As you know, it was common for ship captains to give their misbehaving sailors twenty-four lashes with a cat ‘o nine tails. Some sailors learned to avoid this horrible punishment after a night of drinking by having a crucifix tattooed on their backs.
Category: World History
Potatoes and Aphrodisiac Qualities
There was a time and place where plain old potatoes fetched over $1,000 per pound. Until the mid 16th century, Spaniards had never seen potatoes and for a while it was assumed that they had aphrodisiac qualities.
Elaborate Wooden Spoons
It was once the custom in Wales that young men’s hands should be kept busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve spoons for their young ladies’ parents. Some of the wooden spoons were very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden chain extending from the end of the handles.
Superstitions
There are some old superstitions that were quite seriously heeded in their time. Among them: Never eat a dinner with 13 people seated at the table. Never cut off both ends of a loaf of bread – because the Devil will jump from the bread and ‘fly all over the house.’
Other old superstitions: Do not wear red and green at the same time.
People with red hair bring about unlucky circumstances.
Always pick up a comb from a table with its teeth facing away from your body.
Never watch a child sleep or you will be risking the death of that child.
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Housewarming Parties
“Housewarming parties” have their origin in Scotland, where embers from the fireplace of an old home were carried to start the fire in the ‘new’ fireplace.
Car Tires
The first car tires were evolved from an invention by John Dunlop, a veterinarian. In those days (1888), doctors and vets had to make their own gloves from liquid rubber. He adopted the technology to make air-filled tires for his son’s tricycle.
Queen Victoria and the Koh-i-noor Diamond
When the famous Koh-i-noor diamond was given to Queen Victoria in 1850, she had it cut down until only about three-quarters of an ounce was left. This is because she felt it didn’t show enough color.
Translating the Bible
In Europe in the 1500’s translating the Bible was a dangerous undertaking. There was strong public opinion that the Bible should not be translated into common languages, but left in original Hebrew and Greek so that only educated church officials could read it.
English Letters
The letter Q is from the old word for monkey – see the tail? The letter H is from fence, and M probably represented water (waves).
Ancient Student
A student in ancient Athens came up with a way to force himself to stick to his studies. He shaved the hair off half of his head. Then when he was tempted to step out, he would remember his appearance, and out of embarrassment would stay home and study instead.
The Word “Quiz”
Where did the word quiz come from? It was made up by a theater manager in Ireland who developed his claim to immortality by running around one night writing quiz as graffiti all over Dublin. The next day, everyone was asking everyone else, “What does ‘quiz’ mean?”
No One Would Consider Eating An Orange
Oranges used to be popular in England as decoration, much as gourds are today. At that time, however, no one would ever consider eating an orange!
Marie Antoinette’s Pregnancy
When Marie Antoinette became pregnant, many of the fashionable women of Paris started wearing padding over their stomachs. As the pregnancy developed, the ladies wore thicker and thicker pads. When her child was born, the women’s fashions all returned to normal dimensions.
Fashion in Greenland
For a while in Greenland it was fashionable for women to paint their faces blue and yellow.
Greenland is a fascinating place, especially if you like cold temperatures. The average daytime high in the summer is 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Celsius. Three-quarters of Greenland, the largest island in the world, is permanently covered by a thick sheet of ice. Although it is definitely not a green paradise, 55,000 people call it home.
Bethsida
The ancient town of Bethsida, lost since biblical times, has recently been discovered. Situated on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, this may prove to be a very exciting archaeological dig. Test borings show that the 20-acre town is full of artifacts. What makes this place particularly interesting is that Jesus was said to have performed several miracles here including restoring a man’s sight and materializing food for five thousand hungry people.
World Population
There are currently over 7.5 billion people on earth. Within less than a century the population is expected to double.
People who can remember back to 1950 may tell you the world felt less crowded then, and it’s true, there were only two people for every four who live today. Around the year 1900, there were only 1.6 billion people. In George Washington’s time there were about 750 million people. In the time Jesus lived, there were only about 200 million people on earth, less than those just in the United States today. It is estimated that around 10,000 BC the total was only five million people on the earth, less than the population of New York City.
Buffalo Against Buffalo
A military technique was used sixteen hundred years ago that should still be used occasionally today. Java and Malaya both wanted the territory of Sumatra, so the generals each selected one buffalo. The buffalo were pitted against each other and no people participated in the battle.
King Henry VIII
Worst Diet
King Henry VIII of England, long known for his many wives and culinary gluttony, died at age 56, probably from scurvy, a condition of dietary deficiency. It was fashionable in his time for wealthy people to eat mostly meat, and very few vegetables, because ‘vegetables were for peasants.’
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