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212 results for “mythologyandhistory”
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Hehe nice! My dentist told me I have a "great spacious jaw" because I didn't need my wisdom teeth removed, they just grew perfectly fitted & straight... I conclude I'm very #neanderthal 🦷
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Did you know that "do you plead guilty to the charges?" was once an unlikely question to be answered?
Until the 18th century, common #law had a clause in which a person charged with a capital #offence would be subjected to torture if they did not plead either #guilty or not.
Many defendants refused to plead despite this prospect, because if they did, their heirs would not inherit their property!
#Torture by crushing was used to either elicit a plead or #death.
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Did you know that "do you plead guilty to the charges?" was once an unlikely question to be answered?
Until the 18th century, common #law had a clause in which a person charged with a capital #offence would be subjected to torture if they did not plead either #guilty or not.
Many defendants refused to plead despite this prospect, because if they did, their heirs would not inherit their property!
#Torture by crushing was used to either elicit a plead or #death.
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Did you know that "do you plead guilty to the charges?" was once an unlikely question to be answered?
Until the 18th century, common #law had a clause in which a person charged with a capital #offence would be subjected to torture if they did not plead either #guilty or not.
Many defendants refused to plead despite this prospect, because if they did, their heirs would not inherit their property!
#Torture by crushing was used to either elicit a plead or #death.
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Did you know that "do you plead guilty to the charges?" was once an unlikely question to be answered?
Until the 18th century, common #law had a clause in which a person charged with a capital #offence would be subjected to torture if they did not plead either #guilty or not.
Many defendants refused to plead despite this prospect, because if they did, their heirs would not inherit their property!
#Torture by crushing was used to either elicit a plead or #death.
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Did you know that "do you plead guilty to the charges?" was once an unlikely question to be answered?
Until the 18th century, common #law had a clause in which a person charged with a capital #offence would be subjected to torture if they did not plead either #guilty or not.
Many defendants refused to plead despite this prospect, because if they did, their heirs would not inherit their property!
#Torture by crushing was used to either elicit a plead or #death.
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Did you know #coffee was, according to #legend, discovered by accident?
In 850 CE, a #goat herder noticed that his goats liked to nibble on an unknown berry. Curious about their energetic behaviour, he tried the fruit himself.
Elated, he brought the fruit to the #Islamic leader of his village, who declared it evil. The berries were thrown into a fire.
The fruit emitted such a lovely smell that the religious leader added the fruit to water & drank it. Coffee quickly spread. -
The #Nintendo leak revealed some interesting #mythology about #Typhlosion !
(Starts at the Typhlosion lore:)
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Did you know that the #Egyptian Cobra has a #divine & #royal #history?
The large, venomous #snake was represented in 2 different #Ancient Egyptian #goddesses.
Cobra-headed Meretseger protected the Valley of the Kings & Wadjet protected both #kings & childbirth.
In Lower Egypt, the cobra topped crowns.
In 2011, The Bronx #Zoo had to inform the public that an Egyptian Cobra escaped its enclosure.
It was found 5 days later hiding & named Mia - “missing in action”.
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Did you know that #invisibility cloaks are #real?
From the 2nd c's Cap of Hades to #Marvel 's Invisible Woman, magic that renders one #invisible is a common theme in #mythology & #scifi.
In 2006, #theoretical #physicist John Pendry figured out that light could be bent around an object so that it renders it invisible.
This led to many advancements in metamaterial science, known as 'metamaterial cloaking'.I've enjoyed this talk by Pendry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6IrynhjKs [start: 4:43min]
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Did you know that #demonic possession haunted 17th-century nuns?
In Aix-en-Provence, in 1609, a novice #nun was sexually abused by a #priest. She soon exhibited symptoms of #possession.
All exorcisms failed & another nun got infected.
After extensive #torture, the priest was burned at the stake & the nuns banished. One recovered, but the other remained possessed until her death.
The ashes of the burned priest spread the possessions to other cloisters for the next 20 years...
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Did you know that #Mao #Zedong didn't speak Mandarin?
He was a native of Shaoshan, Hunan province, which spoke Old Xiang. It made it hard for some people to understand him, while others saw him as unsophisticated.
Interestingly, Mao also decided to learn English instead of the (in 1950) more common Russian.
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Did you know that owning gold or silver was illegal in #Ancient #Sparta ?
Sparta is said to have had only brittle iron bars as currency. These couldn't be used for anything else due to their devalued state, & their heaviness (making them hard to hoard). Other Greek states did not accept them, so they kept Sparta isolated, too.
#Plato saw this as one of the ideals of a perfect state, as a lack of precious metals meant a lack of #greed.
#history -
Sometimes I go into YouTube & search for videos of "The Black Bottom" or the Charleston & imagine the 20 something year olds horrified #Victorian parents.
The contrast between these generations was just so much more extreme than anything us living generations can imagine!
(Video of the Black Bottom for your scandalous amusement:)
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Did you know that there's a place in #Europe that still has a #feudal system?
The #crown dependency of #Sark is a curious place. It has no paved #roads & #cars are forbidden, #women only got the right to inherit #property in 1999, & the whole island is, to this day, a fiefdom.
