Did You Know?
In medieval Europe, animals could be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church would sometimes excommunicate animals considered problematic, such as swarms of locusts or rats. These ceremonies followed the same format as human excommunications and were believed to invoke divine intervention against pest problems.
Did You Know?
Victorian ladies would paint their faces with arsenic to appear pale.
Arsenic wafers were eaten or made into face cream to achieve a fashionable pale complexion. This deadly practice...
Did You Know?
In ancient Egypt, servants would be covered in honey to act as human fly catchers.
To keep flies away from important people, servants would be coated in honey. The sticky substance would attract...
Did You Know?
In ancient China, cricket fighting was so popular that specialized cricket referees existed.
Professional cricket-fighting referees would oversee matches between prized fighting crickets. These insects were kept in special ceramic jars...