What Everyday Life Was Like in Ancient Rome

Ancient Romans gambling — Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Author Adam Levine

June 7, 2026

Love it?294

Ancient Roman history is usually dominated by larger-than-life rulers such as Julius Caesar and eloquent senators such as Cicero. However, these men led an empire of millions of everyday citizens who were usually less concerned with conquering the world than they were with putting bread on the table and simply enjoying life. A look at the lives of typical Roman citizens reveals a culture that in many fundamental ways is not so different from ours; the ancient Romans worked, played, socialized, and expressed themselves — albeit often quite rudely. Here are six facts that offer a glimpse of what it was like to be an average citizen in one of the world’s largest and most influential empires.

Photo credit: INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo

No Matter Where You Went, You Could Always Find a Public Bath

The Romans were masterful architects of public baths, called thermae. These were complex facilities with elaborate heating systems where Romans from all walks of life came together to relax, socialize, and of course, get clean. Bathing in the Roman thermae wasn’t just a simple dip in the water — there was a whole process involved. A visitor would begin by doing some light exercise followed by a hot bath, then a warm bath, and then a cold bath; they could also spend time in a steam room or get a massage. Public baths were a central part of Roman culture, and some citizens even considered them a symbol of Roman identity. In fact, baths were such an essential component of daily life that they were built in nearly every part of the Roman Empire, even in its most remote regions. Roman thermae could be found as far north as the British Isles and as far south as Egypt.

Photo credit: Werner Forman/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Empire’s Cities Were Filled With Graffiti

Archaeological evidence from well-preserved ancient Roman cities such as Pompeii and Herculaneum reveals that, much like people in modern society, the denizens of ancient Rome liked to express themselves through some good old-fashioned graffiti. Since the ancient Romans lived a few millennia before the invention of spray paint, they had to make do by scratching and carving their designs and messages into plaster surfaces around the empire’s cities. Graffiti carved by everyday Romans can be found on the walls of bars, public baths, and other places where people commonly went to socialize. Ancient Roman street art ranged from simple drawings of stick figures and animals to colorful, R-rated jokes and insults. While some of the more famous Romans, such as emperors and statesmen, were commemorated through huge monuments and stately statues, graffiti was often a common person’s best shot at leaving their mark on the world, and many ancient graffiti artists included their names in the messages they left, to be remembered by future generations — even if it was just for a rude boast or scatological joke.

Photo credit: Heritage Images/ Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images

The Roman Workday Ended at Noon

The ancient Romans didn’t have clocks they could use to count the hours of the day. Instead, they kept track of the time using the position of the sun, and employed devices such as sundials to divide the day and night into 12 evenly spaced units called “hora” (hours). Since tracking the sun was the Roman citizen’s principal timekeeping method, the workday was structured around solar positions that were easy to measure with the naked eye, such as sunrise, noon, and sunset. For this reason, a typical citizen would usually start their workday at dawn, which marked the first “hora” of the day, and stop working at noon. This left the rest of the afternoon open for leisure, and citizens from all levels of Roman society would spend that time attending sporting events, theatrical performances, and the all-important public baths.

Photo credit: Hulton Archive via Getty Images

The Roman People Loved to Gamble

A love of gambling extended to all levels of ancient Roman society. Less-wealthy citizens would place bets on a wide variety of board games and dice games, which they played in taverns, city streets, and other public spaces, while the rich would build private gaming rooms in their homes. Romans would also frequently bet on the outcomes of gladiator fights and chariot races. (For the most part, only men were permitted to gamble, though women were allowed to participate in games of chance during special festivals.) Even the Roman emperors got in on the action. Rulers such as Augustus and Nero were known for their gaming habits, and for betting small fortunes on a single throw of the dice. Roman Emperor Claudius even had a custom-made carriage built with a gaming table so that he could gamble while traveling.

Photo credit: De Luan/ Alamy Stock Photo

The Roman Forum Was the Center of Public Life

With its location right in the middle of the city, the Roman Forum was quite literally the center of everyday life in ancient times. It was where the typical Roman citizen could shop, talk, and find entertainment. It was also the site of most of the city’s public gatherings, the Roman courts of law, and the meeting place of the Roman Senate. What’s more, the forum housed some of Rome’s most important religious sites, including multiple temples dedicated to Roman deities. In other words, if you were a Roman citizen, chances were good that you’d be making frequent visits to the forum for everything from daily errands to grand citywide ceremonies.

