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Why eggplants are called eggplants and 9 other fun food facts

Did you know that Doritos can help start a campfire? Our food is full of yummy surprises.

food facts, cookie dough croissant, food history
Representative Image From Canva

Food provides just as much entertainment as it does nourishment, doesn't it?

It’s funny how food is something that, presumably, every person on Earth has encountered each and every day of their life—probably three times a day, for most of us. And yet, food never ceases to surprise us. There are endless new flavor mash-ups, hidden histories and health benefits to discover.

So, in honor of this…as we are more likely to celebrate Pi day, Mar 14, with a deep dish pizza or merengue-filled pastry than we are to do anything remotely mathematical, let’s sink our teeth into some fun food facts, shall we?

Enjoy 10 savory, sweet, and even surprising morsels of food-based tidbits below.

1. There’s actually a good reason we call them eggplants

eggplant, eggplant recipes

Totally see how they got the name eggplant now

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Though across the pond these nightshades are called aubergine, they are called eggplants in the U.S. Which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, given that the eggplants we buy at the store are oblong and purple. I don’t know about you, but I’d be concerned for whatever bird laid an egg like that.

But when eggplants were first discovered in the mid-18th century (well, discovered by the British occupiers of India, anyway) they grew small an white out of the vine, much more akin to a chicken egg. These types of white eggplants still exist, but just aren’t as marketable as their purple counterparts.

Oh, and eggplants are technically more of a berry. Remember that next time you’re at Olive Garden.

While we’re on the subject of berries….

2. Order a bouquet of…raspberries?

Raspberries, as well as strawberries and blackberries, aren’t actually berries, but are instead part of the rose family. Thorns and all.

However, botanically speaking, bananas, pumpkins and lemons totally are berries. Cause why not.

3. Going camping? Don’t forget the Doritos!

doritos, doritos campfire, camping

A nice campfire at only 150 calories per serving.

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According to Mashed.com, Doritos have the perfect combination of cornstarch, vegetable oil, and salt to make them “flammable enough to maintain strong flames.” This goes for any corn based chip, really. So if you’re more of a Fritos or Cheetos person, fear not!

4. Julius Caesar did not create the Caesar salad. A guy in Tijuana did.

caesar salad, caesar sala recipe

So basically these should be served in both Mexican and Italian restaurants.

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Back in 1927 hotel owner Caesar Cardini made the salad for some guests using the limited ingredients he had on hand at the time: lettuce stalks, olive oil, raw egg, croutons, parmesan cheese and Worcestershire sauce.The concoction became one of the most popular salads of all time.

Granted, Caesar had moved from Italy to Tijuana to avoid Prohibition, so you could still say Caesar salad is an Italian food.

5. Spam stands for 'spiced ham'

Considering Spam is made with just six ingredients—pork, salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrate—seems a bit misleading. But definitely catchy.

6. Croissants aren't as French as they seem

cookie dough croissant, croissant recipe

No matter where they come from, croissants are delightful

Representative Image From Canva

What with cookie dough croissants going viral right now, this history lesson seemed the most appropo.

While these fluffy, flaky, buttery pastries seem about as Parisian as it gets, it is widely agreed that this style of baked bread first came from Austria, with the kipferl.

As the popular legend goes, the kipferl celebrated Vienna’s defeat of the Ottoman Empire, its shape representing the moon on the Ottoman flag.

Essentially, Vienna was eating its enemies.

7. Peanuts are the bomb. Literally.

The oil in peanuts makes glycerol, which is sometimes used to make nitro-glycerine—a key ingredient of dynamite. Of course, peanuts are not an essential dynamite ingredient.

8. Don’t let Froot Loops’ rainbow colors fool you

froot loops, cereal

Red=froot, blue=froot, yellow=froot…you get it.

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There is only one flavor. "Froot flavor.” That’s it. That’s all there ever was, and likely all there ever will be.

9. German chocolate cake was brought to you by a Texan

The first-ever published recipe for German chocolate cake can be traced back to a Texas homemaker in the '50s. “German” was used as a credit to Sam German (also not German) whose brand of baking chocolate was used to bake the cake. In fact, it was originally called “German’s Chocolate Cake. But eventually the “‘s” was dropped.

10. One single spaghetti noodle is called a spaghetto.

Welp, SpaghettiOs make even less sense now.

Of course, these fun facts are only appetizers in the never-ending courses of interesting stories our foods provide. But still, something to chew on.

