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What Shell’s logo used to be
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How Did People Prevent Sunburn Before Sunscreen?
How Did People Prevent Sunburn Before Sunscreen?
Today, being outdoors on a hot, sunny day usually means traveling with a few sun-blocking essentials: sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. Though our knowledge of sun damage is relatively recent — it wasn’t until the 1800s that scientists began to understand ultraviolet rays’ harmful potential —...
historyfacts.com
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People once believed Stonehenge fragments had healing powers. | ||
| Long before tourists chipped away at Stonehenge for souvenirs, people were breaking off pieces for a different reason: folk remedies. As far back as the 12th century, chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that the ancient stones were valued for their “medicinal virtue.” Some archaeologists think the site’s bluestones were especially known for their healing powers, and that healing may have been one of the original purposes of Stonehenge. Whatever the case, the belief in the medicinal powers of the stones proved remarkably durable. In 1707, the Reverend James Brome wrote that powdered scrapings from the stones were thought to heal “any green Wound, or old Sore.” Meanwhile, in the 1660s, the antiquarian John Aubrey recorded a local superstition that placing bits of Stonehenge into wells would drive away toads. These folk cures helped normalize the idea that pieces of the monument were valuable, making it easier for later tourists to justify taking fragments simply as keepsakes. |
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Ancient brain surgery: Viking-era skull reveals early medical intervention
A remarkable archaeological discovery in Cambridgeshire has unveiled evidence of one of the earliest known surgical procedures--trepanation--performed on a Viking-era man nearly...
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Original photo by sveta_zarzamora/ iStock |
Pink lemonade was invented at the circus. |
| The circus brought death-defying performers and exotic animals across the American landscape in the 1800s, but it also introduced something a little sweeter: pink lemonade. There are two origin stories for the rose-tinted drink, both involving the big top. One version credits the invention to a Chicago saloonkeeper, theatrical promoter, gambler, and circus vendor. The other involves a former clown and a pair of red tights. |
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This is from the article...
"While wolves can bark, they typically tend to howl instead."
I only heard Duke 'bark' once out of 16 years, and it really wasn't a full on bark, it seemed like it took everything he had to get that sort of bark out of him. He use to howl all the time when he was chained up across the road at neighbours house. Once he was living here at my home, he didn't howl nearly as much as over there. The most he howled was during baths, lol, he thought he was going through torture, as the howls sounded like he was truly being tortured.
It rained heavily on Earth for a million years.
It rained heavily on Earth for a million years.
If you think Seattle in November is rainy, try living through the Carnian Pluvial Episode. Taking place some 232 million years ago, during the Triassic Period, it was a time of intense rainfall that lasted between 1 million and 2 million years. The prolonged, world-altering event was first...
historyfacts.com
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| Certain animal behaviors seem so unusual to us that they feel a bit upside-down, but when it comes to a flamingo’s eating habits, that sentiment gets literal. These flamboyant fliers enjoy meals in a manner that would leave any dietician perplexed, flipping their heads and beaks roughly 180 degrees vertically when it’s time to chow down. When it’s time to eat, flamingos bend their necks and dip their heads into the water, angling their L-shaped beaks upside down. From there, fluid dynamics take the reins. Flamingos rapidly open and close their beaks, creating a spinning vortex that sucks in water teeming with delicious prey such as shrimp and algae. The concave shape of their angled beaks also helps keep the food contained inside the birds’ mouths until fully consumed. |
