The Strangest Pets in History

Josephine Baker and her cheetah

Author Tony Dunnell

September 4, 2024

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People have kept pets for tens of thousands of years, though we can’t say exactly when the practice began or what the very first pets were. We do know that dogs were the first domesticated animals, but our ancient ancestors could reasonably have kept other creatures as pets long before wolves turned into our faithful friends. Today, pets are everywhere. In the United States, 66% of households — that’s around 86.9 million homes — own a pet. By far the most popular pets are dogs and cats, found in 65.1 million and 46.5 million households, respectively. Next, although some distance behind, come freshwater fish, small animals such as hamsters, gerbils, and rabbits, and then birds.

Among the most popular categories of pets, we find animals that would generally be considered somewhat uncommon. It’s not all that often, for example, that we come across someone who owns a chinchilla, a ferret, a fancy guppy, a cockatiel, or a six-toed Norwegian lundehund. But even these unusual animals are no match for the strangest pets in history. Here are 10 of the most bizarre animal companions, kept by a range of famous figures, from Roman orators to Hollywood icons.

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Lucius Licinius Crassus’ Eel

Lucius Licinius Crassus is considered one of the greatest orators of ancient Rome. And bizarrely, much to the bemusement of later Roman commentators, he had a beloved pet eel. It’s said that he trained the eel to respond to its name, and even adorned his slimy companion with earrings and small necklaces.

Tycho Brahe’s Elk

Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, often considered the greatest observational astronomer of the pretelescopic era, lived a rather colorful life. He lost his nose in a duel over a mathematical formula. He was the keeper of a clairvoyant dwarf named Jepp. And he had a pet elk (some sources say it was a moose) that attended feasts and banquets with him. Unfortunately, at one such feast the elk drank too much beer, and took a fatal fall down the castle stairs.

Gérard de Nerval’s Lobster

The French Romantic poet Gérard de Nerval was a major influence on the later symbolist and surrealist movements. He could often be found walking his pet lobster, Thibault, on the end of a blue silk ribbon through the Palais-Royal in Paris. When asked about his strange pet, he replied, “I have affection for lobsters. They are tranquil, serious, and they know the secrets of the sea.”

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Empress Joséphine’s Orangutan

Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and served as empress of the French from 1804 until 1810. She kept a menagerie of exotic animals, but her favorite pet was an orangutan named Rose. Rose was a dignified ape who wore white cotton chemises, had a fondness for turnips, and apparently slept in the same bed as Joséphine and Napoleon.

Lord Byron’s Bear

Lord Byron, regarded as one of the greatest English poets and a key figure in the Romantic movement, was known to be eccentric. While a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the early 1800s, he was told he could not keep his pet dog as canines were banned from the college. So, he went out and found himself a tame bear, because there were no rules against keeping such an animal. He would walk the bear through the college grounds, and even tried to enroll it as a student — though the application was rejected.

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Teddy Roosevelt’s Many Strange Pets

When Theodore Roosevelt began his presidency in 1901, his family moved into the White House with a horde of pets in tow. These included a lizard named Bill, a blue macaw called Eli Yale, Baron Spreckle the hen, Maude the pig, a one-legged rooster, a barn owl, and various guinea pigs with names such as Admiral Dewey and Fighting Bob Evans. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the Roosevelts also had a pet badger called Josiah, a small black bear named Jonathan Edwards, and a hyena called Bill.

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Calvin Coolidge’s Raccoon

In November 1926, some supporters of President Calvin Coolidge sent him a live raccoon so that the first family could kill it and eat it for Thanksgiving dinner. But instead of sacrificing the creature, the Coolidge family decided to keep it as a pet. They named it Rebecca and built a little house for it, and Rebecca was allowed to roam the White House and accompanying gardens.

Salvador Dalí’s Ocelot

Salvador Dalí was the living embodiment of surrealism, so it was perhaps no surprise to see him walking the streets with his pet ocelot, Babou. Dalí claimed that the medium-sized spotted wild cat was a gift from the president of Colombia. During the 1960s, the painter took Babou almost everywhere he went, safely secured on a leash and studded collar.

