In 2011, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recognized the discovery of two new chemical elements: flerovium and livermorium. With the chemical symbols of Fl and Lv, these names became official in 2012. Until the discovery of these predicted elements occurred, they were known as ununquadium and ununhexium, which is scientific Latin for 114 and 116, respectively. These numbers correspond to their atomic …
What is Betelgeuse? No, it’s not the lovably creepy character played by Michael Keaton in the 1988 Tim Burton movie Beetlejuice, though many folks pronounce them roughly the same way. We’re talking about the red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. That Betelgeuse, and its 20 times more massive than the Sun and nearly 650 light-years away. That’s almost 4 quadrillion miles away. So, how did the …
Gotham, the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps: New York City is virtually an emblem of America. But, how did it get its name, and where is “Old” York? What was the original name for New York? Before New York was New York, it was a small island inhabited by a tribe of the Lenape peoples. One early English rendering of the native placename …
An Anatomy Of Cocktail Names Through History by John M. Cunningham The cocktail renaissance of the 21st century, in which craft-cocktail bars have proliferated and classic cocktails are back in fashion, has proved that there is a true art to inventing and mixing drinks. But, what about naming them? For some bartenders, bestowing a name upon one of their newly devised concoctions can be the …
Is root beer the world’s most oddly named carbonated beverage … we don’t know, that award might go to 7-up, but we’re going to explore the naming of this soft drink regardless. What, after all, is the root in root beer? The roots of root in root beer The ingredient in root beer that primarily gives the beverage its distinctive flavor is sassafras, which is “the root …
There’s a funny scene in the 2002 romcom My Big Fat Greek Wedding in which the main character, Toula, introduces her fiancé to her aunt and explains that he’s a vegetarian. The aunt asks what that means, and when he replies that it means he doesn’t eat meat, she says in shock, “What do you mean you don’t eat no meat?” They stare at each other …
Nicknames are usually cute endearments we give to friends or loved ones. But sometimes, we attribute nicknames to infamous figures of notoriety. Think "Ivan the Terrible" or "The Butcher of Bosnia" or Vlad the Impaler." Here are the most notorious nicknames in history.
Want your child to stand out on the preschool roster? Going with a strong noun name is an all-American tradition. Below are some names that you may not have even realized were nouns. And, with a little help from Babylist (who we love because they named the dictionary and thesaurus as some of the top ways to pick a baby name), we’ve ranked awesome noun-inspired names …
Before he was Snoop Dogg, the West Coast rap icon went by his given name: Cordozar Calvin Broadus. He was named after his stepfather. His stage name was inspired by Snoopy though, a childhood nickname. His parents gave him the pet name because of the way he looked. She might be known as Iggy Azalea on stage, but this Australian-born rapper’s official name is Amethyst Amelia …
Whose nuclear launch button is bigger? There has been a serious kerfuffle in the news about buttons and their relative size. Specifically, nuclear launch buttons. Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, flatly stated that a nuclear button is on his desk at all times. “It’s not a mere threat but a reality that I have a nuclear button on the desk in my office.” …
