Why Are Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Kentucky Called Commonwealths?

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Author Nicole Villeneuve

November 7, 2024

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The United States is made up of 50 states, yet four of them — Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Kentucky — are officially referred to as commonwealths. Their names are technically styled as the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, etc. The term “commonwealth” is frequently associated with Great Britain, and its ongoing alignment with many countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. But in the U.S., which was also once under British rule, the term has a somewhat different meaning.

A commonwealth is defined as a political entity founded for the good of the people. The word dates back to the mid-15th century and was given weight by political philosophers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes throughout the 17th century. The term was also popularized during this period due to the execution of England’s King Charles I in 1649. After the king’s death, the country was declared a republic, and was known as the Commonwealth of England until the monarchy was restored in 1660.

This concept of a state existing for the benefit of its citizens — not for any one individual, such as a monarch — is the idea behind the use of the word in the United States. Its use dates back to colonial times and the revolutionary ideals of governance and political rhetoric that were paramount to the cause of American independence.

Virginia — the first British colony established in America — adopted the commonwealth designation for a short time during England’s Interregnum (“between reigns”) period and brought it back when the state adopted its own constitution in 1776. According to the Hornbook of Virginia History, the term was chosen “most likely to emphasize that Virginia’s new government was based upon the sovereignty of the people united for the common good.” Pennsylvania followed suit, officially affirming the authority of its citizens with a commonwealth designation in its 1776 constitution. The name fit well with Pennsylvania founder William Penn’s long-standing ethos of democratic governance and equality.

Massachusetts also sought a clear break from monarchical rule. When the state’s constitution was drafted in 1780, it used the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the state’s official name and to describe the government of the state. The Massachusetts Constitution was primarily authored by founding father John Adams, who was heavily influenced by Enlightenment ideals that promoted the idea of governments existing to help enforce collective well-being.

Unlike the other three commonwealths, Kentucky was not one of the original 13 colonies — it was part of Virginia until it split off and became its own state in 1792. It wasn’t until 1891 and the fourth version of the state’s constitution that Kentucky styled itself a commonwealth. The change was likely influenced by its historical ties to Virginia as well as the impact of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which was seen as one of the most democratic of its time.

Calling a state a commonwealth made no functional or legal difference, however — the distinction was purely symbolic. As the Library of Congress puts it, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Virginia are commonwealths “because their constitutional drafters declared they were.” The term has been applied to two U.S. territories, too: Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are both classified as commonwealths; they’re not U.S. states, but not independent countries, either.

Beyond U.S. borders, many people still think of the term in tandem with the British monarchy. In fact, the Commonwealth of Nations, often simply referred to as "the Commonwealth," is indeed made up of 56 countries that, for the most part, were once under British rule and today share a mutual interest in democratic values and economic cooperation. Member countries such as Canada, Australia, and India remain independent nations, but maintain symbolic ties to Britain, with King Charles III serving as the symbolic head of state. Unique as they may be, the American commonwealths were established based on these same values of democracy and common welfare.

What Did Oranges Used To Look Like? (They Weren’t Always Orange)

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Author Tony Dunnell

November 7, 2024

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When we think of oranges today, we picture an almost perfectly round fruit with a sweet, citric, juicy interior that is, as the name suggests, orange in color. It’s a common fruit around the world; in the U.S., oranges consistently rank as the third-most-consumed fresh fruit behind bananas and apples — and it ranks No. 1 among juices.

But oranges weren’t always as popular or as common as they are today — and they didn’t even look the same. The oranges we’re familiar with are the result of thousands of years of cultivation and selective breeding. Here, we peel back the layers of history to discover what oranges used to look like and how they evolved into the fruit we enjoy today.

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The Origins of Oranges

Oranges, and all other citrus fruits, can trace their roots to the southeast foothills of the Himalayas. According to DNA evidence, the first citrus trees appeared in this region about 8 million years ago; from there, they spread across the Indian subcontinent and then to south-central China. These ancient citrus fruits, however, were nothing like the oranges we know today. They were smaller, often bitter, and came in a variety of shapes and colors, from knobby, yellow fruits akin to the modern citron to large, green, smooth-skinned citruses similar to the modern pomelo.

All the oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits we eat today are descendants of just a handful of ancient species, namely citrons, pomelos, and mandarins, all native to South Asia and East Asia. The sweet orange we know today, which accounts for about 70% of global orange production, is a cultivated hybrid of the ancient pomelo — a large, pale green or yellow fruit with a thick rind — and ancient mandarins, which were then only a little larger than olives. That original hybrid, however, would have been quite different from the oranges we have today.

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Cultivation and Selective Breeding

Modern oranges are the result of extensive selective breeding over thousands of years. Early oranges would certainly not have had the uniformity of our modern varieties, and they were likely smaller, with looser, bumpier skin. In terms of taste, they could have been bitter or sweet or anywhere in between — the first known reference to what are now called sweet oranges comes from Chinese literature from around 314 BCE.

As for the color, not all early oranges were orange, with shades of the fruit ranging from pale yellow to green. In fact, even today, many oranges remain green when ripe, particularly in warmer parts of the world, since the color of an orange is related to temperature and environment, not ripeness. Oranges turn orange due to exposure to cold, and some oranges grown in warmer climes are picked green and treated with ethylene gas to make them more orange, a process known as degreening.

Orange Oranges

By the 11th century, oranges were being grown in Southern Europe, though they had a bitter flavor and were used primarily for medicinal purposes. Sweet oranges, similar to what we typically consume today, did not appear in Europe until the 16th century. These soon caught on, beginning a period of breeding programs and intensive cultivation that began to shape the orange into a fruit more closely resembling the common modern variety.

At this point, oranges wouldn’t necessarily have been as large, as uniformly sized, or as vibrantly orange as we are used to, but they would have been very much recognizable to us. Evidence for this is amply supplied in paintings by various artists from the 16th century onward — for example, Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s “Winter” (part of the “Four Seasons” set, 1563); Willem Kalf’s “Wineglass and a Bowl of Fruit” (1663); Luis Melendez’s “Still Life with Lemons and Oranges” (circa 1760); and Vincent Van Gogh’s “Still Life with Basket and Six Oranges” (1888).

As for the word “orange,” it referred to a fruit first and a color later. The word comes from the Old French word for the citrus fruit, pomme d’orenge, which in turn is thought to have come from the Sanskrit word nāranga via the Persian and Arabic languages (hence the Spanish word for orange, naranja). The use of orange as the specific description for a color started to appear in English in the 1500s — many centuries after humans started eating actual oranges.