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Josephine Baker’s Cheetah

Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer and singer who became a sensation in Paris in the 1920s. She was also the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture. On stage, she was often accompanied by her “co-star,” her pet cheetah Chiquita. Chiquita became a star in her own right, known for wearing a diamond collar and leaping into the conductor’s pit during performances.

Audrey Hepburn’s Deer

While filming the 1959 adventure-romance Green Mansions, Audrey Hepburn had to work alongside a baby deer called Pippin (or “Ip,” as she called it). Hepburn was encouraged to care for the fawn for the sake of the movie, and the two soon formed a strong bond. She fed the deer from a baby bottle, shared a bed with it, and even took it shopping and to parties. After filming, Hepburn was devastated when she and Ip had to separate. Her husband later tracked down the deer and Hepburn took it in as her pet.

When Did We Start Giving Each Other Wedding Rings?

Wedding bands

Author Nicole Villeneuve

September 4, 2024

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In weddings around the world, exchanging rings is a crucial part of the ceremony, a moment in which a couple’s promises are sealed with a tangible token. This simple piece of jewelry does a lot of heavy lifting: It acts as a symbol of love, unity, and eternity, while also making our relationship status clear to the world. Various cultures have contributed to the history of the wedding ring, from its ancient beginnings to the relatively recent advent of the double-ring exchanges popular today. But when and how exactly did this time-honored tradition begin?

It’s believed the ancient Romans were the first people to use wedding rings in a way resembling the modern custom, although exchanging rings as symbols of eternity or affection dates back even earlier to ancient Egypt and Greece. Roman weddings were not like the elaborate, picturesque affairs of today, however; marriages were often less about romance and more about family alliances and property. After a marriage contract was signed and a feast was had, there was a procession to the couple’s new home, where the bride was carried over the threshold. It was then that the groom presented the bride with a ring — not just as a gesture of affection, but as a public acknowledgment of their bond and a sign that she was now a part of his household. Romans first used copper and iron for the bands, but they began to favor gold after around the third century CE. In wealthier households, brides often had both: one ring, usually made of iron, to wear at home, and another fancier gold ring to present to the public.

The wedding ring was worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, a custom based on the belief that a vein — known as the vena amoris, or “vein of love” — connected this finger directly to the heart. This tradition may have originated in ancient Egypt, where rings were seen as symbols of eternity; the ring’s circular shape, with no beginning and no end, made it a powerful representation of infinity. While the vena amoris has since been proved anatomically incorrect, the symbolic ring placement on the left hand’s fourth finger remains customary. Though the Romans were the first to formalize the use of rings in a wedding ceremony, it’s believed they took a cue from the ancient Greek and Egyptian cultures. After Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered Egypt in 332 BCE, the Greeks adopted the custom of giving rings as a sign of love — these tokens often featured motifs of Eros, the Greek god of love, known as Cupid in the Roman pantheon.

Iconic Photos From Each Decade of the 20th Century

“Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,” 1932

Author Tony Dunnell

August 29, 2024

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In the mid-1820s, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce stood at an upstairs window of his estate in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes in Burgundy, France. In his hand he held a primitive camera. After at least eight hours of exposure, Niépce created the world’s first — or at least oldest surviving — photograph, known as “View From the Window at Le Gras.” In that moment, an entirely new medium was born.

Photography rapidly went from one first to another. In 1838, Louis Daguerre, inventor of the daguerreotype, shot the first photo to include people. In 1840, English scientist John W. Draper took the first photo of the moon. And in 1861, Scottish mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell produced the earliest color photograph. Advances continued apace, until another landmark — the first cellphone photo, in 1997 — launched an era in which cameras became ubiquitous, and the age of the selfie was born.

Throughout the 20th century, photographers captured images that ran the gamut of human experience. Here are some of the most iconic photos from each decade of the last century, from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to the far-flung reaches of the universe.

“First Flight,” 1903

On the morning of December 17, 1903, on the sand dunes 4 miles south of the fishing village of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, one of the most pivotal moments in human history was captured on camera. Once developed, the photo showed the moment that aviation pioneer Orville Wright took to the air in the world’s first successful airplane.