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Rare clip of the Bee Gees singing 'How Deep Is Your Love' a cappella somehow tops the original

Three brothers, no instruments, and pure magic.

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via Edu Seijas/YouTube

The Bee Gees singing "How Deep is Your Love" in 1998.

Not all live performances are created equal, but when the circumstances and the talent are just right, they can far surpass studio recordings. In 1998, the Bee Gees, brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, stopped by ITV’s “Des O'Connor Tonight” with acoustic guitars in hand to promote their recent release, “One Night Only,” an album and live concert DVD featuring many of the band’s biggest hits.

The highlight of the performance was when Barry got ready to strum his guitar for a performance of “How Deep Is Your Love,” the 1977 megahit from the “Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack,” but instead chose to sing the song a cappella.

Barry starts the song solo in his beautiful falsetto, but then, when his brothers join him, they create a wonderful harmony that only brothers can make. The show’s host, Des O’Connor, a notable singer himself, even joins in for a few bars.

- YouTube youtu.be

Earlier in the performance, the brothers played their version of “Islands in the Stream,” a song made famous by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in 1983 that was written by the Bee Gees. In 1998, the song was enjoying a resurgence as its melody was used in the song “Ghetto Supastar” by Pras of The Fugees.

Robin Gibb later admitted that the song was initially written for Marvin Gaye to sing, but he was tragically murdered in 1984 by his father. The band also had Diana Ross in mind while composing the tune.

During the appearance, the band also sang “Guilty,” a song that the Bee Gees wrote for Barbara Streisand and Barry produced in 1980.

You can watch the entire performance here:

- YouTube youtu.be

The Gibb brothers started making music together when they were children, and after their first public appearance together at a local movie theater in 1956, they were hooked on performing.

“It was the feeling of standing in front of an audience that was so amazing," said Barry. "We’d never seen anything like it. We were very young, but it made an enormous impression. We didn’t want to do anything else but make music.”

After the family moved to Australia in 1958, Barry, Maurice, and Robin were "discovered" at the Redcliffe Speedway, where they had asked to perform between races. Even over the tinny PA system, their harmonies made an impression. Speedway manager Bill Goode introduced the trio to DJ Bill Gates, who set them up with a recording session.

the bee gees, gibb brothers, maurice, barry, robin gibb Stayin Alive GIF by Bee Gees Giphy

If you've ever wondered how the Bee Gees got their name, that was it: Bill Goode, Bill Gates, Barry Gibb, and the brothers' mother Barbara Gibb all had the initials B.G. After a strong reception on the airwaves in Brisbane, Gates forwarded the brothers' recordings to a Sydney radio station. They got a lot of airtime there as well, and the band had a run of success performing in Australia, but it wasn't until their return to England in 1967 that they became the international sensation we all know today.

Manager Robert Stigwood had received tapes from the Gibbs brothers and called them up within weeks of their arrival in the U.K.

“I loved their composing,” Stigwood told Rolling Stone in 1977. “I also loved their harmony singing. It was unique, the sound they made; I suppose it was a sound only brothers could make.”

- YouTube www.youtube.com

And, as they say, the rest is history. The award-winning 2020 HBO documentary, "The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" tells the story of the band with loads of footage from throughout their 40-year career, which includes not only their disco-era fame, but the various phases of their musical journey and the countless songs they wrote for other artists.

As one commenter wrote, "People that call the Bee Gees a 'disco group' don't have a clue. They had 10 albums out before they ventured into 'disco.' Their song catalogue is amazing and some of their very best songs were written long before Saturday Night Fever. Those 'disco' songs are classics as well. It is nice to see they are finally getting the recognition they deserve."

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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European woman shares 11 unexpected realizations after living in America for 6 months

"The United States is the most beautiful country in the world."

living the the us, living in europe, europe vs usa, travel, europe, road trip, driving
Photo credit: Canva

Road trip adventure through stunning mountain landscapes.

Sometimes it takes an outsider’s eyes to remind us what makes our home special.

Eva zu Beck, a traveler on YouTube, was born in Poland, grew up in England, and lived in a variety of European countries throughout her life. Hence why she says she’s “as European as it gets.”

So when she spent six months traveling in the United States, it was definitely a different experience. In a recent video, she shared what some of those “cultural shocks” were. Sure, there were some expected things in there (our car-centric culture, outrageous tipping practices, the neverending-ness of Texas, etc.) but also some lovely unexpected things as well.