What $20 Could Buy You Through History

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Author Nicole Villeneuve

October 31, 2024

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Imagine walking into a grocery store with $20 in your pocket. What can you buy? Today, you might be able to grab some pasta and vegetables for the night’s dinner and have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, if you’re lucky. The purchasing power of a dollar has changed dramatically from the early days of American history, largely due to the ever-increasing prices of the things we spend money on — that pesky reality we call inflation. Twenty bucks might not put much in your grocery bag now, but in the mid-20th century, it could easily stock your pantry — or even cover a visit to the doctor. Here’s what $20 could comfortably buy you at different times in U.S. history.

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Colonial Era

The colonial American economy primarily used a mix of British currency (pounds, shillings, and pence), Spanish dollars, and various forms of local currency. There was no unified economic system; the value of money and exchange rates varied among colonies, and historians admit it’s a challenge to draw direct comparisons to modern prices. Using various online converters, we can loosely estimate $20 to be equivalent to about 100 shillings at the time. In the 1730s, 20 shillings could buy 50 acres of land in Maryland or about 3 pounds of beef in New England. In 1777, the same amount would outfit a man in a full suit of broadcloth in Rhode Island.

Of course, while it’s fun to speculate, it’s nearly impossible to determine with any certainty how much $20 was worth in colonial America, as there was no standard national currency until the U.S. won independence at the end of the Revolutionary War.

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1870s

In 1785, the dollar was established as the official unit of currency of the newly formed United States, and the first coins were printed in 1794 when the Coinage Act established the U.S. Mint. (The first paper money came later, in 1861.) While the young country grappled with economic uniformity for decades, the U.S. dollar was well ingrained by the mid-19th century.

By 1870, $20 could cover an entire month’s rent for a Lower East Side tenement apartment in New York City. Though the conditions in tenement buildings were often overcrowded, unsanitary, and unsafe, many working-class families and new immigrants called them home. Today, after centuries of both inflation and gentrification, the average rent in the same Manhattan neighborhood hovers around $5,000 a month. That $20 rent might sound like a great deal in comparison, but most laborers only earned about $50 a month — meaning 40% of their income often went to housing. Professionals such as doctors or lawyers were, of course, much better off, taking home a few hundred dollars a month.

In rural areas, $20 was also sufficient means to buy a milking cow, providing a steady supply of milk, cheese, and butter for a household. A decent selection of clothing was also within reach with $20 to your name. Newspaper advertisements from San Francisco touted formal wear such as silk suits for $12.50, heavy woolen coats (known as ulsters) for $5, and twilled silk umbrellas for $1.50 each. Altogether, that was $19 worth of clothing. Today, $20 might only buy you a couple cups of coffee if you're living and working in a city; in rural areas, it might fuel a week’s worth of caffeine. Or if you’re shopping for clothes on a budget, 20 bucks could probably snag you a pair of jeans on sale.

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1920s

In the economic boom of the Roaring ’20s, consumer goods became increasingly accessible to everyday Americans. For the men and women who dressed up to go out and dance the Charleston, $20 could easily cover a stylish suit, coat, or dress for the occasion. The popularity of household appliances was also on the rise. Electric stoves didn’t outnumber gas ranges for another decade or so, but a smaller electric oven for the kitchen countertop cost around $10, putting home innovation and upgrades within reach for some Americans. The average U.S. income averaged between $3,000 and $5,000 a year throughout the decade, so to many, $10 here or $20 there wasn't just pocket change; it represented a decent chunk of their monthly income of just a few hundred dollars.

In the 1920s, the popularity of cars exploded in the U.S., but $20 wasn’t near enough to buy a popular Ford Model T — that would run you a whopping $260. If you did have a car, though, $20 could fill the 10-gallon gas tank about 10 times over, making a road trip on America’s rapidly improving roadways a must.

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1950s

The average U.S. household income in 1950 was about $3,300, and $20 still had decent purchasing power for necessities and beyond. It was, for instance, possible to plan a full holiday meal for your family with much less than $20. In fact, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, it cost just under $7 for a meal that included a 16-pound turkey, potatoes, stuffing, dinner rolls, cranberries, and pumpkin pie throughout the entirety of the 1950s. At that price, families could add some extra vegetables such as carrots, and maybe even a nice bottle of wine or champagne.

As another example, $20 could buy 400 cans of Coca-Cola. Excessive, no doubt, but by the end of the 1950s, the U.S. indeed loved its canned sodas, and since Coke was still priced at just 5 cents a pop, just about anyone could enjoy one now and then. The cost of medical care was much lower in the 1950s as well — $20 could cover three or four checkups with your doctor, at about $5 to $6 a visit, or even a trip to the operating room for minor procedures.

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1980s

Music lovers today know that many live shows are a luxury expense or even out of reach — an average concert ticket costs well over $100. But in 1980, $20 could snag you two tickets to see some of the top acts of the day, including Peter Gabriel, Bob Seger, or the Grateful Dead. Today, meanwhile, it might be able to get you a drink at big arena shows.

For kids (or collectors), brand-new Transformers toys at the peak of their popularity in the ’80s were typically priced at about $10; for a more deluxe figure, $20 was the norm. And while $20 doesn’t go very far in the fast-food realm today, in the 1980s, it bought a lot: A McDonald’s value meal deal cost a mere $2.59, meaning $20 could feed a family of seven — or a family of five with money left over for ice cream afterward.

When Did People Start Using Money?

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Author Timothy Ott

October 31, 2024

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It’s been said that money makes the world go round. It’s also been said that money is the root of all evil. Whichever theory you subscribe to, both of these contrasting views highlight the ubiquity of currency in modern society.

We often take for granted the process of shelling out cash for food at the grocery store, setting aside regular amounts for the mortgage or rent, or spending a few extra bucks on a new shirt or shoes. These are the hallmarks of modern living — but they haven’t always been.

Humans have been around for about 300,000 years, began banding together in settlements some 12,000 years ago, and set the foundations of major civilizations 5,500 years ago. So when did the all-encompassing presence of money enter the equation?

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Bartering and Neolithic Cattle

Historians agree that before there was money, there was bartering — the exchange of one form of goods or services for another in a way that satisfied both parties. This process dates back thousands of years, to at least the Upper Paleolithic period (roughly 50,000 to 10,000 years ago). But experts differ as to the next steps in the economic timeline, depending on their specialty. Some economists have argued, based on the writings of Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations, that money developed from the bartering system. However, scholars in the fields of anthropology and archaeology are more likely to contend that money was created by governments as a means of exerting control. Part of the uncertainty, of course, comes from the difficulty of tracing the development of a system across different parts of the world with a lack of definitive recorded evidence.

