Undoubtedly one of the things that the Romans were most famous for was their baths. Unlike nearly all earlier civilizations that the archaeological evidence suggests were not overly concerned with personal hygiene, the Romans gave over large spaces in every city and town they built to public spaces where people could go and clean themselves. […]
What Was Personal Hygiene Like in Ancient Rome? Read More »
The modern world is unusual compared to almost all other societies in its approach to drug use, intoxication, and altered states. Other than those that pharmaceutical companies utilize, most narcotics today are illegal in nearly all jurisdictions. Alcohol, one of the most dangerous narcotics known to humanity, is the only narcotic generally freely available in
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The Middle Ages must be the most misunderstood period of human history. Often, people view it as a period during which people lived in poverty and society largely stood still, waiting for the Renaissance to come and pull them out of squalor. This wasn’t the case. There were distinct periods in medieval Europe. First came
What Was a Day in the Life of a Medieval Peasant Like? Read More »
Even though Ching Shih was only active as a pirate for about nine years, she certainly earned the “World’s Most Successful Pirate.” Also known as Zheng Yi Sao and Shi Yang, she was born in 1775 to a family of humble means. When she turned 26, she married a pirate named Zheng Yi. After he
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Isolated in the Venetian Lagoon, Poveglia Island is a place that has long been shrouded in mystery. Geographically, it’s just a few miles from Venice, Italy. The island has a long and dark history, dating back to the Roman Empire. Over the years, it has served many purposes, but ultimately it ended up abandoned and
The Horrifying Plague Filled History Of Poveglia Island Read More »
Anyone who has seen an old cowboy film has almost certainly laid eyes on a large, broad-brimmed hat with a high, rounded crown. This “10 gallon hat” has been the distinguishing characteristic of the traditional North American cowboy. The hat’s date of origin is not known precisely, but historians suspect it originated circa 1925. There
The Strange History Of Why We Call Them 10 Gallon Hats Read More »
The religious world of Ancient Greece was very colorful. Dozens of gods and goddesses had power over everything from thunder, storms, and fire which they used to their advantage in their rivalries. The scores of smaller city-states that made up the Greek world of the Mediterranean in antiquity worshiped particular deities to a lesser or
Why was the Oracle of Delphi so important to Ancient Greece? Read More »
Ivan the Terrible was the infamous sixteenth-century ruler of the Duchy of Muscovy. He paradoxically was both an unhinged tyrant and the man who founded the Russian state. Ivan succeeded his father as grand ruler of the Duchy of Muscovy or Moscow when he was just three years old in 1533. Over the course of
Ivan The Terrible’s Many Wives Suffered Horrific Fates Read More »
Pontius Pilate was a Roman prefect whose name has become forever entwined with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Despite being a central figure in a story that has been told for over two millennia, we know little about the man himself and the events that shaped his life after the crucifixion. Early works by Josephus,
What Happened to Pontius Pilate, the Man Who Condemned Jesus? Read More »
Most of us are familiar with the guillotine. It’s a set of stocks into which a person’s head is placed and secured before an extremely sharp blade is released from a height to fall at speed on a person’s exposed neck severing the victim’s head clean from their body. The guillotine was used extensively in
The History of the Guillotine – Who Invented It and Why? Read More »