The Breaker Boys Photo, 1911

In 1908, the U.S. National Child Labor Committee hired sociologist and photographer Lewis Hine to photograph children at work in mills, mines, and factories. His photos of the “breaker boys” — children usually between the ages of 8 and 12 who worked in coal mines — helped build public support for legislation barring child labor.

“Le Violon d'Ingres,” 1924

“Le Violon d'Ingres” is a black-and-white photograph created by the American visual artist Man Ray. It features the model Kiki de Montparnasse, with two f-holes painted on her back to make her body resemble a violin. One of the most iconic images of the surrealist movement, it set a record in 2022 when it sold for $12.4 million, becoming the most expensive photo of all time.

“Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,” 1932

The 1930s were a decade of many iconic photos, from the Hindenburg zeppelin bursting into flames to a classic photo purporting to show the Loch Ness monster. Arguably the most famous, however, was a black-and-white portrait of 11 ironworkers eating lunch while sitting precariously on a steel beam 850 feet in the air, taken during the construction of Rockefeller Center in New York City.

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“Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” 1945

World War II heralded a new era of war photography, much of it more intimate and at times more harrowing than anything previously seen. One of the most recognizable images was taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945. It shows six United States Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Three of the Marines were killed in action during the battle, but their image remains a timeless portrayal of troops at war.

“The Scream Image,” 1957

In 1957, photographer Will Counts took a series of photos during the Central High School desegregation crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas. One of his photos, sometimes known as “The Scream Image,” shows Black student Elizabeth Eckford being harassed by white students in front of the school. Instantly iconic, the image became a key symbol of the Civil Rights Movement.

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“Earthrise,” 1968

On Christmas Eve in 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 saw a spectacular sight as they orbited the moon: the Earth appearing above the lunar horizon. Astronaut Bill Anders took a photo, which became known as “Earthrise.” Not only was it the first color photograph of Earth taken from space, but it also inspired a generation to think more seriously about our planet. The image is now widely credited with advancing the global environmental movement.

Nixon Gives the “V” Sign, 1974

The 1970s were characterized by political upheaval on a global scale, with frequent coups, domestic conflicts, and civil wars. In the U.S., the decade was marked by the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon’s term, and the Watergate scandal. This iconic image shows Nixon waving goodbye from the steps of his helicopter as he leaves the White House after his farewell address on August 9, 1974.

“Tank Man,” 1989

From a sixth-floor balcony of the Beijing Hotel, Jeff Widener of the Associated Press took one of the most recognizable photos of all time. Below him, in Tiananmen Square, a lone man bravely stood in front of a column of tanks, repeatedly changing his position in order to obstruct their attempted advance. Widener’s photo is a classic image of resistance, though the lone protester has never been identified.

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“Pillars of Creation,” 1995

Photography is literally light-years ahead of where it was when Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first photo in history from his upstairs window. “The Pillars of Creation” — arguably the Hubble Space Telescope’s most iconic image — shows a section of the Eagle Nebula star cluster located some 7,000 light-years from Earth. It features three huge, fingerlike columns formed of interstellar gas and dust, where the process of creating new stars takes place, all captured in a truly awe-inspiring photograph.

What Was America’s Population Through History?

Historic people on map of U.S.

Author Nicole Villeneuve

August 29, 2024

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The first inhabitants of what is now the United States appeared around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago — a blip in time compared to the annals of some of the earliest places humans lived. Initially, population growth was slow due to the continent’s geographic isolation; significant increases began only after Europeans made their way to the Americas throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. By the 20th century, the U.S. population was experiencing rapid expansion — a trend that has slowed in recent years. Here’s a look at America’s changing population through history, from early prehistoric arrivals to the decline we’re seeing today.

Credit: Illustration courtesy of Madison Hunt

Prehistory

The North American continent was inhabited by prehistoric humans, although they arrived much later than humans in other parts of the world. While early human species have been around for millions of years, the first people didn’t make their way to North America until sometime between 20,000 BCE and 13,000 BCE. It’s believed they traveled via the Bering Land Bridge from modern-day Siberia to Alaska, although exactly when and how they first arrived is still a matter of debate. The number of people who were around in this era is debated as well, and while estimates vary, it’s believed some 230,000 people were living in America by 10,000 BCE.