Most surprisingly of all, it was anything but a "dump on America"-fest. Instead, it was chock full of lighthearted, positive realizations.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Here are some of the most interesting ones:

1. Everybody smiles

“And gives you random compliments!” said zu Beck, recalling the random strangers that would yell “nice tattoo!” from across the street.

2. Bonkers date formats

“That makes no sense, surely you should go from smallest, to biggest, right? Day, month, year.”

3. Being able to turn right on a red light

“I can't tell you how many cars have…honked at me…before I realized I could do it.”

4. All way crossroads

“It’s super confusing, like a big mental workout. In Europe, the person that’s on the right always has priority, that’s it.”

5. Guns aren’t quite as prevalent as they seem

“I thought I would see guns everywhere. Every Walmart would sell guns. However, they are more common than in Europe.”

6. Politics is in the American psyche, but it's not being talked about 24/7

Zu Beck noted that while she was surprised that she was constantly hearing conversations about politics, “the way you have regular conversations in the US heavily indicated one’s political leanings. Or, ya know, what giant sign they put on their fence."

7. Good American food exists…if you’re willing to pay a little extra

According to zu Beck, America has both the best and the worst food. Quality food could certainly be found, at a higher price point, at places like Whole Foods. However, it's worth noting that zu Beck also follows a “mostly vegan diet.” The odds of finding quality vegan food is probably even harder than for most of us omnivores.

8. Montana, Wyoming, and Central Nevada are awesome

“So much nature, space and beauty,” recalls zu Beck, noting that these were her favorite places to see.

9. Yellowstone National Park, on the other hand…not so much

Zu beck likened it to a “massive glorified parking lot” and “nature Disney-fied,” though she also recognized she went during a peak tourist time.

10. It makes sense now why so many Americans don’t travel

According to zu Beck, many Europeans make fun of Americans for not being cultured and well-traveled. But after seeing the “sheer diversity of the country” she gets it now. There’s already so much to see here in our own backyard.

11. She would “1000%” live here

“Some people love it. Some people hate it, [but] to me the United States is the most beautiful country in the world. It really is.”

Down in the comments, Americans shared how touching it was to hear zu Beck’s overall positive assessment.

“It’s so refreshing to hear foreigners say they love my home.”

“I just want to say thank you for such kind words. We have issues in our country for sure and we often times only hear the negative from other countries but what you said was absolutely a breathe of fresh air. Thank you.”

“As an American, sometimes we can get so focused on all of the negatives that we see in the country...it is so refreshing to have an outsider's view. I have been fortunate enough to have lived, traveled and worked in many other countries, and when I come back to the States I am re-astonished by its sheer beauty and amazing cultural diversity. Thanks for the reminder,.”

“As an American, it was refreshing to hear an unbiased view from an open-minded European about your experiences without just being the usual slam of the negatives. America definitely has a unique culture (outside of the big cities) and there's plenty of beauty if you actually travel through our beautiful nation without just looking for the usual negatives pushed through mainstream news and the ‘haters.’ Thank you!”

Zu Beck's takeaway isn't that America is perfect—far from it. But in her eyes, it’s still one of the most beautiful, surprising, and welcoming places she’s ever been. That alone feels like something many of us need to hear right now.

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51-year-old empty nester who struggled to declutter her house shares 8 tips that finally worked

"Shoes are put away immediately upon walking in the house."

empty nester, empty nesters, declutter, decluttering, decluttering tips
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Mom and empty nester shares her tips for decluttering her home.

Deep cleaning and decluttering a home is a daunting task—especially for empty nesters. After spending a lifetime creating memories and living together under one roof, doing a big declutter can take an emotional toll.

It's a milestone that many empty nesters know the sting of. And in a cleaning community on Reddit, a 51-year-old mom and recent empty nester shared her experience cleaning and decluttering her home after entering this new phase of life.

"In my entire life, my house has always been messy. I mean, I didn’t have a disaster-level situation going on, but if someone dropped by unannounced, it would’ve been super embarrassing," she shared. "When my kids were younger, we had a housekeeper because I just couldn’t keep up. Now that we’re empty nesters, I realized I never really learned how to keep house."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

She explained that the book Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess played an integral part in helping her declutter—and offered eight helpful tips to fellow empty nesters looking to organize their new lives.

1. Put stuff away, not down.

Her first tip is the key to decluttering.

"Whatever you have goes right back where it’s supposed to go when I’m done with it," she notes.

2. Do laundry every day.

And she doesn't just wash and dry her laundry when doing it.