Photo credit: FALKENSTEINFOTO/ Alamy Stock Photo

There Was a Temple Where Citizens Could Go to Worship Caesar

One prominent temple in the Roman Forum was dedicated not to the worship of a mythological god, but to the former dictator of Rome, Julius Caesar. During the funeral games held in Caesar’s honor shortly after his assassination in 44 BCE, a comet appeared in the sky for seven days, which the Roman populace interpreted as a divine omen that Caesar’s soul had ascended to the status of divinity. This popular belief that Caesar had become a god was codified into law two years later in 42 BCE, when the Roman Senate officially declared him a deity. After this, a temple was built in the forum in Caesar’s honor. It even had an altar where Roman citizens would offer sacrifices to the deified leader, just as they would to supernatural Roman gods such as Jupiter and Saturn.

Are These 6 Famous Nursery Rhymes Actually About Death?

Depiction of “Jack and Jill” nursery rhyme — Credit: © Christine_Kohler—iStock/Getty Images

Author Bess Lovejoy

June 7, 2026

Love it?40

Children’s rhymes are built to lodge themselves in the brain. Their rhythms, repetition, and playful nonsense are thought to help kids learn language, which could be why many adults can still recite nursery rhymes they haven’t heard in decades.

But alongside the familiar verses lies another enduring tradition: the belief that many nursery rhymes are secretly about something much darker, whether it’s the plague, religious executions, or blood-soaked rulers. The internet, in particular, has often encouraged stories around these darker origins. However, folklorists caution that many of these explanations emerged far more recently than the rhymes themselves, and most are sorely lacking in evidence.

That doesn’t mean nursery rhymes are entirely innocent. Most are centuries old, and they came from a world where death, disease, public executions, and child mortality were far more visible parts of everyday life than they are today. Some dark interpretations are probably modern myths — but others may contain at least a grain of historical truth. Take a look at the fascinating origins of six popular nursery rhymes.

Credit: © Buyenlarge—Archive Photos/Getty Images

“Ring Around the Rosie”

Ring around the rosie
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down

Few nursery rhymes have inspired more grim speculation than “Ring Around the Rosie.” According to popular belief, the rhyme is a coded reference to the bubonic plague: The ring is a red rash, the posies are flowers or herbs carried to ward off disease, and “we all fall down” means everyone dies.

It’s a memorably macabre explanation, but folklorists universally reject it. One major problem is timing. The rhyme itself was not recorded in print until the late 19th century, centuries after both the Black Death of the mid-1300s and London’s Great Plague of 1665. And scholars can find no evidence linking the rhyme to disease before the mid-20th century. It’s extremely unlikely that children would have been singing a song about the plague for centuries after the events without anybody noting it.

Versions of the rhyme also vary wildly. Some mention sneezing (“a-tishoo”), while others don’t. Some include “ashes,” while others add a “little Moses” or “a little Josie,” and still others have entirely different lyrics. In many versions, the children pop right back up after falling down — not exactly a convincing metaphor for mass death. Instead, folklorists generally classify the rhyme as a children’s singing game involving dancing in a circle, crouching, curtseying, falling dramatically, or all of the above. Similar ring dances appear across Europe, with no connection to plague at all.

Nevertheless, the plague theory has become so widespread that even some experts seem exhausted by it. In the 1980s, the famed nursery rhyme folklorists Iona and Peter Opie, a married couple, wrote, “We ourselves have had to listen so often to this interpretation we are reluctant to go out of the house.”

“London Bridge Is Falling Down”

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady

Unlike most supposedly sinister nursery rhymes, “London Bridge Is Falling Down” may contain a genuine echo of something ancient and unsettling. Early versions of the rhyme include additional verses proposing ways to rebuild the bridge — wood and clay, bricks and mortar, iron and steel, even silver and gold — before finally suggesting a different solution entirely: “Set a man to watch all night.” Some versions also mention an imprisoned person.

