “hawkeye” as having sharp vision are not kidding. Hawks can see five times better than people, spot small prey miles away, have a visual range of 280 degrees (people only have 200 degrees), and can see sharper colors and even ultraviolet light.

Sunday

“Inc.” means incorporated, and “corp.” means corporation. A corporation is one type of business entity that is legally distinct from those who own it or work there.

Monday

“LLC” stands for “limited liability company,” which does not issue stock like a corporation, but is still separate from the people owning / running / working for it.

Tuesday

“DBA” stands for “doing business as.”

Wednesday

“LP” is a limited partnership…

Thursday

…and “LLP” is a limited liability partnership.

Friday

“PC” stands for professional corporation, and is a corporation which can be started by members of particular professions.

Saturday

“Co-op” is a cooperative, which means individuals, producers, or businesses working together for a common purpose, usually agreeing to certain principles of autonomy and democracy.

Sunday

Asia’s name comes from ancient Greek, where the term was applied to what is now Anatolia after first just describing the east bank of the Aegean Sea. The term was later applied to lands further and further east, and Anatolia was differentiated by calling it “Asia Minor.”

Monday

The Romans called modern-day Tunisia, the part of Africa closest to them, “Africa terra,” or “land of the Afris” after a tribe from northern Africa, near Carthage. As with Asia, the name applied to a small part of the continent was progressively applied to the whole, sped by Middle Ages exploration of Africa.

Tuesday

America, both North and South, were most likely named for Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who himself was named for Hungary’s Saint Emeric. Vespucci’s explorations of the coasts of modern-day Venezuela and Brazil led him to propose these unknown lands were actually part of a new continent, which proved true.

Wednesday

Antarctica, from the Greek “antarktike” means the opposite to the Arctic, with this continent being on the other side of the globe as the Arctic. “Arctic” comes from “Arktos,” or “bear” in Greek, since the bear constellations – Ursa Minor and Major – are seen in the Northern Hemisphere and point to the North Star.

Thursday

When English explorer Matthew Flinders first sailed around Australia, the maps printed after his journey called it “Terra Australis” (“Southern Land”), although “Australia,” which the navigator himself preferred, eventually won out as the common name.

Friday

Three prominent theories about Europe’s name:

-That it came from “erebu” an Akkadian word meaning “sunset,” since Europe was west (toward the sunset) from where the word originated in Mesopotamia.

-That is is named for the Greek goddess Europa.

-That it comes from the Greek words for “wide” and “eye,” or “wide gazing” since Europe’s shoreline would have looked comparatively very wide to Greek mariners.

Saturday

Thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean are part of what is called Oceania, a term which often includes Australia and the submerged continent of Zealandia. “Okeanos” was the name of the great water body which ancient Greeks believed surrounded the Earth.

Sunday

Curiously, the first known paint mixture predates any known paintings by thousands of years. Several seashells containing a painting mixture of ochre, charcoal, crushed bone and stone flakes were found in South Africa’s Blombos Cave, and may be up to 100,000 years old. Any paintings made from this stash likely washed or wore away since then.

Monday

The oldest known preserved paintings are in limestone caves in Indonesia and date back at least 40,000 years. The better-known European cave art appears to be several thousand years younger.

Tuesday

Ancient paint was made with a remarkable variety of pigments to get the various colors needed. The origin of these colors included fruits, flowers, blood, charcoal, insects, sap, plants, roots, and various natural minerals.

Wednesday

A big revolution in the history of paint was the use of oil-based paint, which could give paintings more vibrant color, luster, and depth, among other advantages. The first known oil painting was from 650 A.D. by Buddhist artists in what is now Afghanistan. Historically popular painting oils were linseed, walnut, poppy seed and safflower.

Thursday

The largest known painting in the world, completed in 2020, is over 17,000 square feet in size, and was sold to benefit charities.

Friday

In 1949, paint salesman Ed Seymour wanted a way to showcase an aluminum coating for radiators. His wife proposed a spray gun, like the kind used for deodorizers, and the spray paint can was born.

Saturday

The Mona Lisa is likely the most famous paining ever, and is considered priceless. It is insured for over $900 million in inflation-adjusted dollars, the most of any painting in history, and French law prevents its sale.

Sunday

By one count, there are well over 100 different sun gods and goddesses from religions all over the world.

Monday

The Earth is actually farthest from the sun in the summer and closest the winter, but the summer sun rays hit at a steeper angle. Hence these summer rays reach us with more focused intensity, as well as longer days to experience more of the light and heat.

Tuesday

The casual observer may think the sun is fixed and unchanging, but periodic energy outbursts in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections can cause huge problems to Earth’s electrical and electronic infrastructure. Events like this make up part of what is known as “space weather.”

Wednesday

Thanks to Earth’s axial tilt, several cities in the farther latitudes don’t see the sun go down for about 2.5 months straight, while during the opposite time of year, it doesn’t come up for that long. Travel to the North or South Poles, and “polar day” and “polar night” last for six months each.

Thursday

Humanity has about 5 billion years to find and colonize at least one other livable planet before our own sun consumes all its hydrogen fuel and burns out.

Friday

The massive asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago sent so much dust and debris into the atmosphere that the sun was largely blotted out for years. Fewer plants grew, which played a huge role in the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Saturday

If Earth was closer to the sun, it would likely be too hot for life to evolve, as on Mercury or Venus, where water boils away. If it were further, it would be too cold and water would freeze, like on the outer planets. For this reason, scientists coined the term “Goldilocks Zone” for the distance from a sun hospitable to liquid water and therefore life.