Antiquity

By 1 CE, an estimated 640,000 people were living in what is now the United States. Indigenous peoples developed agricultural practices that helped to define their communities, especially along the Mississippi watershed. By 1100 CE, a settlement known as Cahokia, located across the Mississippi River from modern-day St. Louis, was home to about 20,000 people. The population continued to grow throughout the land, and by 1400, there were an estimated 1.74 million people in the modern-day U.S.

When Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean in 1492, that number had increased by nearly 150,000 people. But in the years that followed, as other European explorers began to map and claim parts of North America, waves of disease, displacement, and conflict had a major effect on the population. Within 100 years of the first European landing in the New World, an estimated 85% to 90% of the Americas’ Indigenous population was wiped out. In the modern-day United States alone, the population dropped almost 60% between the years 1500 and 1600, from 1.89 million to 779,000.

Colonial Era

By the early 1600s, Spanish and English explorers had established permanent settlements in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, and Jamestown, Virginia, and by the mid-1600s, the Pilgrims had established themselves in modern-day Massachusetts. By 1700, the population of the colonies had grown to an estimated 250,000. Official population estimates at the time did not include Indigenous peoples, an omission that wasn’t corrected until the late 19th century; scholars who later attempted to include Indigenous populations in the count put it closer to 900,000. In 1776, when the U.S. gained independence from England, the known population had surged to approximately 2.5 million — but the new country was about to undergo even more transformation.

Industrial Revolution

The period of time from the American Revolution through the end of World War II saw explosive population growth. In 1790, the first official U.S. Census Bureau counted 3.9 million Americans living in the country. This era coincided with the start of the Industrial Revolution, a transformative time in the Western world. Technological innovation not only marked a societal shift from agrarian to industrial economies, but also spurred rapid urbanization. The era saw improvements in working conditions, sanitation, and medical care, too, making life expectancy longer than ever before. Ten years after the first U.S. census, in 1800, the population had shot up by almost 1.4 million people to reach 5.3 million. That surged to 23 million by 1850, fueled largely by a wave of European immigration to the U.S. By 1900, the country was home to 76 million people, a number that also reflected the country’s Indigenous residents. America’s population continued to grow during the early 20th century, reaching about 148 million by 1945.

Baby Boom

The post-World War II era saw a dramatic increase in birth rates — a trend that famously became known as the baby boom. The sharp rise was due to a number of factors, key among them being economic prosperity, soldiers returning from war, and a cultural emphasis on family life. By the time the boom tapered off in 1964, some 76 million babies had been born, and these new citizens made up almost 40% of the country’s population of almost 197 million.

Today

In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau counted America’s population at 337 million people. And while that’s an all-time high, the rate of growth has been slowing down. The baby boom was followed by a period of lower birth rates, which remain on a downward slope. Meanwhile, an aging population means death rates are projected to meet or exceed births.

The postwar period also saw changes in U.S. immigration policy, including the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which did away with previous immigration quotas, opening the doors to more new Americans. Immigration has been the main driver of the country’s population growth since 1970, and that trend is expected to continue. In 2023, the Census Bureau projected that sustaining diverse immigration will help to balance the effects of an aging population. Still, despite a projected global population increase of nearly 2 billion people in the next 30 years, the U.S. population is expected to peak at around 370 million by 2080, then decline slightly to 366 million by 2100.

How Did Salt and Pepper Become the Two Most Common Seasonings?

Salt and pepper shakers

Author Nicole Villeneuve

August 27, 2024

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Spices have been central to human history since antiquity, influencing trade routes and economies along the way. But despite the rich array of flavors that have traveled the world, salt and pepper have emerged as the most popular seasonings in the Western world. Salt, an essential mineral, was once coveted for food preservation; pepper, a spice derived from dried peppercorn plant berries, used to be worth its weight in gold. Their popularity and ubiquitous inseparability have even led to their names being used as an adjective, as in “salt-and-pepper” hair. Here’s a look at how necessity, global trade, and culinary innovation helped salt and pepper become the two most common food seasonings.