That last detail has long fascinated folklorists because stories about human sacrifices connected to bridges appear across Europe. According to old legends, bridges, walls, and gates sometimes required a living person (often a child) to be immured within the foundations so their spirit could guard the structure from a collapse brought on by angry river gods (or, in later versions, the devil himself). Iona and Peter Opie argued that “London Bridge” was unusual, calling it “one of the few [nursery rhymes], perhaps the only one, in which there is justification for suggesting that it preserves the memory of a dark and terrible rite of past times.”

To be clear, that doesn’t mean historians think medieval Londoners routinely imprisoned children inside bridges. Direct evidence connecting the rhyme to an actual sacrifice at London Bridge is lacking. Still, similar bridge legends appear from Germany to Greece, and stories of foundation sacrifices persisted well into the modern era. So, it’s entirely possible that the song does indeed have dark origins.

Credit: © duncan1890—DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images

“Humpty Dumpty”

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses
And all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again

Despite what you may read on the internet, “Humpty Dumpty” almost certainly does not conceal a tale about the English Civil War. One popular theory claims Humpty Dumpty was a massive cannon used by royalists that was toppled from a wall during the Siege of Colchester in 1648. Another says it was a siege engine (a device used to destroy heavy fortifications) employed during the Siege of Gloucester. Historians and folklorists generally dismiss both stories because there’s simply no evidence connecting the rhyme to either event.

The simpler explanation is also the oldest one: “Humpty Dumpty” was originally written as a “What am I?” riddle, and the answer was an egg. Early sources explicitly describe it that way, though modern readers often miss the joke because illustrations — especially after Lewis Carroll’s 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass — turned Humpty Dumpty into an anthropomorphic egg. As folklorists Steve Roud and Jacqueline Simpson point out, generations of children’s books obscured the fact that listeners were originally supposed to guess the answer.

Once you know it’s a riddle, the strange details make more sense. The rhyme never actually says Humpty Dumpty is an egg — because riddles aren’t supposed to give away their solution. And the line “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” doesn’t necessarily suggest a battlefield; it simply emphasizes that a broken egg is impossible to put back together again.

Credit: Miscellaneous Items in High Demand/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

“Who Killed Cock Robin?”

Who killed Cock Robin?
“I,” said the Sparrow,
“With my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.”

Unlike many nursery rhymes, “Who Killed Cock Robin?” wears its darkness openly. The rhyme unfolds as a miniature murder mystery and funeral procession, complete with blood, burial, and grieving birds. First printed in the mid-18th century, it quickly became hugely popular in chapbooks (small, inexpensive books that were popular at the time) under titles like The Death and Burial of Cock Robin.

Some scholars have suggested the rhyme may contain political satire. One theory links “Cock Robin” to the downfall of British statesman Robert Walpole, whose long political dominance ended just a few years before the rhyme first appeared in print. Others have argued the rhyme may be much older than its surviving texts suggest, possibly preserving fragments of older myths — including stories surrounding the death of the Norse god Balder. But the evidence for either theory is thin.

Most likely, the rhyme belongs to a broader tradition of mock funerals, animal ballads, and playful death imagery that was common in Victorian-era children’s culture. Still, compared with many nursery-rhyme conspiracy theories, the darker interpretations of “Cock Robin” are at least intriguing enough that folklorists continue to debate them.

Credit: © ilbusca—DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images

“Jack and Jill”

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after

One of the most enduring explanations for “Jack and Jill” comes from the village of Kilmersdon in Somerset, England, where locals have long claimed the rhyme was inspired by a real couple. According to the story, Jack and Jill climbed a nearby hill to fetch water when Jack was struck by a falling rock from a quarry and killed. In some versions, Jill later dies in childbirth, leaving behind a son raised by the village. Today, Kilmersdon still has a “Jack and Jill Hill” and a plaque commemorating the tale.

But other, stranger theories exist. Some writers have connected the rhyme to Norse mythology, arguing that Jack and Jill resemble Hjúki and Bil, figures who carried a pail of water and were associated with the moon. Others have linked the rhyme to the French Revolution — despite the awkward fact that the rhyme was already in print decades before Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads.

Another explanation is much less romantic. In the 17th century, English rulers adjusted the size of liquid measures known as “jacks” and “gills” as part of alcohol tax policy. According to this theory, when the jack measure was reduced, the gill followed suit and “came tumbling after.” It’s probably the most prosaic interpretation of the rhyme — but also one of the more historically plausible.