However it was introduced, ancient money generally fulfilled a few major guidelines: It served as a unit of exchange, represented a measure of value, enabled the payment of debts, and could be accumulated as a wealth reserve. Prior to the existence of metallic coins and (far later) paper cash, this meant the use of a wide array of items that fulfilled some combination of practical and ornamental function.

The oldest form of money may well be the use of cattle dating back to the Neolithic era — while far less portable than modern forms of money, it fit the other requirements of providing a standard measure of value and being easily counted. Other nonmetallic forms of currency from various cultures through the centuries include amber, beads, cocoa beans, ivory, leather, quartz, rice, salt, and whale teeth.

Silver and the Shekel in Mesopotamia

The rise of civilizations in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE sparked a transformation in the scale of economic activity — along with fostering extensive trading networks, the period saw an increase of wealth among its most prosperous citizens and the first recorded existence of banks.

While many people used grain as a form of money, the better-off flaunted their wares in silver, and with silver came the first weight-based form of currency, the shekel. Weighing approximately one-third of an ounce, the shekel helped determine a silver-based standard of value for goods, taxes, and penalties. The wealthier citizenry also found willing takers for their gold, while most people exchanged more common metals such as copper, tin, or lead.

The popularity of metal currency served to narrow the scope of what was accepted for payment in this part of the world, and paved the way for the emergence of coins. However, the silver shekels didn’t quite meet the standard of modern money, as they lacked an official guarantee of value.

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Cowrie Shells and Early Coins in China

Independent of developments on the shores of the Mediterranean, standard forms of money began surfacing in China. As far back as the Shang dynasty, which spanned roughly the 17th to 11th centuries BCE, this entailed the use of cowrie shells (small oval-shaped shells) from the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Sometime after the start of China’s Spring and Autumn period in the eighth century BCE, bronze and copper pieces began appearing in regular circulation. At first, these early coins were also fashioned in the likeness of the popular cowrie shells. Soon, they began taking the forms of other common objects, including knives, spades, and musical instruments.

Regardless of their shape, all of these coins were embedded with holes for ease of being strung together, as their composition of base metals resulted in low-value density and the need for many pieces to purchase objects of greater worth.

The Modern Coin Emerges in Lydia

What is traditionally considered the final step in the emergence of modern money took place in the kingdom of Lydia, located in modern-day Turkey. There, in the seventh century BCE, the kingdom began fashioning coins from electrum, a naturally occurring gold and silver alloy.

Initially formed into irregular bean-shaped chunks, the electrum currency soon began to take on a rounded shape with standardized weights and inscriptions such as a lion and bull facing one another — an official stamp of authenticity. By the mid-sixth century BCE, the prosperous King Croesus had separated the metals into gold and silver pieces to develop the first bimetallic currency.

By that point, the use of state-issued coins was spreading to Ionia and other Greek city-states, while also becoming more prominent in China and India. Although traditional currencies such as shells and beads continued to hold sway in other regions, in many cases working in tandem with the tried-and-true method of bartering, modern money was up and running and ready to make the world go round.

The Evolution of Hemlines Through History

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Author Nicole Villeneuve

October 30, 2024

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Worn by both men and women in early civilizations such as Egypt and Rome, skirts and dresses gradually transformed into quintessential symbols of femininity in the Western world. For centuries, these garments reached the floor as a mark of modesty, but practicality and changing tastes occasionally nudged hemlines higher, such as with the “walking dress” and its ankle-skimming hem, which emerged by the mid-1800s. By the late 19th century, it wasn’t unheard of to see a skirt hit midcalf, a look that forecasted the more dramatic shifts that started in the early 1900s.

While we tend to think of the evolution of hemlines as a simple upward trajectory, getting shorter as society evolved and fashion became more daring, their history is much more nuanced. Hemlines have risen and fallen several times in the last 100 years. And though the popular “hemline index” theory suggests that skirt lengths rise in times of economic prosperity and fall during downturns, that’s an oversimplification of the story. Far from a one-way trend, hemlines have been a dynamic reflection of fashion, function, and symbolism through the years. Here are a few of the most significant changes in the 20th century.

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1920s: The Flapper Era

The 1920s marked the first major departure from traditional floor-length skirts. Following World War I, the Roaring ’20s brought economic stability to the U.S. — and a newfound sense of empowerment and liberation for women, who had won the right to vote in 1920. Women enjoyed vibrant social lives even in the depths of Prohibition, frequenting speakeasies and private clubs and dancing the night away. It was a time when the restrictive clothing of the past just would not do; hemlines shot up, at first to just below the knee, and by the mid-1920s, even creeping above. The new dress style also did away with the tightly corseted fashions of earlier decades, ushering in a less-structured “Garçonne” look (an androgynous or “tomboy” style) that was free of curves and had dropped waists, loose fits, and a straighter silhouette.

1940s: The “New Look”

Between 1930 and the end of World War II, hemline trends resembled a rollercoaster. After the shorter hems of the 1920s, most dress and skirt lengths plummeted back down to midcalf or the ankle during the Great Depression in the 1930s. They stayed that way until the onset of World War II, when fashion, like much of the rest of life, became dictated by rations and utility. Hemlines raised up to knee length; this look, seen on the A-line skirts worn by women in the military, not only preserved fabric, but also was practical for movement and comfort on the job, a necessity given that more women than ever were joining the workforce.

After the war, another dramatic hemline reversal happened. The introduction of designer Christian Dior’s “New Look” in 1947 brought back the long, voluminous skirts of an earlier era, with hemlines falling back to midcalf or even to the ankle. The luxurious look may have been a rejection of wartime austerity, but many also saw it as a step back toward traditional gender roles. The longer hemlines, as well as the New Look’s signature hourglass silhouette, stood in stark contrast to the more utilitarian styles of the war years. A backlash ensued, with protests happening in the U.S. and abroad. “Mr. Dior, we abhor dresses to the floor,” a sign at one American demonstration read. It wasn’t long before these progressive protesters were wearing their shortest skirts yet.

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1960s: Miniskirt Revolution

After the conservative styles of the 1950s, the rebellious spirit of the ’60s ushered in radical shifts in fashion, including one of the most dramatic hemline changes in history: For the first time in American fashion, skirts rose to several inches above the knee. Miniskirts were worn by style icons such as the model Twiggy and embraced by the youth culture, which was booming like never before. In 1960, almost half the population of the U.S. was under the age of 18, while in the U.K., the burgeoning “Swinging London” scene emphasized everything youthful and modern. By the middle of the ’60s, the miniskirt was the quintessential wardrobe item for young women — both a novel trend and a powerful cultural symbol of liberation and defiance. While British designer Mary Quant is often given credit for the style — and she indeed popularized it — she always credited the youthful London street style of the time, insisting, “It was the girls in the street who did it.”

