1. Why do women endure uncomfortable high heels?

High heels are uncomfortable and make walking more difficult. But they also increase height, as well as forcing your back to arch, pushing your bosom forward and your buttocks back, thereby accentuating the female form -- and men, apparently, prefer an exaggerated female figure.

2. Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

In 1944, the Japanese military launched a campaign of kamikaze attacks, in which pilots attempted to crash explosives-laden planes into American warships. Why did these pilots wear helmets for a suicide mission?

Planes often experienced severe turbulence before reaching their targets, so they needed to be protected so that they could get there. But more importantly, it was not actually the express intention that these pilots commit suicide -- their charge was to destroy their targets by any means necessary. The hope was that the pilots would return safely, even though the expectation was that most would not.

3. Why are DVDs sold in larger packages than CDs, even though the discs are the same size?

Prior to the appearance of CDs, most music was sold on vinyl records. To accommodate stores, CD cases were designed to be a little less than half as wide as record sleeves, so that two rows of CD cases could fit on a record rack with a divider between them.

But before DVDs became popular, most film rental stores carried videotapes in the VHS format. The videos were usually displayed side by side with their spines out. Making DVD cases the same height enabled stores to display their new DVD stocks on existing shelves.