How Did That Happen?
Have you ever looked at something in society and thought, how did that happen? Whether its dollar stores or islamic radicals this podcast seeks to find the answer of how they came to be and sometimes why? I’m your host Richard Dicks, tune in every Monday!
Episodes
February 19, 2023
https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/52783169/download.mp3
The beginning of Hawaii
Hawaii is said to have been named after Hawaiʻiloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. Other accounts attribute the name to the legendary realm of Hawaiki, a place from which some Polynesian people are said to have originated, the place where they transition to in the afterlife, or the realm of the gods and goddesses.
...
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January 22, 2023
https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/52480042/download.mp3
Alright, welcome back to another episode of Bite Size Bios, BSB, this week we are gonna learn about Grigori Rasputin. I did not know much about this guy going in.
I knew he was kinda weird looking and that he was connected to Russia. That’s about it. We are gonna dive into the life of a man who was basically Russian royalty for a period of time. Don’t at me.
...
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November 14, 2022 • 29 mins
https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/51881162/download.mp3
The traditional function of a signature is to permanently affix to a document a person's uniquely personal, undeniable self-identification as physical evidence of that person's personal witness and certification of the content of all, or a specified part, of the document.
The reason a signature exists is important. It’s another thing that ties civilization together an...
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October 31, 2022
https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/51732869/download.mp3
The name Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪliə/ in Australian English) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis which means southern land. This was a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times.
The idea being that if there is land in the Northern Hemisphere then there has to be land in the Southern Hemisphere to balance out th...
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October 10, 2022 • 19 mins
https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/51444627/download.mp3
This week I take a look at card based transactions and find out who invented the first credit card. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, card based transactions, how did that happen?
The beginning:
Money lending is one of the world’s oldest professions. In fact some of the earliest written laws pertain to the idea of lending.
The concept of credit is good...
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October 3, 2022 • 25 mins
This week I take a look at cereal! Come along for the ride as I ask, cereal, how did that happen?
Wikipedia defines cereal as any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain.
The roman goddess Ceres, who was the protector of grain is where we get the term cereal.
Roman Goddess Ceres
The early neolithic or New Stone Age shows evidence that they would process grains all the way back then too.
Wheat orig...
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September 26, 2022 • 24 mins
This week I look at the Panama Canal and find out some interesting facts about its creation. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, the Panama Canal, how did that happen?
The Beginning:
The idea of creating a water passage across the isthmus of Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans dates back to at least the 1500s.
An isthmus is defined as a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between ...
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September 19, 2022 • 23 mins
This week I look at ladders and tell you how a ladder helped to solve a crime. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, ladders, how did that happen?
A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps.
Etymology of the word Ladder
The word ladder comes from an Old English (Anglo Saxon) word “hlæder”, which means “steps”. Like many Old English words, ladder comes from Old German, in this case “leitara” (“Lei...
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September 12, 2022 • 23 mins
This week I look at gas stations. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, gas stations, how did that happen?
Most of the world calls fuel petrol. The idea of fuel being called gas remains in North America. Literally on Wikipedia it says “the rest of the English speaking world calls it petrol which felt like a subtle shot at us over here.
"Vintage fuel pumps and pickup trucks. Shot in Infrared, light grain."
In the...
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September 5, 2022 • 20 mins
This week I look at the words dude and bro. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, dude and bro, how did that happen?
Before there was ‘bro’, there was ‘dude
It’s thought that ‘dude’ is an abbreviation of ‘Doodle’ in ‘Yankee Doodle’,
In the popular press of the 1880s and 1890s, "dude" was a new word for "dandy"—an "extremely well-dressed male", a man who paid particular importance to his appearance.
High So...
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August 29, 2022 • 20 mins
This week I look at right angles and try to figure out who found them first. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, right angles, how did that happen?
The meaning of right in right angle possibly refers to the Latin adjective rectus which means straight. erect, , upright,
In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn.
Right angles are e...
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August 22, 2022 • 27 mins
This week I look at tools named for people. I try to find out the story behind some of these tools. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, tools named for people, how did that happen?
History of screws:
A screw is defined as an inclined plane that spirals around a central shaft. They have existed for thousands of years.
They were first thought to be used to irrigate the hanging flower gardens of Babylon which i...
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August 15, 2022 • 26 mins
This week I take a look at cigarettes and tobacco. I find out where tobacco comes from. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, tobacco & cigarettes, how did that happen?
History of tobacco
Depending on who you ask the first people to discover and use tobacco were the people from mesoamerica. Mesoamerica is the land starting at southern Mexico and into Central America.
They have found evidence that they had been using i...
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August 8, 2022 • 28 mins
This week I take a look at soap and try to find out where it came from. Come along for the ride as I ask, soap, how did that happen?
The word “Sapo” is the Latin version of “soap”, and is likely based on early Germanic languages.
The word possibly comes from the proto-German saipo, which means “to strain”; the Latin sebum, which translates as “grease”; or from Mount Sapo, an Italian mountain whose location is now lost to h...
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August 1, 2022 • 20 mins
This week I look at X-Rays and try to find out who made them. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, X-Rays, how did that happen?
Before we get too deep in the idea of X-rays we have to cover a couple topics. I want to lay out a few definitions that will helpfully make this easier to understand.
If you’ve been listening for awhile I’ve done this before. I’m not a science person, but I do enjoy it. The vocab kills me ...
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July 25, 2022 • 23 mins
This week I look at garbage and trash cans and try to figure out what crockery is. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, garbage and trash cans, how did that happen?
The first landfill was said to be in 3000 BC in Knossos Crete. An article I read said that the people there would dig deep holes to “hide their refuse”
I wasn’t sure if they just meant like human waste or actual trash.
Knossos Crete
Refuse, not to ...
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July 18, 2022 • 21 mins
Toilet paper as we know it has only been around for a couple hundred years.
The things used for wiping in the ancient times were things that were commonly available and biodegradable. Things like leaves, moss, coconut fibers, straw or a snow.
Prehistoric humans did not have designated bathroom areas and some considered that time to be a communal time to be shared with others. That’s an interesting idea. Because nobody fee...
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July 11, 2022 • 14 mins
This week I look at mason jars and find out who they're named after and who actually made the money. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, mason jars, how did that happen?
The idea of “heat-based canning” emerged in 1806 and was popularized by Nicholas Appert, a French cook who had been inspired by the need to preserve foods for long periods during the Napoleonic wars.
Appert originally used champagne bottles, which...
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July 4, 2022 • 22 mins
This week I look at Popes and the Vatican and find out who the first pope was in addition to how they got that name. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, Popes & the Vatican, how did that happen?
St. Peter is considered the first pope. He was one of the 12 apostles who walked with Jesus. The name pope wouldn’t be used for centuries but since he was the only apostle to actually oversee a church and being that he did it ...
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June 27, 2022 • 16 mins
This week I look at earwax & Q-tips. I find out that Q-Tips used to go by another name. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, earwax & Q-tips, how did that happen?
Q-Tips were created in 1923 by a Polish Jew named Leo Gerstenzang who said that after watching his wife, Ziuta, applying cotton to toothpicks to clean their babies ears he had the idea for Q-tips.
In 1923 he released the first Q-Tips with his company Leo G...
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