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1970s: Maxi Skirt Revival

What goes up must come down again, and as the miniskirt’s dominance of ’60s fashion fizzled, an opposing trend also driven by the surging youth culture began to emerge. More and more young people began to vocalize their rejection of mainstream societal establishments and instead embraced the ideals of peace and love. They were known as hippies, and their wardrobe of choice — in addition to the burgeoning bell-bottom pants that became synonymous with the ’70s — included flowing, long-sleeved maxi dresses and skirts. Hemlines were once again at the ground, but this time it wasn’t an embodiment of buttoned-up conservatism; the maxi length reflected a laid-back, bohemian style that characterized the era. The midi skirt also attempted a comeback in the 1970s, but didn’t quite catch on — at least, not yet.

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1980s: Power Dressing and Princess Di

In the 1980s, hemlines fluctuated once again — this time, trending back upward. The maxi hem of the ’70s was out, and the midi length came back as part of the broader “power dressing” phenomenon. The look — sleek, suit-inspired, and with a midcalf hem — was largely influenced by Princess Diana; the young royal captivated the public with her singular style throughout the ’80s and ’90s. More women were also entering the corporate world, and the fashion reflected growing female professionalism and authority. As the decade pressed on, hemlines crept up further still. Miniskirts also reappeared in the ’80s, often in patchy acid-washed denim or the colorful, ruffled, flouncy “rah-rah” style.

Other popular looks have come and gone since then — the midi asymmetrical handkerchief hem of the early 2000s, for one — but the rise of fast fashion, individualism over collective style, and the increasingly rapid turnover of trends mean the ’80s may well have marked the end of a single hemline trend defining an entire decade.

What Your Last Name Says About Your History

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Author Kristina Wright

October 24, 2024

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Last names, also known as surnames, can be more than just family identifiers — they can be gateways to understanding more about our ancestral history, cultural heritage, and even ancient migration patterns. The practice of using last names began as populations expanded and it became necessary to distinguish individuals with the same first names. The origins of these surnames are often tied to geographical regions, occupations, or even personal traits — think “Hill,” “Baker,” or “Armstrong.” In the United States, where the population is a diverse mix of cultures, surnames also carry with them the marks of migration, colonization, and assimilation.

Whether a last name suggests our ethnic heritage, an occupational trade, a geographical region, or the influences of colonization and religion, the identifiers we carry with us can reveal intriguing stories about our past and connect us to a broader story of human movement and settlement. With around 31 million surnames in the world, here are just a few ways that our last names tell us who we are.

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Viking Migration Affected Naming Traditions

The Viking Age marks the period of time when seafaring Norse people raided and colonized their way through Northern Europe, from the end of the eighth century CE until the Norman Conquest in 1066. The influence of the Vikings can still be seen in the surnames of people with Scandinavian, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Names ending in “-son” or “-sen,” such as Davidson or Andersen, are likely to have Viking roots in Scandinavian or Norse heritage, derived from the practice of using “son of” to identify a man’s father. For example, Andersen means “son of Anders,” a popular Scandinavian first name. Other surnames of Old Norse descent include Carlson, Ericsson, Rogerson, Gundersen, Olsen, and Iverson.

Viking migrations, raids, and settlements spread Viking naming conventions as well as the Old Norse language across regions that are now part of modern-day England, Ireland, and Scotland. Regions such as Yorkshire in northern England and parts of Ireland were significantly influenced by Viking settlers, a fact still visible in the surnames common in these areas, such as Holmes, a Viking word meaning “a small island”; McAuliff, meaning “son of Olaf”; and Higgins, which comes from an Irish word that means “Viking.”

Similarly, Doyle, from the Irish Ó Dubhghaill, means a “descendant of Dubhghaill,” coming from the Old Gaelic dubh, meaning “dark” or “black” and ghaill, meaning “foreigner” or “stranger,” which was how the first Vikings in Ireland were described. Other Viking names with the same meaning include the Irish surname Mcdowell and the Scottish surname Mcdougall, both of which are anglicized forms of Mac Dubhghaill, meaning “son of Dubhghaill.”

Surnames Can Tell Us About Our Ancestors’ Occupations

For many people in the United States, surnames hold clues to their ancestors’ European origins as well as their occupations. Names such as Baker, Miller, Sawyer, and Smith each tell a story about the jobs that were once an important part of a community. The last name Baker refers, of course, to someone whose occupation was baking, while the name Miller, from the Middle English “mille,” references a person who owned or worked in a grain mill. The name Sawyer comes from the Old English “sagu,” referring to one who saws wood and signifying a family whose profession was in lumber or woodworking. Similarly, the name Smith is derived from the Old English word “smitan,” meaning “to smite” or “strike,” indicating someone who worked with metal, such as a blacksmith or goldsmith. Other common examples include Taylor, Fisher, Wright (as in wheelwright), Cooper (barrel maker), Hunter, Thatcher, Brewer, Cook, Glover, Shepherd, and Gardner.

Occupational names are common in languages other than English, too, such as Geiger, a German surname meaning “fiddle player”; Notaro, an Italian occupational name meaning “clerk”; Fisker, a Dutch surname meaning “fisherman”; Patel, an Indian surname meaning “landowner”; and Favre, a French surname meaning “blacksmith.” The surnames Müeller (German), Mulder (Dutch) and Melnik (Russian), and Molinero (Spanish), are all equivalent to the English last name Miller.

As societies evolved, these occupational surnames stuck, even as descendants of those original bakers or smiths moved into different lines of work. Their names remain a connection to their ancestors and the roles they played in their communities.

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Surnames Can Reflect Our Ethnic Heritage

Beyond occupations, surnames can also be tied to geography. In many cultures, last names were derived from a family’s place of origin. For instance, English surnames such as Hill, from the Old English “hyll,” and Wood, for the Old English “wudu,” refer to natural landmarks, while the Italian surname Carrara is derived from the Latin word for “quarry” and comes from the name of a city in Tuscany known for its marble quarries. In Spanish-speaking cultures, common names include Fernández, meaning “son of Fernando,” and Lopez, meaning “son of Lope,” emphasizing a patronymic naming tradition similar to that of the Vikings.

Some other common Spanish names meaning “son of-” include Perez, “son of Pedro,” Alvarez, “son of Alvaro,” Sanchez, “son of Sancho,” and Diaz, “son of Diego,” while Spanish geographical names include Rivera from the Spanish word ribera, meaning “bank” or “shore,” and Vargas, from the Spanish and Portuguese word varga, meaning “flooded field,” “pastureland,” or “slope.”