"Just one load, start to finish. Wash, dry, fold, and put away," she shares. "Also, no chair or floor laundry. It gets put in the hamper or hung back up. No clothes are ever out."

3. I make the bed every day.

The benefits keep on giving by doing this, she notes.

"It just makes my bedroom look cleaner and I smile every time I come in my room," she writes. "Plus we aren’t fighting over the covers when we get in because the bed is straightened out."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

4. Do a quick daily clean-up of commonly used spaces.

She cleans the places that she and her husband use frequently.

"I keep a stack of cleaning rags in my master bath because it’s the only bathroom that’s used every single day. Every night, I spray the counter, wipe everything down, put everything back (that my husband leaves out), and wipe the mirror," she explains. "I also wipe down the toilet. I find that I don’t need a huge, big cleaning of this space because I’m keeping it up daily. Same goes for the kitchen."

5. Dishes are always put away, cabinet or dishwasher.

No dishes in the sink or stuck in the dishwasher.

"Dishes are finished in the dishwasher? It’s emptied and dirty ones are placed inside while waiting for the dishwasher to get full," she notes.

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Life Changing Dishwasher Hack #tutorials #kitchenhacks #parentsoftiktok #dishwasherhack

6. Don't neglect your shoes.

When she takes them off, they get put away.

"Shoes are put away immediately upon walking in the house," she shares.

7. Knock out small tasks.

There is no time to waste.

"If it takes less than 5 minutes clean it while you’re waiting for something else to get done," she writes.

8. Take no days off.

Rather than assign certain days for cleaning, she is constantly doing it throughout the week.

"Lastly, I do not have scheduled cleaning days. I just do something all the time," she explains. "My life is kind of unpredictable, we love traveling or going out for the day so my so called cleaning schedule would be shot to hell every time. It’s better this way, because now I never feel behind."

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Rainn Wilson's new creative tool for exploring spirituality is refreshingly inclusive

It takes you on a deeply comprehensive and delightfully creative spiritual journey, no matter your faith background or belief.

soul boom, rainn wilson, spirituality, spiritual workbook, faith and religion
Courtesy of Soul Boom/Instagram

The Soul Boom Workbook is deeply comprehensive and delightfully creative.

Sometimes the best things come from the most unexpected of places. Like, who would imagine a comedic actor who played the iconic beet-farming paper salesman Dwight Schrute on The Office would come up with a creative tool to help people explore their own spirituality?

Rainn Wilson isn't exactly new to talking about the soul. He co-founded the Soul Pancake media company in 2009, spent years having philosophical discussions in his Metaphysical Milkshake series, wrote a whole book during the pandemic about the need for a global "spiritual revolution," and created his current Soul Boom Podcast out of that book in which he interviews all kinds of people from all faiths and spiritual paths to have meaningful conversations.

But his newest offering feels different. Instead of giving us something to consume and then reflect on, his Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living is a hands-on, interactive, deeply comprehensive, delightfully creative tool to help us personally explore our own spirituality and figure out how our own spiritual transformation can also transform the world.

Wilson tells Upworthy that the idea for the workbook was born out of the response to the Soul Boom book. "When I, a former sitcom actor, decided to write a book about spirituality, there were a lot of question marks," he says. "Would people respond? Would they like it? Would they laugh me out of Hollywood?"

However, the response to the New York Times bestseller was "overwhelmingly positive."

"People seem to be hungry for spiritual paths and wisdom more and more as various systems start to unravel," Wilson says. "The response was so strong. And part of it was like, 'Well, what do we do if we want a spiritual revolution? If we want to find a spiritual path, and truth, and harness the kind of ancient wisdom traditions from the world's great faith traditions on our journey forward?' And that's when the idea of a Soul Boom workbook was born."

soul boom, rainn wilson, spirituality, spiritual workbook, faith and religion Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern LivingScreenshots courtesy of Rainn Wilson

Wilson and his co-creator, Shabnam Mogharabi, wanted to create an interactive place for a person to take a spiritual journey, either by themselves or with others in their lives who are interested in connecting on a deeper level. They also wanted it to connect spirituality and creativity.

