Did You Know?
The Tudors believed that tomatoes were poisonous when eaten off pewter plates.
The acidic tomatoes would leach lead from pewter plates, causing lead poisoning. This led to the belief that tomatoes themselves were poisonous, a misconception that persisted for many years. Wealthy people's lead plates inadvertently created this cultural food taboo.
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Victorian ladies would drop handkerchiefs as a complex form of flirting.
There was an elaborate code around dropping handkerchiefs, with different methods indicating different messages to potential suitors. This...
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In Victorian England, some people kept small birds in their hair as fashion accessories.
Fashionable ladies would wear small ornamental cages in their hairstyles containing live hummingbirds or other small birds. The...
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Medieval European courts employed professional food tasters who would dress exactly like the king.
These tasters not only tested food for poison but were required to dress identically to the king to...