In Asia, surnames carry rich historical significance as well. The most common surname in China, as well as the world, is Wang, meaning “king” or “monarch,” while Li was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Tang dynasty. The most common surname in Japan is Satō and, like other popular surnames such as Itō and Katō, it is linked to the powerful Fujiwara clan that controlled the Japanese government for four centuries.

African surnames originated through a mix of Indigenous traditions and external influences, including colonization, religion, and migration. In West Africa, surnames often indicate the ethnic group or clan a person belongs to, such as Diop, a surname that comes from the Diop clan of the Wolof people of Senegal. The influence of Islam and the Arabic language is reflected in the surnames of North Africa. The most common surname in Egypt, for instance, is Mohamed, which is associated with the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, while the Sudanese surname Elmalik means “the king” or “the owner” in Arabic.

There Are More Than 6 Million Different Surnames in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 6.3 million different surnames were reported in the 2010 census. Centuries of immigration and forced migration from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, as well as the existing Indigenous populations, contributed to making the United States home to one of the most diverse arrays of surnames in the world. As people from different countries settled in America, they brought their surnames with them, often adapting, abbreviating, or anglicizing them over time to make them easier for English speakers to pronounce or to avoid discrimination. While many of us today may be far removed from the origins of our surnames, they still connect us to our past.

Did George Washington Have a British Accent?

Statue of George Washington — Credit: Epics/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Author Mark DeJoy

October 24, 2024

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In 1584, the first English colony in North America was founded in what is now North Carolina. And though the 117 settlers who comprised the Roanoke Colony mysteriously disappeared three years later, ensuing waves of settlements established England’s presence on the continent for generations to come. By 1770, the total population of Great Britain’s 13 colonies in America was approximately 1.5 million. It raises the question: Since much of the population of the fledgling U.S. descended from Brits, would the American speech pattern at the time have sounded British? Could someone like George Washington, one of the most famous early Americans, have had a British accent?

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Since Washington lived in an era that predates sound recordings, we don’t have a simple answer to that question in the form of audio records of the founding father’s voice. But we can determine some possibilities by piecing together factors from Washington’s life that would have impacted the way he spoke.

Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and spent most of his childhood near Fredericksburg. His father, Augustine Washington, and mother, Mary Ball Washington, were also born in Virginia. Indeed, George Washington’s lineage in the colony went back two more generations — it was his great-grandfather John Washington who set sail from England and established the family in Virginia. So America’s first president wasn’t from a family of recent British settlers; he was three generations removed, and the household he grew up in wouldn’t have necessarily spoken an accent that was common in England at the time.

Accents are complex and dynamic — rather than remaining in stasis, they evolve over time, shifting due to factors such as exposure to other languages and dialects. When British colonists settled in North America, they became isolated from shifts that later occurred in the English accent. In turn, the colonists were exposed to different languages, such as the Dutch, French, Spanish, Swedish, and German tongues of settlers hailing from those nations, as well as the languages of Indigenous peoples. That exposure created changes in the colonial accent that the British were isolated from. Over time, the colonists’ accent and the homeland British accent diverged as both evolved and changed in different ways.

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One way an accent changes over time — especially in an environment where multiple dialects are being spoken — is through a process linguists call koineization, also known as leveling. In order to better understand each other, people tend to subconsciously reduce or omit the more distinctive elements of their speech, resulting in a sort of linguistic common denominator. When British settlers from different regions of Great Britain came to North America, koineization leveled the disparate regional accents of Great Britain into a new accent — an American accent. The question is, how long did it take for that American accent to emerge?

In 1770, a visitor to the colonies whose name has been lost to history wrote, “The language of the [colonists] is perfectly uniform, and unadulterated; nor has it borrowed any provincial, or national accent from its British or foreign parentage.” And linguists at the Smithsonian point out that the English noticed a distinct speech pattern in the colonies as early as one generation after the first settlers arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. So it’s likely the American and British accents first diverged circa the 1700s — around the time of Washington’s lifetime (1732 to 1799).

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It’s also worth noting that today’s various English accents are different from what you would have heard in the 18th century, as are the accents in different parts of America. One of the most recognizable British accents today is called Received Pronunciation, a customary BBC-ready speaking pattern that is just one of many English dialects. One of the most noticeable characteristics of the accent is that the “r” sound isn’t pronounced. (The word “star,” for instance, is pronounced “stah,” “card” is pronounced “cahd,” and so on.) Whether or not an “r” sound is pronounced is referred to by linguists as rhotacism: A rhotic dialect will pronounce the “r,” while a non-rhotic dialect will not.

When the first English colonists arrived in North America, their accent was rhotic; British accents didn’t drop the “r” until much later. According to the Cambridge History of the English Language, it wasn’t until the 19th century, around the time of the Industrial Revolution, that Received Pronunciation emerged as the dominant English accent. So Washington couldn’t have spoken in that accent; it didn’t even exist in his time.

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As for what the colonial accent in Washington’s time may have been, linguist Paul Longmore described a dialect where “cover” is pronounced as “kiver,” “yesterday” as “yisterday,” “Sarah” as “Sary,” and “engine” as “injin.” Whether that accent corresponds with the accent Washington would have had from his rural Virginia background is unclear, but we do have some descriptions of the quality of Washington’s voice from his contemporaries. Federalist Party leader Fisher Ames called it “deep, a little tremulous, and so low as to call for close attention,” while Washington’s friend George Mercer commented, “His voice is agreeable rather than strong.”

Fascinating Facts About Every First Lady

Mary Todd Lincoln — Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images

Author Timothy Ott

October 24, 2024

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As highly visible but unelected members of the U.S. executive branch, America’s first ladies occupy a singular place in the firmament of public figures. Most have capably satisfied the requirements of supporting the president, hosting official affairs, and (more recently) advocating for charitable causes, but the sheer number of participants has resulted in a wild divergence of characters to play the part.

Some first ladies were born outside the country, others enjoyed prominent careers before the White House, and a fair share weren’t actually married to the person calling the shots in the Oval Office. Some also only held the role temporarily, which is why the total number of first ladies outnumbers the 45 men who have served as commander in chief. Here are 57 facts to illuminate the lives of the 57 women who have served as first lady.

Martha Washington

George Washington never lived in the White House, but Martha Washington did; that was, coincidentally, the name of the Virginia plantation she inherited after her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, died in 1757.