A Dash of Salt

Salt’s journey to dinner tables is rooted in its importance to human life. The natural mineral is crucial for maintaining hydration, nerve function, and muscle control in the body, among other things. Given salt’s essential role in survival, it’s no surprise that humans developed a taste for it. Early human diets were heavy in meat and naturally provided sufficient salt. But as nomadic hunter-gatherers settled into agricultural societies and diets started including more grains, supplementing salt became important. The resource, though naturally abundant, wasn’t always easy to obtain, and it became a highly sought-after commodity throughout expanding civilizations.

In ancient Rome, the production and transport of salt evolved into a major industry. Salt was highly valued and was even used as currency, with soldiers sometimes receiving their salarium, or wages, in salt — a practice that gave rise to the English word “salary.” (Sal is the Latin word for salt.) As European empires expanded and trade routes grew, so did salt’s reach, though it largely remained a necessity of food preservation and was used as a seasoning only by the wealthy. Throughout the Middle Ages, upper-class hosts even made sure their guests of honor were seated next to elaborate, expensive salt cellars at the dining table.

A Pinch of Pepper

Around the same time, black pepper was experiencing peak popularity in medieval Europe. Native to India’s Malabar Coast, pepper was used in local cooking as early as 2000 BCE, but as trade networks expanded, the spice became highly prized in the Roman Empire, where it was as valuable as gold. Like salt, it remained a top commodity and a luxury for centuries throughout Europe due to difficulties importing it from tropical regions — as well as for its supposed medicinal properties. Black pepper was believed to aid digestion, ward off diseases, and treat ailments such as arthritis and gout.

By the mid-17th century, however, these medical beliefs were waning, and the spice trade shifted significantly as new imports such as coffee, chocolate, and tobacco entered the scene. Food preferences also changed, reflecting refinements in regional cooking, especially in France.

A New Culinary Concept

Historians trace the most likely implementation of salt and pepper into everyday cooking to the rise of French haute cuisine in the 17th century. French chefs such as François Pierre La Varenne, who contributed to the influential 1651 cookbook Le Cuisinier Francois (The French Cook), began reducing the amount of spices used in cooking, instead aiming to emphasize ingredients’ natural flavors. This style of cooking also introduced a clear separation between savory and sweet dishes in a meal. Salted foods were served first to stimulate the appetite, while sweet dishes were saved for the end to satisfy it. Pepper, one of the few spices that flavored food without overpowering the taste, didn’t work well with sweets — but it did pair well with salt, and both were relegated to a meal’s savory servings. This shift in French cuisine was a major influence throughout Europe, especially after the cookbook’s first English translation in 1652.

Everyday Essentials

Much the same way pepper proliferated in Europe via land and sea routes, the spice and its culinary uses were introduced to the Americas through European colonizers. Salt, of course, was naturally occurring, but was made more easily available in the Americas with the arrival of colonial settlers and an influx of goods from European imports. Following the American Revolution, New York and Virginia became hotspots of domestic salt production, while Massachusetts emerged as an early-19th-century pioneer in the North American pepper trade. Both were in easy abundance for the early citizens of the United States.

By the early 20th century, most U.S. homes had refrigerators, and salt’s role as a food preservative had diminished — its primary role was in cooking. After anticaking agents such as magnesium carbonate were added to salt in 1911, salt shakers became practical and widely used. Salt and pepper had long been habitually used together, so pepper shakers appeared shortly after, and the pair’s status as everyday cooking essentials was cemented.

Why Was Joan of Arc Important?

Joan of Arc entering Orléans

Author Timothy Ott

August 22, 2024

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Amid the bloodshed of the Hundred Years’ War in the 14th and 15th centuries rose a figure who seems as much of a shadowy legend as King Arthur, but was very much a real person. Somehow, an illiterate teenage woman not only convinced the dauphin of France that she was sent by divine forces to place him on the throne, but also actually helped achieve exactly that, by spurring royal forces to a string of victories despite not having a shred of military training.

While most everyone knows the name Joan of Arc, few know more than the vague outlines of her accomplishments from a distant era. Here’s a look at her remarkable life story, from its humble beginnings to its troubled conclusion and her reemergence as one of history’s most celebrated figures.

