July 23rd is National Hot Dog Day. So while you ponder the universal question of whether a hot dog is or isn’t a sandwich, enjoy these facts about Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile. Vanity plates for the Wienermobile have included: YUMMY, OUR DOG, BIG BUN, LIL LINK, OH I WISH, WEENR, WNR MBLE, and BOLOGNA. The job title [...]

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July 10th is Nikola Tesla Day. In my opinion Nikola Tesla deserves a week, at least. The Serbian-American inventor and engineer, best known for developing the AC electrical supply system, is also responsible for wireless communication, the radio, neon lights, and remote control. He held over 300 patents worldwide for his various inventions. Were Tesla alive today, he [...]

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June 15th is Lobster Day. Why celebrate Lobster Day? I like to use it as an excuse to sing  “Rock Lobster” and annoy my co-workers. In the spirit of Lobster Day, enjoy these strange lobster facts and photos: Lobster blood is colorless until exposed to oxygen, then it develops a bluish color. Male lobsters are called cocks; females are called [...]

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Did you have an embarrassing yearbook photo? Maybe you had a ridiculous hairstyle or you still had some adolescent gawkiness left in you. The good new is that those days are past you. The bad news: Those photos live on forever at the Davenport Public Library. The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, located in the basement [...]

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What do art theft, forest fires, chemistry, and murder have in common? If you said things that I participated in during my college years, you are no longer my friend (but you are also not very far off the mark.) All kidding aside, these are some of the subjects of books that will be discussed in Davenport [...]

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Do you like cheese but wish it were partially digested before you ate it? No? How about if it were partially digested by maggots before you ate it? Still no? O.K., what if the maggots were still in the cheese when it were served to you? Hey, where are you going? Casu Marzu is a [...]

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Huitlacoche (or corn smut) is a pathogenic plant fungus that grows on the above ground portion of corn species. It is popular in Mexico where it is used as a filling in quesadillas and tacos or can be used fresh in soups and stews. Interestingly, corn smut contains lysine, an essential amino acid that is not [...]

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Don’t get me wrong, I love boiled eggs. Seriously, I like them way too much; I just prefer mine without feathers or beaks. Balut is a fertilized duck egg that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Balut is commonly sold as a street food in the Phillippines and rumored to be an aphrodisiac. The development [...]

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