Abigail Adams

Said to be the first recorded female investor in the U.S., Abigail Adams shrewdly funneled the family finances toward government bonds and securities while her husband, John Adams, was serving his pre-presidency ambassadorships in France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.

Martha Jefferson Randolph

Martha Jefferson Randolph served as acting first lady to her father, President Thomas Jefferson, two decades after the death of her mother, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. In early 1806, Randolph gave birth to the first child born in the Executive Mansion, a boy named James Madison Randolph.

Dolley Madison

Raised a Quaker, Dolley Madison was expelled by religious leaders following the death of her first husband for remarrying outside the faith to Episcopalian James Madison.

Elizabeth Monroe

Said to be skilled at playing the pianoforte, Elizabeth Monroe brought one back to the United States after husband James Monroe completed a diplomatic tour of England. The instrument accompanied them to both the White House and their retirement home at the Oak Hill plantation in Virginia.

Louisa Adams

As the first foreign-born first lady, London native Louisa Adams was a target for opponents of President John Quincy Adams' administration. She subsequently became the first first lady to deliver a rebuttal to her critics in print, by way of a June 1827 piece in Mrs. A.S. Colvin’s Weekly Messenger.

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Rachel Jackson

Raised on the western frontier of Virginia, Rachel Jackson was among the first European settlers of modern-day Nashville, Tennessee. Though she is often included in complete lists of first ladies, she never officially served in the role, as she died about two months before her then-husband, Andrew Jackson, was inaugurated as president.

Emily Donelson

Andrew Jackson's niece Emily Donelson was just 21 years old when she was asked to serve as White House hostess. Despite her youth, Donelson refused to heed the president's demand to socially accept the scandalized wife of a Cabinet member during the "Petticoat Affair," resulting in an extended hiatus from her position.

Sarah Jackson

Sarah Jackson occasionally served as co-hostess alongside Emily Donelson during her father-in-law Andrew Jackson's presidency, and later handled the role herself. However, she primarily aided "Old Hickory," as the president was known, by helping to manage his Tennessee plantation, known as the Hermitage, during and after his administration.

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Angelica Van Buren

Angelica Van Buren was related by marriage to Dolley Madison, who introduced the younger socialite to President Martin Van Buren's son Abraham. Angelica took on the role of White House hostess at the beginning of 1839, after it was left vacant by the widower president for more than a year.

Anna Harrison

After President William Henry Harrison died from pneumonia following just one month in office, First Lady Anna Harrison became the first presidential widow to be awarded a pension.

Jane Harrison

With an ailing Anna Harrison unable to travel to Washington, D.C., before her husband's death, it was the couple's daughter-in-law Jane Harrison who served as acting first lady to President William Henry Harrison. Due to the short tenure of her position, she hosted just two official receptions.

Letitia Tyler

Disabled by a stroke and felled by a second one, Letitia Tyler attended only one White House social event — the marriage of her daughter Elizabeth — during her 17 months as first lady to President John Tyler.

Priscilla Cooper Tyler

Priscilla Cooper Tyler was a professional actress prior to marrying the son of President John Tyler. Her ability to command attention translated well to the role of White House hostess as she aided the ailing Letitia Tyler, and when she eventually took over the role of first lady.

Julia Tyler

Celebrated as an elegant and vivacious White House hostess, President John Tyler's second wife, Julia Tyler, also boasted notable musical talents, including the ability to sing and play guitar.

Sarah Polk

A contrast to her festive predecessor, the devoutly Presbyterian Sarah Polk banned hard liquor and dancing in the White House during her time as first lady to President James K. Polk.

Margaret Taylor

The wife of President Zachary Taylor, Margaret Taylor, was also mother-in-law to future Confederate President Jefferson Davis until the early death of her daughter and Davis' bride, Sarah Knox Taylor.

Mary "Betty" Bliss

President Zachary Taylor's youngest surviving daughter, Mary "Betty" Bliss, stepped in as White House hostess in place of her mother, who preferred privacy. Bliss earned praise for her handling of the role during her father's 16-month administration, inspiring the creation of a dance song in her honor.

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Abigail Fillmore

A teacher in her pre-first lady days — her future husband, President Millard Fillmore, was among her students — Abigail Fillmore helped establish the first White House library.

Jane Pierce

A staunch abolitionist in defiance of President Franklin Pierce's compromises on the matter, First Lady Jane Pierce helped secure the release of the imprisoned Free State leader Charles Robinson.

Harriet Lane

The niece and acting first lady to the lone bachelor president, James Buchanan, Harriet Lane later endowed the formation of the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children at Johns Hopkins University.

Mary Todd Lincoln

After enduring the deaths of three children and her husband President Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln was committed to a psychiatric hospital at the instigation of her sole surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln.

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Eliza Johnson

Prior to Andrew Johnson's rise to the presidency, his family was endangered by their loyalty to the Union during the Civil War. Future First Lady Eliza Johnson was forced to leave their home in Greenville, Tennessee, and briefly lived as a refugee before finding sanctuary in Nashville.

Martha Johnson Patterson

Assuming the role of acting first lady from her bedridden mother, Martha Johnson Patterson spent more than $135,000 (well over $2 million today) to refurbish the White House during President Andrew Johnson's administration.

Julia Dent Grant

The wife of President Ulysses S. Grant, Julia Dent Grant was the first first lady to write a memoir, although it went unpublished for more than 70 years after her death.

Lucy Hayes

A graduate of Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College, Lucy Hayes entered the White House alongside President Rutherford B. Hayes, and is notable for being the first first lady with a college degree.

Lucretia Garfield

Widowed by the assassination of President James A. Garfield, First Lady Lucretia Garfield later founded the first presidential memorial library.

Ellen Arthur

Though she succumbed to pneumonia shortly before her husband Chester A. Arthur's presidency, Ellen Arthur is often counted among the list of first ladies. She was known for her beautiful singing voice; she joined a church choir as a child, and later reportedly performed with the famed Mendelssohn Glee Club.

Mary Arthur McElroy

Filling in as first lady for her older brother, President Chester A. Arthur, Mary Arthur McElroy, the younger sister of President Chester A. Arthur, was a strong proponent of equal rights for Black citizens. Her progressive views did not extend to women's voting rights, however, fueling her membership in the Albany Association Opposed to Suffrage.

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Rose Cleveland

Rose Cleveland served as White House hostess for 14 months until her brother, President Grover Cleveland, was married. She later forged an intimate relationship with a woman named Evangeline Simpson Whipple, making her the first known LGBTQ+ first lady.

Frances Cleveland

President Grover Cleveland's wife Frances Cleveland was the first first lady to both get married and give birth in the White House.