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Joan of Arc was born around 1412 in Domrémy, a village in northeastern France that sat in disputed territory between subjects loyal to Henry VI of England and those devoted to Charles of Valois, the dauphin of France, and the Burgundians loyal to the Duke of Burgundy and Henry VI of England. The daughter of a tenant farmer father and a devout Catholic mother, Joan learned the skills of a shepherdess and absorbed the teachings of the church. At around age 13, she began hearing what she determined to be the voices of St. Michael the Archangel, St. Margaret of Antioch, and St. Catherine of Alexandria. These voices initially told her to live piously, but eventually provided more explicit instructions that she was to see the dauphin Charles crowned the rightful king of France.

A few years later, Joan sought to gain an audience with Charles by meeting with intermediaries at the nearby stronghold of Vaucouleurs. Initially rejected, she eventually convinced the garrison captain of her divine inspiration. In February 1429, Joan cut off her hair and donned men’s clothing to make an 11-day journey with an armed escort to the dauphin’s castle in Chinon, France.

Is Robin Hood Based on a Real Person?

Robin Hood with bow and arrow

Author Timothy Ott

August 20, 2024

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As with Santa Claus, the legend of Robin Hood has spread across many cultures through the centuries as an emblem of merriment, generosity, and other lovable aspects of human nature. Whether he’s robbing the rich to give to the poor, outwitting the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, or laughing it up with his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest, the heroic outlaw has been immortalized through song, in print, and on the big screen by way of dashing A-listers from Douglas Fairbanks to Russell Crowe.

But unlike with Santa, there’s something inherently realistic about this English folk hero. There are no flying reindeer in his tales — only flying arrows that highlight his skill as a marksman. And while he embodies such noble values as friendship, loyalty, and devotion to justice, he achieves his goals without the kind of extra-worldly powers that prominently feature in a superhero movie. As a result, it’s not surprising that many historians over the years have sought to pinpoint whether there was an actual Robin Hood — or at least a real-life inspiration for the legend.

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Part of the problem with taking on that task is sorting through Robin’s shifting identity in the various historical works that mention him. Depending on where you look, Robin Hood was either a yeoman or a fallen noble; a native of Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, or Barnsdale; a veteran of the Crusades or territorial battles against the Normans; and a contemporary of King John, Henry III, or Edward III.

7 Shocking Medical Beliefs From Ancient Greece

Bloodletting a patient

Author Tony Dunnell

August 20, 2024

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The ancient Greeks are widely regarded as the founders of modern medicine. Yet initially, they saw illness as a divine punishment and healing as a literal gift from the gods — beliefs not uncommon in the ancient world. By the fifth century BCE, however, the Greeks began testing and advancing medical theories based on actual scientific observations — cause and effect — rather than spiritual beliefs alone.

Three factors began to take prominence in ancient Greek medicine: diet, drugs, and surgery. Diet was particularly important and, when combined with medicine and surgery, created a holistic approach to health and healing. Still, this was more than 2,000 years ago, and the ancient Greeks never entirely separated the spiritual world from the physical. Modern medicine has come a very long way in two millennia, and today, some medical practices from ancient Greece seem strange at best, and even downright shocking.

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Tasting the Humors

The Greek physician Hippocrates was fundamental to the medical advancements of ancient Greece, and he is still revered for his ethical standards in medical practice. (Many doctors still take a modernized version of the Hippocratic oath.) Hippocrates was particularly taken by the idea that the human body contained four humors, or fluids: black bile, yellow or red bile, blood, and phlegm. In humoral theory, these fluids held the key to medical diagnosis. As such, Hippocrates routinely tasted his patients’ urine, pus, and earwax, and smelled and scrutinized their stools and vomit. You certainly can’t fault his dedication, even if such practices seem gruesome today.

