mythologyandhistory

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to Bread

Did you know that #Germans have a LOT of #superstitions about #bread?

In the olden days, when bread was baked at home, bad luck would seep into the bread when one cursed while baking.

And if the loaf would be placed over the table's edge, sickness would soon enter the house.

A loaf placed upside down would sway, because the poor souls would try to turn it, & if the head of the house cut the bread crookedly, then he had just lied...

#mythology #tradition #Germany

mythologyandhistory, 4 months ago to Netherlands

Did you know gouda has been in production since 1184, making it the oldest category of #cheese that still uses the same #recipe?

Despite the name, gouda is only sold in the town of Gouda but made on the #farms surrounding the area.

To this day, you can buy gouda, in Gouda, every Thursday.

#netherlands #delicious #history

mythologyandhistory, 3 months ago to ethelcain

Did you know that there was a #god that is claimed to be a previous version of Dionysios?

The #Phrygian people were nomads that settled in Anatolia. They brought their pantheon, including a god named Sabazios.

He was a god of #agriculture, teaching humans how to cultivate plants.
His followers would #dance & get #drunk.

#Ancient #Greeks equated Sabazios to Dionysos.

It was said that Sabazios was ripped apart by #Titans & reassembled as the Greek god of #wine.

#mythology

mythologyandhistory, 4 months ago to cake

Ever so often, I decide that I need to do some kind of #challenge.

I've embarked on an "extreme #Mediterranean #diet", in which I pretend it's 1951, & I'm somewhere in Manna in the Corinthian mountains.

Today, the challenge was to make a sweet treat.

I've decided to make a 'Fanouropita', a Lenten #cake to honour #Saint Phanourios. He's asked to find things that have been lost because his icon was found intact in the ruins of a church.

I liked the #mythology & it's pretty tasty too!

This is a photo of a piece of Fanouropita to show the inside. It is a soft crumbly texture in a caramelly brown colour, on a small round ceramic plate.

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to india

Did you know that #India has an equivalent to Cupid?

Kamadeva is the #god of #desire. He is a beautiful man, friends with #bees & parrots, & he shoots arrows tipped with fragrant #flowers.

Kama is not fully good, however.

As he stirs lust, he'll sometimes pester wise men, so that they won't become #divine.

When he foolishly disturbs god Shiva, he's incinerated. Goddess Parvati asks for his resurrection, & he becomes a spring breeze.

#mythology

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to history

Did you know that the oldest known #adhesive was also chewing gum?

#Birch tar is in its simplest form, burned birch #bark. It forms a sticky black pitch that can be used as glue.

Evidence for #human (& #Neanderthal) use has been dated to 200k or the Old #Stone Age.

Birch tar is also a disinfectant & it has been found as a chewing gum in various locations in Europe.

One birch gum piece from 5700 yrs ago, contained a complete human #genome of a woman.

#history #paleolithic

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to Europe

Did you know that some days in #medieval #Europe were considered especially #unlucky?

The 'Dies Ægyptiaci' (#Egyptian Days) or 'Dies Mali' (Bad Days, & the origin of the word 'dismal'), were a (usually) 2-day-a-month #superstition.

Here, #doctors shouldn't bloodlet, #people shouldn't sow or #harvest, & #travellers & #traders should rest.

It is thoroughly unknown for what these days are named.

#history #middleages

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to queen

Did you know that the first man-made dye was meant to cure #malaria?

William Perkin's teacher theorised that quinine, a treatment for malaria, could be synthesized.

Inspire, the 15-year-old set out to do so. His home #experiment produced an odd #purple sludge.

He tried to dye some #silk with it & found it beautiful & lasting!

He got a #patent, raised capital & soon, #Queen #Victoria was wearing his invention. He got #rich with #cheap mauve.

BONUS MYSTERY! https://researchoutreach.org/articles/mystery-victorian-purple-dye/

#history

This is a photo of a small piece of silk fabric dyed with mauveine supplied to Queen Victoria for a dress about 1860. It shows a wooden mid-brown frame which holds a coarse homespun fabric, on which a square piece of bright mauve silk is secured. Underneath the square swatch is a coiled silk rope, also in a vivid mauve colour.

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to ai

#AI #Robots. Impressive? Scary?

Personally, I'm leaning towards terrifying.

However, I could get behind medically-applied AI Robots (#nursing, #hospital cleaning, etc.).

