adventurethroughhistory-blog

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

In China, priests used “oracle bones” bearing inscriptions to learn the will of the spirits. They would write a question on a bone, then heat the bones in a fire until they cracked, providing a “yes” or “no” answer (the world’s first Magic 8 Ball??). The inscriptions on the oracle bones are the first evidence of written language in China.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

Spartan boys entered military school at the age of seven. Their first task was to weave a mat of coarse river reeds that they would sleep on for the rest of their lives. They were forced to run for miles while older boys flogged them. Sometimes they died of exhaustion. At age 20, after 13 years of training, the young men who survived became soldiers. They served in the Spartan army until age 60, living in communal barracks and sharing meals.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

 Around 1550 BCE on a Greek Island called Thera, there was a huge eruption. Thera was blown out of existence by an explosion that threw more than 16 cubic miles of debris into the air, triggering a massive tidal wave at least 120 feet tall and killing hundreds of thousands of people. This catastrophe may be the basis for the legend of Atlantis.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

Queen Elizabeth outlawed potatoes after her cooks prepared the vegetables wrong. They cooked the eyes of the potato instead of the actual veggie, and it made the whole royal family sick. She banned them for 100 years as retaliation, but as they grew more popular in Spain, France and Italy, the potato made its way back into the hearts of the Brits.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

Pirates had insurance!

Injured men who sailed under Captain Henry Morgan would receive 1,500 pieces of eight or 15 slaves for the loss of both legs, 1,800 pieces of eight or 18 slaves for the loss of both hands, 600 pieces of eight or six slaves for the loss of one arm or leg, and 100 pieces of eight or one slave for the loss of a finger or an eye. For the pain of a body wound that needed the insertion of a pipe, compensation was 500 pieces of eight or five slaves. For a permanently stiff arm, leg or finger, the compensation was the same as for its actual loss.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

“The Ballet of the Chestnuts” was thrown by the son of Pope Alexander VI in 1501. It was attended by 50 prostitutes and got its name from the after-dinner activities. The prostitutes were stripped naked and then forced to crawl around on the floor to pick up chestnuts in 1635,(a thin excuse to get them to crawl around on all fours). An orgy-game ensued in which the “players” (the rich male attendees) had their orgasms tallied by a servant, each in pursuit of the highest score.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

At one time iron was considered more valuable than gold. Iron daggers were among the Crown Jewels buried with King Tut. The ancient Egyptians called it “black gold from heaven” in reference to its meteoric origins.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

 In 1904, tea bags were invented accidentally. The inventor, Thomas Sullivan (a tea merchant) decided that it was cheaper to send small samples to prospective customers in silk bags – rather than boxes. The recipients mistakenly believed they were meant to be dunked and soon Sullivan was inundated with orders for his “tea bags”

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered sacred. When a family pet cat died, the entire family would shave off their eyebrows and remain in mourning until they had grown back.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

The best selling book of the 15th century was an erotic book called The Tale of the Two Lovers – it is even still read today. The author of this book was none other than Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini – otherwise known as Pope Pius II who reigned from 1458 – 1464.

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

"Is everybody happy? I want everybody to be happy. I know I'm happy."

- Ethel Barrymore

actress, death. June 18, 1959

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

"When all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one."

- Charlotte Perkins Gilman

 writer, death. August 17, 1935

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"Dearest, I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems to be the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier until this terrible disease came. I can't fight it any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness in my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling you life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been. V."

-Virginia Woolf English author, died March 28, 1941

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

"And now, in keeping with Channel 40's policy of always bringing you the latest in blood and guts, in living color, you're about to see another first - an attempted suicide."

-Chris Chubbuck

American news reporter, died July 15, 1974

Chris Chubbuck shot herself in the head during a live news broadcast. 

[adventurethroughhistory-blog]

"I am now about to make the great adventure. I cannot endure this agonizing pain any longer. It is all over my body. Neither can I face the impending blindness. I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen"

- Clara Blandick 

American Actress, died April 15, 1962.