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, 2 months ago to history

Did you know that in 1755, after the #Dodo went extinct, the director of the Ashmolean #Museum in #Oxford decided that the stuffed Dodo they had was too musty & promptly burned it?

This was the very last preserved Dodo.

An appalled employee tried to save the bird, but could only rescue the head & a foot.

Consequently, we actually don't know much about the bird. Such as its diet or breeding habits.

(It's unclear if the story's true. But the lack of remains is.)

#history

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to Futurology

I'm watching the #Australian #Rover #Competition today!

It's a #student #robot competition simulating a #Lunar #mission.

It's on from today until 24.03., & features different tasks the rover has to perform everyday. The winning team is chosen by points & announced on the last day. This is a competition from the Australian Space Agency (ASA).

Most teams are from #Australia, but they also have a team from #Poland & #Bangladesh !

https://www.youtube.com/live/N8DCFYlPOSs?si=a9Rdce2wCscsDYaq

This is a still from the live stream of the ARC. It shows a close-up of a robot with six wheels extending its operating arm to attempt to flip a switch on a task obstacle.
This is a still of the operating team of Team QUT at the ARC. The photo shows five men in a small tent. Three are standing and watching what the centrally located man in doing. He is operating what looks like an old-fashion joystick to navigate the team's rover. Another man is seated next to him and smiling.

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 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, 2 months ago to art

#Theft to order? 49 pieces stolen from a #museum last week.

Interesting case.

https://art-crime.blogspot.com/2024/03/museum-theft-one-million-euros-worth-of.html?m=1

#art #crime

mythologyandhistory, 2 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 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 Women

"The legal subordination of one sex to another – is wrong in itself, [...] it ought to be replaced by a system of perfect equality, admitting no power and privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other."

~ 'The Subjection of Women' by J. S. Mill (1869)

Did you know that John Stuart Mill was the first person in #British #Parliament to call for allowing #women to vote?

This petition also included the signature of the only #PoC, Sarah Parker Remond.

#internationalwomensday #philosophy

This is a copper stencil of John Stuart Mill. It shows Mill in middle age. He is pictured from the left, with his head fully tilted to that side but his upper torso slightly tilted to the front. He wears a black suit jacket, a black vest with fabric buttons, and a white starched shirt. The shirt's collar is upright and severe, and around it is tied a black scarf, into a loose bow. His face is lined with age, especially around the eyes and mouth, and yet he displays a surety and alertness in spite. His nose is prominent and regal. His forehead is very large as he suffers from severe male pattern baldness. His hairline extends beyond the crown of the head. The hair he does have is wavy and centered in the neck and ear region. He also displays thick mutton chops.

mythologyandhistory, 2 months ago to philosophy

Did you know that #ancient Romans in #Britain developed a unique #pottery method?

#Roman pottery was diverse. The majority of it was made on a large scale via moulds.

You had pottery for lamps, to serve food & drink, cookware, storage containers,...

...and in Britain, #weird jars with crude faces on them. They were sculpted by hand (unusual) & it is unclear what purpose they served.

Some suspect funeral urns, which seem to have traveled with the #Roman legion.

#history #ancientrome #art

mythologyandhistory, 2 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, 2 months ago to Europe

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.

#history

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 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, 3 months ago to China

Did you know that #China has a famous alternative to "let them eat cake"?

During the Jin #Dynasty (266-420), #Emperor Hui of Ji (晉惠帝) was known to be incompetent. He had 9 different people rule in his stead because he could not form logical conclusions on his own.

In the #chronicle of the era, called the #Book of Jin (Vol. 4), it says that when he heard that his people were starving he asked:

"Why not eat minced meat?"

Hui died from poisoned bread.

#history #chinese

mythologyandhistory, 3 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.