BeCurious

The world is an amazing place, full of things to wonder and be curious about. Visit this page regularly to see what interesting finds that get posted here. It could be facts, maps, primary sources, photographs or the history of words. All can help you spark some interest or learn more for life!

Posted: 3/4/2021: File to: Public Broadcasting, Cool Archives, Black History, American History.

Many of us grew up with the amazing content that PBS and NPR have provided viewers and listeners for the last several decades. Those entities are sources of quality interviews and other programs that help us share ideas and grow. Much of that historical content was difficult or impossible to find online, but a collaborative project between the Library of Congress and the GBH station in Boston has preserved, organized and made shareable a tremendous amount of valuable programs that are fascinating. They show us how much and how little our country has changed over the years. Please visit this archive and explore what is available.

Here is an article with some of the highlights the author found searching through the database, including interviews with Emmett Till's bereaved mother and activist Angela Davis:

https://hyperallergic.com/623698/american-archive-of-public-broadcasting-black-tv/

Here is the link to the database itself:

Posted: 12/18/14: File to: Statistics, Infographics, Change: 1940-2010: How Has America Changed? From the US Census Bureau.

See how much life has changed over the last seventy years, what do you think America will be like in 2080?

Posted: 12/3/14: File to: Language, Etymology, Contractions: Why Does "Will Not" Become "Won't"? From Mental Floss.

Posted: 12/3/14: File to: Language, Etymology, Pre-fixes, Half: Semi-, Hemi-, Demi-: What's the Difference? From Mental Floss. Where do we get the terms for the meaning of "half" and why do we have so many?

Posted: 11/25/14: File to: Science, Food: The Science Behind Baking the Most Delicious Cookie Ever. From Time Magazine.

Posted 11/25/14: File to: Etymology, Latin: 10 Latin Phrases People Pretend to Understand. From Mental Floss.

Posted 11/13/14: File to: Maps, Sandwiches, Fun facts: The Best Sandwich from Every State.

Find out what the best sandwich in each state is. From Mental Floss.

Posted 11/13/14: File to: Economy, Globalism, Trade, T-shirts: Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt, from NPR. Where were your clothes made? This five-part piece follows the making of a t-shirt from the purchase of the cotton, to the choosing of a factory for manufacturing the cloth, then the labor to sew it, and finally the shipping process until it is ready for purchase in the United States. It illustrates how the global market works, through the lens of one run of t-shirts. You won't look at your clothes the same way again!

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Curiosity, Inquiry, Podcast: From Curiosity to Discovery, from the NPR TED Radio Hour.

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Languages, Infographics: Old World Language Families infographic. Check this out to see how the languages of the world are related to each other. It's nice to look at, too. From Mental Floss.

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Maps, Languages: Endonym Map. What's an endonym? It is a name for a place, like a country or city, in the language of the people who live there. Take a look at this map and see what places around the world are named in their native language! From Mental Floss.

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Children, Sleep, Customs: Where Children Sleep. See these great images from a new book that shows children around the world and their bedrooms. How do they compare to yours?

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Literature, Reading, Time: How Long Does It Take to Read Popular Books? See this infographic on how long it typically takes to read different books.

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Science, Physics: The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Now available to the public to read for free! From CalTech.

Posted 11/5/14: File to: Photography, Food, Customs: Rise and Shine: What Kids Around the World Eat for Breakfast. From the New York Times. What do you eat in the morning?

Posted 11/4/14: File to: Historic photography, Maps: Photogrammar, photos from 1935-1945 from Yale University and the United States Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information.

Posted 11/4/14: File to: Literature, Sleep: How much sleep did your favorite authors get? From Brain Pickings.

Posted 11/4/14: File to: Economy, Maps: What is the value of $100.00 in each state? From the Tax Foundation.