The Wandering Womb

Greek physicians were obsessed with the womb, and believed it could explain the physical and mental differences between men and women. Specifically, they believed these differences could be put down to a “wandering womb” that moved about the female body, causing all kinds of adverse conditions; the physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia even considered the womb “an animal within an animal” that could move around of its own accord. Treatment involved repelling or enticing the womb using foul- or sweet-smelling substances, respectively, placed near the woman’s nose or groin. Womb fumigation was another option, in which the woman would sit over a heated pot containing scented vapors. It was believed that after a few days, this could draw the problematic womb to its correct position.

Hare’s Brains for Teething

Some ancient Greek physicians, including Aëtius of Amida and the famed gynecologist Soranus of Ephesus, recommended the use of hare’s brains to help with the pain of teething, either added to food or rubbed directly into the gums. (If no hares were available, then lamb brain would do just as well.) Aetios also advised that teething babies could wear bracelets or amulets containing colocynth, a wild vine that is both bitter and toxic. Alternatively, an amulet containing the tooth of a viper could be hung around the baby’s neck.

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Music for Vipor Bites

Modern music therapy began as an organized and respected profession in the 1950s, and is now accepted as a scientifically based method of emotional, cognitive, and physical healing. But the ancient Greeks also used song as a therapeutic aid. The philosopher Theophrastus saw music as a cure for many ailments, including fainting, panic attacks, sciatica, and epilepsy. Another Greek philosopher, Democritus, believed that viper bites could be cured by skillfully played flute music.

Poison as a Cure

The Greeks used a wide range of narcotic drugs as cures or remedies, including mandrake, opium poppy, nightshade, henbane, and hellebore. The last, in particular, was used to treat numerous ailments, including gynecological disorders, vomiting, skin conditions, humoral imbalance, and lung problems. This was a tricky business, however, as hellebore is toxic and potentially fatal in high doses — in fact, poisoning by hellebore may have caused the death of Alexander the Great. Ancient Greek physicians, when recommending the use of hellebore, were particularly careful to warn of its potentially lethal nature if administered carelessly.

Bloodletting

Bloodletting — the removal of blood for medical treatment — is considered one of the oldest medicinal practices. It is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt before spreading to Greece. The Greeks believed that many illnesses stemmed from an overabundance of blood (one of the four humors) in the body, a condition known as plethora (a word of Greek origin meaning “fullness”). In order to restore balance, excess blood was removed from the patient’s body through surgical incisions or the use of leeches.

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Jumping Backward as Birth Control

The ancient Greeks proposed a number of contraceptive theories and methods, involving everything from cedar oil ointments to eating pomegranate seeds. Two of the strangest contraceptive suggestions came from Soranus of Ephesus, who suggested that women jump backward seven times after intercourse. Alternatively, and equally bizarrely, he recommended that women wishing to prevent pregnancy drink the water used by blacksmiths to cool their metal.

Why Did Men Wear Powdered Wigs in the Past?

Line of judges in wigs

Author Nicole Villeneuve

August 15, 2024

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In the 17th and 18th centuries, everyday items we take for granted today were status symbols among the European elite, including pineapples, mirrors, and, yes, wigs. While wigs have a long history in ancient societies, they were popularized as an upper-class fashion accessory during King Louis XIV’s reign in France from 1643 to 1715.

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Louis XIV’s court at Versailles was the epitome of style and sophistication. When the young king started losing his hair at the age of 17 in the 1650s, he began wearing hairpieces to cover it; by the time he reached his 30s, he had adopted highly coiffed statement wigs. These wigs, known as perukes, became an integral part of his regal appearance and an immediate trend among his courtiers and nobility. Around the same time that King Louis made wigs popular in France, his cousin King Charles II of England also began wearing them to cover his prematurely graying hair — both monarchs’ hair conditions are believed to have been caused by syphilis and its treatments.

The Story of Alexander the Great, in 6 Facts

Mosaic of Alexander the Great

Author Tony Dunnell

August 15, 2024

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In 356 BCE, in the city of Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, a baby boy was born to the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias. Philip celebrated the arrival of his first son and future heir, but not even the proud king could have imagined how far the boy, Alexander, would go.

King Philip II had already overseen the reformation of the Macedonian army, with the establishment of the phalanx infantry formation (a dense line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder) and the brutally effective use of long sarissa pikes and siege engines. But it was Alexander, who succeeded to the throne at just 20 years old following his father’s assassination, who took this fearsome force to a whole new level. He engaged in military campaigns against the Greeks and then the Persians, and in little over a decade had conquered most of the known world — all before his sudden death at age 32.