Credit: © Universal History Archive—UIG/Getty Images

“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary”

Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” has inspired some of the grimmest nursery-rhyme theories of all. One popular interpretation claims the rhyme refers to Queen Mary I — better known as “Bloody Mary” — whose reign was marked by the execution of hundreds of Protestants. In this reading, the garden is England itself, while the silver bells and cockle shells are supposedly instruments of torture.

Others have connected the rhyme (less gruesomely) to Mary, Queen of Scots, arguing that the “pretty maids all in a row” are her famous ladies-in-waiting, the “Four Marys.” Some versions even claim the cockle shells were decorations on a dress gifted to her by the French Dauphin.

Folklorists, however, remain unconvinced by all of these explanations. As Iona and Peter Opie noted, the various interpretations mostly amount to “happy guessers” trying to force hidden meanings onto a rhyme that wasn’t even recorded until the 18th century. Like many nursery rhymes, “Mary, Mary” may ultimately tell us less about Tudor queens and more about our enduring desire to find secret histories hiding inside simple verses.

Why Were Missing People Printed on Milk Cartons?

Missing kids on milk cartons — Credit: © ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy

Author Nicole Villeneuve

June 7, 2026

Love it?44

Today, when a child goes missing, word spreads quickly through broadcast and digital networks that can reach millions within minutes. But just a few decades ago, there wasn’t a system like that in place. Missing children cases were typically treated as isolated incidents and not urgent public issues.

Then, in the 1980s, efforts to raise awareness about missing children began to take shape in America in an unexpected way. For a brief period, photographs of missing people were printed on milk cartons, turning an everyday household item into a public alert system. The practice was short-lived, but it helped lay the foundation for the systems used today. So, why did images of missing kids end up on milk cartons in the first place, and why did they stop?

The Cases That Changed the Conversation

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, public concern about missing children shifted in the United States. The disappearance of 12-year-old Etan Patz in New York City in 1979 was a major turning point, garnering prolific media attention and inspiring grassroots search efforts. But it wasn’t until a few years later, in the Midwest, that the idea of getting information about missing children out to the public took hold in a very specific way.

In the early morning hours of September 5, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch disappeared in Des Moines, Iowa, while delivering newspapers for the Des Moines Register. Nearly two years later, in August 1984, 13-year-old Eugene Martin vanished under eerily similar circumstances while working his own paper route in the city. Both cases rattled the community and drew national attention, not only because of the similarities between them, but also because they challenged a deeply held assumption that such crimes were rare and distant — something that happened elsewhere, not in quiet, wholesome Midwestern neighborhoods.

Credit: © David Jones—PA Images/Getty Images

Breakfast Tables Broadcast Information

The Register swiftly began printing photos of the missing boys and information about their disappearances. Editor-in-chief James P. Gannon also solicited support from President Ronald Reagan in spreading fliers featuring their faces, both locally and in post offices around the country. Within weeks, local Iowa dairy farmers got involved, too. Anderson Erickson Dairy was the first to print photos and short bios of Gosch and Martin on the sides of half-gallon milk cartons sold locally in September 1984.

The milk carton campaign began naturally from both the moment and the place. The disappearances had deeply shaken Iowa communities, and local dairies happened to control one of the most common household products in America. Milk cartons passed through millions of homes every week, sitting on breakfast tables and refrigerator shelves; families saw them again and again, making them a logical choice for spreading information to the public.

Credit: © Pictorial Parade—Archive Photos/Getty Images

The Campaign Goes National

Shortly after Anderson Erickson Dairy’s initiative, another Des Moines company started printing photos and bios of missing children. By December 1984, with the help of the National Child Safety Council, the program had gone national, implemented by over 700 independent dairies across the U.S. According to the NCSC, the images and biographies of missing people eventually appeared on hundreds of millions of milk cartons.

Milk cartons became the most recognizable version of the campaign, but they weren’t the only items used. Throughout the mid- to late 1980s, missing children also appeared on pizza boxes, grocery bags, buses, and direct-mail advertisements.

