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'Big Bang' was named by the theory's chief opponent. Brit... | funfact.wiki | funfact.wiki
'Big Bang' was named by the theory's chief opponent. British astronomer Fred Hoyle coined it in a 1949 BBC lecture to contrast his Steady State cosmology with the notion that all matter erupted from nothing at one moment. The label went global; Hoyle never accepted the theory.
  • Big Bang
  • Fred Hoyle
  • Cosmology
  • Etymology
  • Astronomy
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Earth has 365 days in a year, but actually rotates 366 times. The extra rotation comes from its orbit around the Sun — an example of the coin rotation paradox.
  • Earth
  • Sun
  • Rotation
  • Astronomy
  • Coin rotation paradox
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'Goodbye' originated in the mid-16th century as a contraction of "God be with ye." It was gradually shortened to forms like 'Godbwye,' and under the influence of greetings like 'Good morning,' 'God' shifted to 'Good,' giving us today's word.
  • Goodbye
  • English
  • Language
  • Etymology
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The Moon's orbit doesn't spiral around Earth as most people imagine. Because the Earth-Moon distance is tiny compared to the Earth-Sun distance, the Moon's actual path through space is nearly circular, traveling alongside Earth around the Sun.
  • Moon
  • Earth
  • Sun
  • Astronomy
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The distress signal "Mayday" comes from the French "M'aidez" (help me). In 1921, radio officer Frederick Mockford at London's Croydon Airport proposed it for aviation communication with Paris, as both English and French speakers could understand it.
  • Distress signal
  • French
  • Aviation
  • Etymology
  • Mondegreen
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The English word "bear" was originally a euphemism meaning "the brown one." Ancient people feared or revered the bear so much that they avoided its true name, and the substitute became permanent. The Russian медведь similarly derives from a euphemism meaning "honey eater."
  • Bear
  • Honey
  • Language
  • Etymology
  • Name taboo
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