Random History
Tames’ head is full of random historical facts, and this is where she shares them. New facts are continually added, so check back regularly to see what strange, wonderful, or just plain interesting things Tames has dug up.
In Europe, before the mid-19th century, blue dye was extracted by boiling the
leaves of a plant in the mustard family called woad.
posted 02/15/2012
Kellogg introduced Rice Krispies in 1928.
posted 02/01/2012
In London in 1652, the first coffeehouse opened in a shed in St. Michael
Cornhill courtyard.
posted 01/15/2012
More people (3% of the world’s population) died in the 1918 influenza
pandemic than in both world wars combined.
posted 01/01/2012
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance a salt cellar, which was a big
bowl of salt, was placed in the center of the table. If one was of the nobility,
one sat above the salt, and if one was of lower class, one sat below the salt.
posted 12/15/2011
At the end of the 19th century, the population of tramps in America
numbered 50,000, which was larger than Wellington’s army at Waterloo.
posted 12/01/2011
Gingerbread was first made on the ancient Greek island of Rhodes and was
spread throughout Europe by Roman soldiers.
posted 11/15/2011
Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a lifelong supporter of John
Adams. While Gerry was governor in 1812, he instituted the Republican
redistricting of Massachusetts to rearrange the state, so as to have more
Republican senators. This gave rise to the term “gerrymandering.”
posted 11/01/2011
During the 19th century, 50% of England’s population was “in domestic
service.”
posted 10/15/2011
The ancient Celts used the bagpipes as an instrument of war. It was very
effective in scaring their enemies off the battlefield.
posted 10/01/2011
On September 25, 1660, Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary the first
mention in English of anyone drinking a cup of tea.
posted 09/15/2011
To accommodate the place setting for a formal Victorian dinner, one needed
three feet of table space per guest.
posted 09/01/2011
Vodka wasn’t drunk much outside of Russia until the 1950s, when it caught
on as a mixer for cocktails.
posted 08/15/2011
The ancient Greeks invented the frying pan and so gave the world the first
fried foods.
posted 08/01/2011
The introduction of window screens in the 1880s was said to be the “most
humane contribution the 19th century made to the preservation of sanity and
good temper.”
posted 07/15/2011
Italians were the first Europeans to use Chinese black powder to
manufacture fireworks.
posted 07/01/2011
A dowry was provided by the bride’s father to compensate the future husband for the upkeep of his daughter. Eventually this became the bride’s inheritance and was paid to the groom or his family. It was usually returned if the groom was not satisfied with the bride.
posted 06/15/2011
A bride price is the money paid to the father by the groom to compensate for the loss of work his daughter does for the family. This money was usually paid before the contract could be concluded.
posted 06/15/2011
In the 18th century, makeup was worn by both men and women. That is why one embraced at a gathering, meaning having your neck kissed as a greeting. Kissing of the lips was reckoned rude until the seduction was further along, and kissing cheeks wasn’t the mode, as it may rub off the paint.
posted 05/15/2011
In ancient Rome marriages did not take place in the month of May because that was the month they honored their dead.
posted 05/01/2011
During the Middle Ages monks were given 7 lashes for singing out of tune.
posted 04/15/2011
In England the Elizabethan nobility drank over forty million gallons of wine per year.
posted 04/01/2011
Clothing for a mid-Victorian woman weighed 200 pounds (the corset alone weighed 25 pounds). This is why there were never any women survivors when the ship went down.
posted 03/15/2011
In 1840 the Coal Act was passed forbidding women to be used as pit ponies in the mines.
posted 03/01/2011
Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, brought the Spanish fashion of eating salads with the main meal to England.
posted 02/15/2011
British Victorian nursemaids, who were often young girls, were so starved for affection that they often succumbed to “the scarlet fever,” a euphemism for falling for and being taken advantage of by a British soldier, whose uniform consisted of a scarlet-colored coat.
posted 02/01/2011
One tablespoon of paprika equals four lemons’ worth of vitamin C.
posted 01/15/2011
1,000,000 Chinese peasants died to build the Great Wall of China.
posted 01/01/2011
During the 1770’s wigs in Europe reached great heights—as much as 5 feet. Constructed on a wire frame, flour was mixed with water for paste and was used to set the wigs in the current style. The wigs contained built-in mouse traps for vermin control.
posted 12/15/2010
A single place setting for a Victorian formal dinner consisted of 33 pieces of silverware, 10 glasses, a salt cellar, a knife rest, a charger plate, a bread plate, a butter pat, a name card and holder, a printed menu and holder, a bone plate, and a nut cup. All other china would be brought out with each course.
posted 12/01/2010
During the Middle Ages you could buy 7 oxen with 1 pound of nutmeg.
posted 11/15/2010
The favorite drinking game in ancient Greece was kottabos, which involved suspending a bronze disc horizontally halfway up a tall stand and placing a small metal target above it. The idea was to drink a cup of wine, then use one of the handles of the cup to fling the dregs at the target. If the target was hit, it dropped onto the bronze disc and made a bell-like noise. If the target was missed, the dregs were flung all over the room
posted 11/01/2010
The ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain was held at the end of October and known as All Hallow’s E’en, hence we get the word Halloween. The Celts believed that the veil between the worlds was very thin on that day. To honor the dead they would leave offerings of food to nourish the spirits on their journey between worlds, so that they wouldn’t be stuck in this one. This is why we offer candy to trick or treaters, so they won’t do property damage.
posted 10/15/2010
During the Elizabethan era the lower classes shifted their drinking habits from beer to ale.
posted 10/01/2010
The saffron crocus only blooms for 2 weeks in September when the stamen, which is also known as filaments or threads, is harvested
posted 09/15/2010
Roman soldiers were paid partly in salt, giving rise to the saying, “He’s not worth his salt.”
posted 09/01/2010
The British laid 5,000 miles of rails in less then twenty years, a fact that led to British railway workers being paid three times the wages of other railway workers.
posted 08/15/2010
The natives of the Caribbean Islands use allspice along with salt to preserve meat. They call this preserved meat “boucan.” Pirates who plied the waters of the Caribbean ate a lot of this preserved meat, hence they came to be called “boucaneers.”
posted 08/01/2010
The ancient Greeks invented the hibatchi, thus holding the first barbecue.
posted 07/15/2010
The first firecrackers are attributed to a Chinese monk named Li Tian, who in the 10th century put gunpowder into a hollowed piece of bamboo to drive away evil spirits from the city of Liu Yang. This city became one of the world’s biggest producers of fireworks.
posted 07/01/2010