"We wanted to give people an experience that I had years ago when I did The Artist's Way," Wilson explains. "That was a really important book for me, and it has been for dozens of people that I know. This classic workbook about creativity, which also has spiritual elements in it, has been revolutionary. It has sold millions of copies and allowed people to kind of undertake a creative journey that they didn't know was possible."

soul boom, rainn wilson, spirituality, spiritual workbook, faith and religion The workbook includes all kinds of activities designed to get you reflecting on all aspects of spirituality.Screenshots courtesy of Rainn Wilson

The workbook includes drawings, essays, reflective writing exercises, doodles, games—there's even section where you create a stand-up comedy act. Whatever you imagine a "spiritual workbook" might be, this is likely more. Tackling concepts like God ("The Notorious G.O.D."), faith and religion, meditation and prayer, values and morals, tests and difficulties, death and dying, creating community and a better world, and more, the Soul Boom Workbook is incredibly comprehensive. And it feels unique in that anyone from any background or belief, no matter how devout or skeptical, can utilize it to explore what they find divine or sacred, what parts of their beliefs might need to be challenged or "excavated," and how they can contribute to building a better world.

The "guy who played Dwight" may seem like an unlikely source of spiritual wisdom, but thankfully, Wilson doesn't claim to be that at all. He is not a guru offering enlightenment or an academic pontificating on the meaning of existence; he's simply someone who has run the spiritual seeker gauntlet himself, who has a deep and abiding interest in exploring this stuff, and who offers a refreshingly down-to-earth, accessible, and inclusive way of talking about it all.

Wilson says his favorite thing about the workbook is how it starts off intensely personally but then takes you on a journey that expands and expands into exploring how you can apply your spiritual "superpowers" to create a more just, kind, and loving world. Ultimately, it's all about exploring spiritual tools for personal and social transformation.

"I would love it if someone started the workbook in a certain place and finished it at a very different place, and that it actually affected their lives in a transformational way," Wilson says. "Could you do a book, and by the end of it be a different person? Or at least see the world in a slightly different way at the end of this process?"

You can find Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living here.


As a participant in the Amazon Associates affiliate program, Upworthy may earn proceeds from items purchased that are linked to this article, at no additional cost to you.

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Here's why the world's strangest traffic light in Japan only turns green one day a year

Everyone waits until a special day in May, when it finally turns green.

himakajima stoplight, traffic light, street corner, octopus, japan, japanese island
via Flickr

The Himakajima traffic light.

The island of Himakajima, a few dozen kilometers south of Nagoya in between Ise Bay and Mikawa Bay, Japan, is home to around 2,000 residents. It’s best known for its picturesque beaches and local delicacy, octopus. The dish is so famous in the town that it even has cute pictures of it emblazoned on its manhole covers. Himakajima is also known for its one stoplight that blinks yellow for 364.25 days of the year.

Himakajima doesn’t really need any stoplights because the tiny island sees very little foot or car traffic. However, the children who grow up on the island may not live there forever; many will grow up to attend schools or find jobs on the mainland. So it’s important that they know how to cross a street with a traffic light, or they could get seriously injured.

The Himakajima traffic light

In 1994, at the request of the local Himaka Traffic Safety Association, stoplights were installed on the east side of the island so the town’s children could practice crossing the street like they would in a big city. The light blinks yellow most of the time, so when it becomes fully operational, it’s a real event in the city.

- YouTube youtu.be

Every year in May, the town’s teachers, children, parents, and officials gather near its East Port and the stoplight becomes fully operational, cycling through red, yellow, and green lights.

Last year, on May 21, the kids congregated at the light and practiced looking left, right, and left again before crossing the street. To be extra sure that other pedestrians and motorists know they are crossing, they hold their hands high in the air so they’re sure to be seen.

According to SoraNews24, one girl told reporters that things got “tricky” when she was walking her bike across the zebra strips and the light turned red. It goes to show that kids need to know not only when to walk but also how quickly to do so.

The annual children’s crossing has become so popular that people planning to visit the island often hunt online to catch wind of when the stoplight will be fully operational. After the special day, the light reverts to its blinking yellow state, encouraging everyone to proceed with caution until sometime the next May.

himakajima stoplight, traffic light, street corner, octopus, japan, japanese island The Himakajima traffic light.via Google Maps

The official Green Light Day in Himakajima is a beautiful example of how, even in the smallest of communities, parents and teachers find a way to help their children prepare for the real world. It’s a testament to the community's importance of safety and learning through real-life experience. A lesson in class where the teacher holds up a red or green light sign may give kids a vague notion of how to cross the street in a big city, but getting to travel to see the real light and trying to judge how quickly to move across the street is a lesson the kids will never forget.

Further, for the vast majority of us who live in towns where streetlights are commonplace, it’s refreshing to see a community gather around something that we take for granted.

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