Here are six facts about Alexander III of Macedon, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, a man widely considered the greatest and most successful military commander in history.

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Aristotle Was Alexander’s Teacher

As the son of royalty and heir to the throne, Alexander was expected to receive a fine and princely education. But Alexander’s schooling went above and beyond: His teacher was none other than Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. The famed scholar was summoned by King Philip II around 343 BCE, when Alexander was 13 years old. Aristotle tutored Alexander on a wide range of subjects, including philosophy, ethics, science, and the arts, in an attempt to create an enlightened monarch who would rule in a fair and just manner — something arguably lost on Alexander in later years, as his military leadership increasingly veered toward megalomania.

Alexander Was Never Defeated in Battle

Alexander succeeded to the throne in 336 BCE, and soon went to war, spending most of his reign engaged in lengthy military campaigns throughout Western Asia, Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and Egypt. Incredibly, Alexander was never defeated in battle, despite often being outnumbered. He won at least 20 major battles against significant military powers, including the Greek city-states, Egypt, and Persia. Not only was Alexander a masterful tactician and general, but he also inspired extreme loyalty among his soldiers, who refused his orders only once during the so-called Hyphasis Mutiny, when his exhausted men refused to march further into the Indian subcontinent.

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Alexander Founded Many Cities

During his reign, Alexander the Great conquered the Greek city-states and the mighty Persian Empire. In doing so, he created an empire that spanned three continents and covered about 2 million square miles. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch, Alexander also founded more than 70 cities, though modern historians place the number between 10 and 20. Many of these he named after himself, including Alexandria Troas in Turkey, Alexandria Arachosia and Alexandria Ariana in what is now Afghanistan, and, most notably, Alexandria, which is the second largest city in Egypt today.

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Bucephalus Was Alexander’s Faithful Warhorse

Bucephalus is one of the most famous horses from classical antiquity. According to Plutarch, the horse was given as a gift to Alexander's father, Philip II. But the animal was aggressive and unmanageable, and wouldn’t allow anyone to mount him. Seeing this, Alexander, just a boy at the time, asked permission to tame the horse, saying, “What an excellent horse do they lose, for want of address and boldness to manage him!” His elders laughed at him, but Alexander proved them wrong, managing to ride and ultimately tame the wild creature. Bucephalus became Alexander’s mount of choice and was with him throughout his campaigns. He held the horse in such high regard that he even named a city — Bucephala in modern-day Pakistan — in honor of his faithful steed.

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Alexander Took Huge Risks With His Own Life

One of the reasons Alexander inspired such devotion and sacrifice in his soldiers was his willingness to charge into battle on the front lines beside them. This, however, was a huge risk, and Alexander came close to death more than once. At the Battle of Granicus in 334 BCE, for example, Alexander was seconds away from receiving a fatal blow from a Persian soldier, only to be saved in the last moment by one of his companions, Cleitus the Black. Later, during the Indian campaign, Alexander received his most severe wound when an enemy arrow pierced his lung. Word soon spread that he had died, but Alexander survived. When he had fully recovered, he presented himself to his awaiting troops, to the cheers and even tears of his soldiers.

Alexander’s Death Is Shrouded in Mystery

The death of Alexander the Great remains one of history’s greatest mysteries. We know that Alexander, at the age of 32, fell ill during a days-long period of festivities, collapsing and complaining of a searing pain in his back. An intense fever followed, and he died 12 days later. From that moment up until the present day, the exact cause of his death has been a topic of much debate. Numerous theories have been proposed, including alcoholic liver disease, malaria, typhoid fever, and assassination by strychnine poisoning. While we might never know the truth about Alexander’s death, we could one day solve one of archaeology’s other great mysteries: the location of his tomb. Numerous theories exist regarding the tomb’s location, placing it anywhere from Egypt to Greece. It’s possible it was destroyed and will never be found — but that won’t stop archaeologists from searching for the final resting place of history’s greatest general.

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