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Wow! I Never Knew That! (Episode 6)

10 minutes 54 seconds

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Jeff "JJ" Johnson explains how the microwave oven was invented, why onions make people's eyes water, and why the telephone has a pound key. This segment also explains the reasoning behind the numbering of highways based on direction of travel. Other segments include discussions about brain freeze, the science of bioluminescence in fireflies, and the invention of the popsicle. Part of the "Wow! I Never Knew That!" series.

Media Details

Runtime: 10 minutes 54 seconds

Topic: History, Home and Family, Science, Sports and Recreation
Subtopic: Food, Inventions, Travel
Grade/Interest Level: 7 - 12
Standards:

Release Year: 2012
Producer/Distributor: New Dimension Media/Questar
Series: Wow! I Never Knew That!
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Digital image of an open manhole cover being projected across a grid of screens in a dark room with blue laser lights. Caption. You see, the round shape makes it a safety cover.

Image of a basket of peaches being projected across a grid of screens in a dark room with blue laser lights. Caption. Yep, that's how the game of basketball originally started.

2 feet wearing red and white basketball shoes on a wooden floor with a basketball to the left. 2 hands reach down and tie the shoelaces on the right foot. Caption. Grabbing the ends of both shoe laces and pulling real hard.

Closeup of a yellow bowl full of white popcorn kernels against a black background. Caption. And in just minutes you are enjoying.

Image of the chest of a person in a military uniform with a tan bullet-proof vest holding a black handgun held close projected across a grid of screens in a dark room with blue laser lights. Caption. There's a 10 72 on the scene.

Woman with dark hair and wearing a pink polo shirt leans against a wooden railing on a bridge over a stream. She looks at a smiling man in a green sweater sitting on the railing. Caption. Just cut to the chase?

Tilted view of an oven full of red-hot coals surround by tan bricks. Caption. I'm talking about America's first pizzeria.

Low-angle view of a steam engine pulling several open passenger cars across a tall wooden bridge with fall colored trees behind it and green hills beneath it. Caption. Planes, trains, automobiles, and boats?

Black and white photo of several white Band-Aids with black animal prints lined up vertically on a black background. Distributed amongst them are several Band-Aids shaped like stars, hearts, and flowers. Caption. Invented something we all use to patch ourselves up.

Image of a sign with pink lettering that reads, "Cotton Candy," being projected across a grid of screens in a dark room with blue laser lights. Caption. So, how did this feathery goodness spin to life?