Caroline Harrison

Known for her artistic sensibilities, Caroline Harrison established the celebrated White House china collection during her three and a half years as first lady to President Benjamin Harrison.

Mary McKee

Mary McKee stepped into the role of acting first lady following the death of her mother, Caroline Harrison. Her young son, named after her father, President Benjamin Harrison, but commonly known as "Baby McKee," was a popular public figure during the family's time in the White House.

Ida McKinley

Her mobility limited by fragile health, First Lady Ida McKinley crocheted slippers to be auctioned for charity during President William McKinley's administration, altogether crocheting more than 3,000 slippers over the course of her lifetime.

Edith Roosevelt

A childhood friend of her future husband, President Theodore Roosevelt, Edith Roosevelt was the first first lady to hire a social secretary.

Helen Taft

The wife of President William Howard Taft, Helen Taft oversaw the development of the capital's Potomac Park, including the planting of the famed Japanese cherry trees, as part of the first public project spearheaded by a first lady.

Ellen Wilson

A gifted artist, Ellen Wilson won a bronze medal for freehand drawing at the 1878 Paris International Exposition, and later saw her paintings exhibited during her brief time as first lady to President Woodrow Wilson.

Margaret Wilson

Following the death of her mother from Bright's disease, Margaret Wilson served as acting first lady to her father, President Woodrow Wilson, for about 16 months. Later, after discovering the writings of mystic Sri Aurobindo, she spent the final four years of her life at an ashram in Pondicherry, India.

Edith Wilson

The second wife of President Woodrow Wilson, and his constant companion after he suffered a debilitating stroke, Edith Wilson controlled the flow of information to and from her husband over the final year and a half of his second term, in what she called her "stewardship" of the presidency.

Florence Harding

An active adviser to her husband, President Warren G. Harding, Florence Harding was the first first lady to spontaneously deliver speeches while traveling.

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Grace Coolidge

Grace Coolidge was a teacher at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Massachusetts when she met and married future President Calvin Coolidge. She later donated $2 million to the school at the close of her husband's administration, and went on to head the school's board of trustees.

Lou Hoover

The first woman to graduate from Stanford University with a geology degree, Lou Hoover assisted husband Herbert Hoover in his pre-presidential career as a mining engineer.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Among her many accomplishments, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a syndicated column titled "My Day" six days a week between 1935 and 1962. The only interruption to that schedule came after her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, died in April 1945.

Bess Truman

A childhood friend of her future husband, President Harry S. Truman, Bess Truman went on to enjoy the longest life of any first lady before her death at age 97 in 1982.

Mamie Eisenhower

First Lady Mamie Eisenhower's love for pink, and her insistence on surrounding herself with clothing, decor, and accessories of that color, led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's White House being dubbed the "Pink Palace."

Jacqueline Kennedy

Prior to marrying President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy interviewed and photographed subjects as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald newspaper. Later in life, she worked as a book editor at Viking Press and Doubleday.

Lady Bird Johnson

An ardent conservationist, Lady Bird Johnson spurred the passage of many of the 200 laws related to the environment that were enacted during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. After leaving the White House, she founded the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Texas.

Pat Nixon

Pat Nixon became the first first lady to visit a combat zone when she joined President Richard Nixon on a trip to South Vietnam in 1969.

Betty Ford

Before her marriage to Gerald Ford set her on a path to becoming first lady, Betty Ford appeared headed toward a career in dance. She attended Vermont's Bennington School of Dance in the 1930s, and afterward joined a troupe headed by acclaimed choreographer Martha Graham.

Rosalynn Carter

Taking the traditional advisership of her role to a new level, First Lady Rosalynn Carter served as President Jimmy Carter's official envoy for a two-week goodwill tour of seven Latin American countries in 1977.

Nancy Reagan

Following a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, First Lady Nancy Reagan relied on the advice of an astrologer to schedule trips and news conferences for her husband.

Barbara Bush

Prior to dropping out of Smith College in anticipation of her marriage to future President George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush served as captain of the school's freshman soccer team.

Hillary Clinton

The first lady to President Bill Clinton and the Democratic nominee for president in 2016, Hillary Clinton demonstrated different political leanings earlier in life. She was a "Goldwater Girl" in support of conservative candidate Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign in 1964, and went on to serve as president of Wellesley College's Young Republicans Club.

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Laura Bush

Laura Bush became the first first lady to deliver a presidential radio address when she took over for President George W. Bush on November 17, 2001, to call attention to the plight of women under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Michelle Obama

A junior associate at Chicago's Sidney Austin law firm, Michelle Obama met her future husband, President Barack Obama, when he became her intern during the summer of 1989.

Melania Trump

An architecture student before pursuing a full-time modeling career, First Lady Melania Trump relied on her training to design a White House tennis pavilion before the end of President Donald Trump's term.

Dr. Jill Biden

Among the most physically active first ladies, Dr. Jill Biden completed a marathon in 1998, and at one point was running 5five miles five days per week. President Joe Biden's wife still wakes up at 5:45 a.m. most mornings to fit exercise into her schedule.

7 Foods That Are Way Older Than You Think

Stack of pancakes — Credit: ClassicStock/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Author Tony Dunnell

October 24, 2024

Love it?60

In our fast-paced modern world, where trendy superfoods and innovative culinary fusions are constantly emerging, it’s easy to overlook the rich history behind many of our everyday meals. But the foods we consume daily often carry with them stories that span centuries, if not millennia. These humble dishes may have witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations or the births of revolutionary technological advancements, without ever really changing their basic nature.

Here are seven foods that are much older than we might think — foods that are not only part of culinary history, but also part of the story of human civilization itself.

Noodles

Noodles, a staple in cuisines worldwide, have a history spanning thousands of years. While many people associate pasta with Italy, the oldest known noodles were actually discovered in China. In 2005, scientists uncovered this ancient food, dating back 4,000 years, at the Lajia archaeological site along the upper reaches of the Yellow River in northwest China. The thin, delicate, yellow noodles resembled the traditional lamian noodles (pulled noodles) still common in northern China today. The discovery proved that people have been enjoying noodles for millennia. Since then, of course, the food has spread across the globe, be it in the form of Italian spaghetti or Japanese ramen.

Tofu

Today, tofu — also known as bean curd — tends to divide opinion. To some, it’s a nutritious, low-fat protein source that serves as a key ingredient in many vegetarian and vegan diets. To others, it’s a tasteless, rubbery mass of crushed, boiled soybeans. Love it or loathe it, tofu has been around for a long time, and various theories exist as to its invention. Some say it was developed by Liu An, a Chinese scholar and ruler of the Huainan Kingdom who lived from 179 to 122 BCE. Another theory argues that it was invented accidentally some time before 600 CE, when a careless cook, probably in northern China, seasoned a pureed soybean soup with unrefined sea salt, causing the whole thing to curdle and produce a tofu-like gel. Neither theory is based on hard evidence, however. Historians tend to agree that the use of tofu dates back to the Han dynasty, from 206 BCE to 220 CE.