This means the #monarch is the head, with a #lord (seigneur here) as the executive power & the tenants (effectively liegemen) as the vassals.
Sark has to pay the #king a yearly #knight's fee.
It's £1,79. -
Did you know that there are reliefs from a pre-Columbian society that were thought to be innocuous, but modern #research suspects something much more #sinister...?
At Monte Albán, an #archeological site in #Mexico, the earliest carved #stones show "Danzante", lit. "dancers".
Or that's what was assumed to be shown in the 19th c.
Today, the images are identified as being of naked men with mutilated genitals in twisted positions.
They're assumed to be sacrificial #prisoners of #war.
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Did you know that the first modern standing #army revolted?
During the 14th c. the #Ottomanempire found itself in need of #soldiers. The easiest recruits were children of Christian slaves who were turned #Moslem.
These boys were 7-14 years old & would become proper soldiers, known as Janissary, at age 24.
They had to remain isolated from society, #poor & #celibate.
Around 1446 did they start to demand to be paid.
By 1566 marriage was allowed.By 1862, they were gone.
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Ah #Plato , you should have thought this one through some more.
#philosopherkings #totalitarianism #philosophy #imwithpopper
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Did you know the #Franks saw words as harmful as actions of violence?
Under (very) early #medieval law, insults required #violence. To not react to an #insult was to accept it as true.
The worst insult was "#prostitute", which incurred a fine of 45 solidi.
PS: "solidi" is the plural of "solidus" and the origin of the words #soldier, #consolidation and #solidarity.
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Did you know that #hardtack, the long lasting flour & water #cracker used by seafarers & soldiers, was made round at #sea & square on land?
During sea voyages, hardtack was stored in barrels (hence: round), while during land campaigns it was stored in wooden boxes, & therefore made square.
#British Royal Navy sailors were issued 50g more hardtack than #US #Navy sailors.
During Queen Victoria's reign, now made with machines, hardtack became a cost efficient hexagonal shape.
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After 6 weeks in Germany, I've learnt that every other episode of 'Maury' & the TV show 'Succession' are apparently loosely based on my life.
Pro-tip:
When you dig too deep, you may just hit a cesspit - always stay at surface level.
(This manure-rich episode is now passé & I'll return to mildly entertain again shortly!)
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Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been obsessing over a peculiar topic:
#Skills (& things) that have been introduced & then lost, just to be reintroduced anew later.
Like gutters.
The #Romans had them, showed them to the #Brits & they promptly forgot about them. Then the #Normans reintroduced them.
There are so many of those things & I wonder which we will rediscover soon!
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CW: Olympic Games Rant (OT)
So the schedule for the #LA28 #Olympics has been released & I'm wondering if they used ChatGPT...or meth.
In #Athletics, Saturday, 15/07/28 - they will have the prelims & Round 1 of the Women's 100m in the morning....& then the semi-final AND the final of the ON THE SAME DAY in the afternoon!
WHY?! Do they *want* injuries?
Maybe we should make Mondo vault 7m, Hassan should be forced to compete in the 400m & Ingebritsen must try the racewalk. Just because.
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#Germany has brought back a new type of #conscription. Young men and women aged 18 will get a letter requesting consideration to serve in the #military.
#Men will be required to show up for a physical examination by 2027.
This will all be #voluntary... Unless not enough volunteers are found.
The German #Bundeswehr ist aiming for 460k military personnel by 2029 (260k active soldiers, 200k reserves).
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Did you know that #Korea has a #magical #dog breed?
The Sapsalgae are a fluffy, good-natured breed that is said to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. They are also majestically thick-coated, which almost led to their extinction during the #Japanese occupation of Korea.
The Japanese colonists used the dog's pelts as winter coats. By the 1980s they were down to 8 animals.
A geneticist saved their DNA & the numbers now are up to a few thousand.
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Did you know that during the #Renaissance, the opposite of clean wasn't dirty?
The #French 17th century emphasizes "#cleanliness" & rejects "#filth". The words used in texts are 'propre' & 'propreté'.
However, dictionaries of the time (e.g. the Dictionnaire de Trévoux from 1704) define 'propre' as synonymous with the Latin 'ornatus' & 'comptus', meaning ornate & adorned respectively.
Cleanliness therefore wasn't the absence of dirt, but the presence of #elegance!
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I apologise for the Reddit link but this is a good post.
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"My words are well weighed, my deeds have no equal!"
I think I'm a bit in love with #King #Hammurabi & his #law #code.
The code is oddly #fair.
For example, if a soldier is conscripted by the ruler & later ransomed, he may pay his ransom himself.
If he can't pay himself, the temple shall.
If the temple can't, the rich of the city must.
The soldier's property ("field, orchard, house") stays untouchable.
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Personal Anecdote Time:
I once wrote to Jan N. Bremmer, a Dutch #historian , because I was interested in #eleusinianmysteries .
I told him I'm a random layperson but thought his talk (a lecture at a German uni at the time) was great but I can't afford his books (still can't).
After 6 months, I received a massive envelope in the mail from Mr Bremmer - it contained an entire book chapter on the mysteries & a note that he hopes this will help!