#Opinions?

https://youtu.be/VAtoqAQ2aEg?si=XVJO80imMvUl--mK

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to random

It never gets old.

#olympics #flames

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C50oZOcCT9p/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

mythologyandhistory, 1 month ago to mentalhealth

Did you know that #homesickness was once known as '#Swiss Disease'?

The word was first mentioned in 1651 & described as an #illness in 1688.

In 1710, it was claimed that music of Swiss #Alpine herdsmen & the Guggisberglied (a #folk song), led Swiss soldiers to desert. The singing of the same resulted (allegedly) in capital #punishment.

One doctor thought that the low air pressure made the Swiss sick with longing & would lead, if not returned home, to their eventual #death.

#history #social

mythologyandhistory, 3 months ago to berlin

Aubrite #meterorite in #Berlin !

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meteorite-germany

#unique

mythologyandhistory, 3 months ago to politics

Did you know that #Australian #politicians REALLY miss the #Victorian #Age?

Sometimes in Aussie #Parliament, you can spot an MP holding paper over their head.

If an MP wants to raise a "point of order", a #rule #violation, s/he has the right to speak. S/he does NOT have the right to stand, however.

Thus, to get the speaker's attention, a top hat should be put on... except that no one ever remembers their #hat & so a piece of paper must suffice!

#politics #history #weird

This is a photo of former Australian MP & Minister of Defense Christopher Pyne. He is a middle-aged white man in a navy suit, white shirt, and light blue tie holding a paper over his head.

mythologyandhistory, 3 months ago to Titanic

Imagine that I posted something witty about the #leapday, today.

Like, that the #Titanic sank in a leap year or that #Irish women have to be given gloves if you rejected their marriage proposals today.

But honestly, I just use today as an excuse to chill.

What did you do?

#reading

mythologyandhistory, 3 months ago to MadeMeSmile

Did you know you can chat to an #astronaut on the #ISS?

ARISS is an amateur radio channel for this purpose. :trek_tos_spock:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1hrtMuL-tr/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

#MadeMeSmile

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to philosophy

Did you know that the 1st mass poisoning was fabricated?

In 331 BC, many #rich men had died & ~200 #Roman women were put on trial.

A slave revealed the truth: the rich ladies were poisoners.

The accused were asked to drink their #poison & promptly died. The officials declared them insane.

The #problem is that this doesn’t make sense.
The women had no political agenda, all wealthy men had food tasters & the accused were willing to drink their potions.

Was the story just slander?

#history

mythologyandhistory, 3 months ago to spanish

Did you know that the first person that tried to stop #Spanish colonisers was #hardcore?

Hatuey was Taíno chief, an #indigenous people of Hispaniola. He had met the conquistadors & decided to warn neighbouring Cubans.

He explained that the Spaniards' #god was #gold & they'd kill many, but few Cubans believed him.

Hatuey was caught & put to the stake.

A priest urged him to convert, but when told Spaniards go to heaven too, decided hell - without such cruel people, was preferable.

#history

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to philosophy

Curious #thoughts of #CharlesDarwin on Tahitians:

"In my opinion, they are the finest men I have ever beheld [...] To see a white man bathing alongside a Tahitian, was like comparing a plant bleached by the gardener’s art to the same growing in the open fields."

He was “much disappointed in the personal appearance of the women; they are far inferior in every respect to the men.”

However "either they are not as handsome as they were said to be, or my ideas are fastidious".

#history #tahiti

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to history

I don't usually comment on current #history, but the #collapse of #Haiti is the result of the global community ignoring that Haitians are #people.

Haiti has no functional #government now. The #humanitarian situation is dire.

And what does the former U.S. Under-Secretary of State suggest?

That it's "[...] up to the United States and CARICOM to really identify who’s got to run that place [...]"

But the current situation is due to a foreign-backed government.

He forgets - again - the Haitians.

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to history

#Stunning frescos #uncovered in the "Black Room" in #Pompeii.

I'm mesmerised! :GhostHeart:

#history #roman

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/11/banquet-room-with-preserved-frescoes-unearthed-among-pompeii-ruins?CMP=share_btn_url

mythologyandhistory, 1 month ago to history

Did you know that #Shinzo Abe's grandfather was known as a #monster?

This is a 19-point #thread on the tumultuous years during & after #WW2 from Japan's POV, on the #problem of #US peace-keeping efforts & on Japan's ongoing nepotism issues.

🧵 #history #japan

(PS: The 🧵 sections are in the comments!)