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Pancakes

This beloved breakfast food has been sizzling on griddles for longer than you might think. Evidence suggests that pancakes — flat cakes made from batter and then fried — were prepared and consumed by our prehistoric ancestors. Analysis of starch grains on 30,000-year-old grinding tools indicates that Stone Age cooks made flour to create a primitive form of flatbread — a kind of proto-pancake. The first written records of pancakes come from the ancient Greeks and Romans, who sweetened pancakes with honey. We also know the British ate pancakes during the Elizabethan era; their version was often very rich and may have included rose water, sherry, eggs, ale, or butter (or any combination thereof). Shakespeare himself mentions pancakes in his play As You Like It, but these were traditional pancakes eaten on Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday in the Christian faith), which were made with beef and dipped in mustard.

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Cheesecake

Today, cheesecake is a common option on modern dessert menus, yet its origins can be traced back to classical antiquity. The earliest known cheesecake recipe — or something akin to cheesecake — comes from the Greek physician Aegimus, who wrote about making cheesecakes in the fifth century BCE. (Some historians have suggested that cheesecake was even served to athletes at the first-ever Olympic Games in Greece, as far back as 776 BCE.) The ancient Romans later adopted and adapted the recipe. Cato the Elder’s farming manual, De Agri Cultura, written in 160 BCE, features several recipes for cheesecakes, including a sweet version called savillum and a savory cheesecake called libum.

Popcorn

Americans consume around 14 billion quarts of popcorn annually. But popcorn predates movie theaters and microwaves by thousands of years. Archaeological digs in Peru have revealed that people were eating popcorn as far back as 6,700 years ago. In North America, meanwhile, an ear of popcorn found in a cave in New Mexico was dated to be some 5,600 years old. Popcorn was an important part of the Aztec and Inca diets, and many European explorers first came upon this now-ubiquitous treat through contact with Indigenous peoples in the U.S. Around the year 1612, for example, early French explorers through the Great Lakes region noted that the Iroquois often popped their corn.

Yogurt

The precise origins of yogurt are unknown, but we do know that this fermented dairy product has been part of the human diet for millennia. According to some historical accounts, yogurt was discovered accidentally thousands of years ago by nomadic herdsmen. These nomads carried milk in pouches made of animal skins, which contained naturally occurring enzymes that caused the milk to ferment, inadvertently producing an edible food — yogurt — that had the benefit of lasting longer than milk. Some of the first recorded accounts of yogurt — as well as its health benefits — are found in Indian Ayurvedic scripts from around 6000 BCE. The word itself is believed to have come from the Turkish word yoğurmak, which means to thicken, coagulate, or curdle.

Bread

Everyone knows bread has been around for a long time, but it may be surprising to learn that bread is so old, it even predates the advent of agriculture. Researchers have found evidence that prehistoric hunter-gatherers engaged in bread production using wild cereals as far back as 14,400 years ago — predating the development of farming by at least 4,000 years. Archaeologists discovered the charred remains of flatbreads at an archaeological site in northeastern Jordan. When analyzed, these remains revealed that ancient humans had collected the wild ancestors of now-domesticated cereals such as barley, einkorn, and oat, which they then ground, sieved, and kneaded prior to cooking.

Why Is 13 Considered an Unlucky Number?

Unlucky number 13 — Credit: Whiteway/ iStock

Author Tony Dunnell

October 24, 2024

Love it?72

The number 13 has long been considered unlucky in many Western cultures. Even today — in a world far less superstitious than it was in the past — a surprising amount of people have a genuine, deep-rooted fear of the number 13, known as triskaidekaphobia. For this reason, many hotels don’t list the presence of a 13th floor (Otis Elevators reports 85% of its elevator panels omit the number), and many airlines skip row 13. And the more specific yet directly connected fear of Friday the 13th, known as paraskevidekatriaphobia, results in financial losses in excess of $800 million annually in the United States as significant numbers of people avoid traveling, getting married, or even working on the unlucky day.

But why is 13 considered such a harbinger of misfortune? What has led to this particular number being associated with bad luck? While historians and academics aren’t entirely sure of the exact origins of the superstition, there are a handful of historical, religious, and mythological matters that may have combined to create the very real fear surrounding the number 13.

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The Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest and most comprehensive legal codes to be proclaimed and written down. It dates back to the Babylonian King Hammurabi, who reigned from 1792 to 1750 BCE. Carved onto a massive stone pillar, the code set out some 282 rules, including fines and punishments for various misdeeds, but the 13th rule was notably missing. The artifact is often cited as one of the earliest recorded instances of 13 being perceived as unlucky and therefore omitted. Some scholars argue, however, that it was simply a clerical error. Either way, it may well have contributed to the long-standing negative associations surrounding the number 13.

The Trickster God Loki

The idea of 13 being unlucky may have originated with, or at least have been bolstered by, a story in Norse mythology involving the trickster god Loki. In this particular myth, 12 gods are having a dinner party at Valhalla when a 13th — and uninvited — guest arrives. It is the mischievous Loki, who sets about contriving a situation in which Hoder, the blind god of darkness, fatally shoots Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with an arrow. It’s possible that this ill-fated myth helped cement the number’s connection to chaos and misfortune in Nordic cultures, and in Western civilization more widely.

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The Last Supper

Christianity has also helped fuel the superstition surrounding the number 13. In the New Testament — as in Norse mythology — there is a fateful gathering centered around a meal, in this case the Last Supper. At the dinner, Jesus Christ gathers with his Twelve Apostles — making 13 attendees in total. Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, is often considered to have been the 13th guest to sit down at the Last Supper, which might have contributed to the number’s negative connotation. This, in turn, may have led to the notion of Friday the 13th being a day of misfortune or malevolence, as the Last Supper (with its 13 attendees) was on a Thursday, and the next day was Friday, the day of the crucifixion.

A Notorious Neighbor

It’s also possible that 13 gained a bad reputation because of the squeaky-clean nature of the number 12. In Christian numerology, 12 symbolizes God’s power and authority and carries a notion of completeness (a concept also found in pre-Christian societies). Its neighboring numeral may have suffered as a result, being seen as conflicting with this sense of goodness and perfection, further adding to the potent and enduring idea that the number 13 is unlucky.

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