But the campaign didn’t last very long. By the late 1980s, critics — including pediatrician and author Dr. Benjamin Spock, one of the most popular parenting experts at the time — began raising concerns that the images were scaring young kids more than they were helping investigations. Others questioned how effective the cartons really were. Although the NCSC said in April 1985 that reported sightings of missing children had increased by more than 30%, the program resulted in very few solved cases. Sadly, the two missing boys who inspired the campaign — Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin — were never found.

The milk carton campaign faded by the late 1980s, replaced over time by more coordinated systems such as national databases and Amber Alerts. Still, it left a lasting imprint on how missing children cases are handled. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says printing photos of missing people on milk cartons was foundational to the mass distribution of the missing child posters in use today.

What the School Day Looked Like 100 Years Ago

Students outside school, circa 1920 — Credit: © JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado—Archive Photos/Getty Images

Author Kristina Wright

June 5, 2026

Love it?95

There’s a particular kind of nostalgia attached to school memories, from the ring of a bell announcing the start and end of the day to the scrape of chalk on slate and the smell of pencil shavings. For those who grew up in the 1960s and ’70s, those memories already feel like a different world compared with the computers and smart boards of contemporary classrooms. But go back to the 1920s, and school looks almost unrecognizable.

A century ago, education in the United States depended heavily on where you lived. Children in rural areas often learned in one-room schoolhouses scattered across farmland and small towns, while urban students filled increasingly crowded classrooms in fast-growing cities shaped by immigration, industrial labor, and reform movements trying to keep pace with it all.

But it wasn’t just the setting that was different: The education system was far more intertwined with the demands of everyday life than it is today. Here’s a look at a day in the life of a typical American student a century ago.

Credit: © H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock—Archive Photos/Getty Images

The School Day

The school day in the early 20th century rarely began or ended with the kind of timing we expect now, and daily life often determined whether a child was in school at all. In 1910, only 59% of children ages 5 to 19 attended school, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In rural areas, mornings started long before lessons, with children responsible for milking cows, collecting eggs, chopping wood, and hauling water. Only after chores were finished would children walk, sometimes for miles, to reach a one-room schoolhouse, which was the standard at the time. Attendance shifted with the seasons, and planting or harvest could empty classrooms for days or weeks at a time.

In cities, the rhythm was similarly shaped by economic necessity. Many children lived in crowded tenements and worked part-time jobs in factories, in shops, or selling newspapers on street corners. Truancy laws and compulsory education began expanding at the turn of the 20th century, but enforcement often collided with the realities of working-class life. As a result, start times were early, days were long, and breaks were short — reflecting a system still evolving toward the standardized school schedules we now take for granted.

Credit: © Lewis Wickes Hine/Library of Congress/Corbis—VCG/Getty Images

The Classroom

Whether rural or urban, classrooms in the 1920s shared a defining feature: They were crowded, multipurpose spaces. In both rural and urban settings, individualized learning wasn’t at all common. Instead, teachers had to manage a collective group with limited time, materials, and attention. Segregation was also a reality of American education in this era, with many schools, particularly in the South, still separated by race, creating deeply unequal learning conditions in school.

In rural areas, the typical one-room schoolhouse brought together children of all ages in a single space, where one teacher taught every subject — reading, arithmetic, geography, history — across as many as eight grade levels at once. Students were grouped by ability rather than age, and older children often helped younger ones to keep the classroom functioning day to day.

In cities, classrooms could hold dozens of students, who were sometimes split into half-day shifts to accommodate overcrowding in rapidly growing neighborhoods. Multistory school buildings were becoming more common, shaped by Progressive era reforms, and students were separated by grade level.

Credit: © FPG—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Curriculum

While modern education often emphasizes interpretation and critical thinking, the 1920s leaned heavily on memorization and recitation. Students were expected to master arithmetic tables, spelling lists, historical dates, and literary passages by heart, often repeating them aloud until they could be delivered on demand. Standing at the front of the room to recite a lesson was a regular ritual, and clear, confident elocution was an important component in determining success.

Instruction was based on a limited number of textbooks that were reused year after year. Copying passages by hand, drilling lessons repeatedly, and memorizing large blocks of information were central to how knowledge was acquired. At the same time, education carried a strong moral and civic layer, with readers and textbooks emphasizing character, obedience, patriotism, and work ethic — influencing not only what children learned but also how they were expected to behave in the world.

Discipline

Classroom discipline in the 1920s was generally strict, immediate, and rarely questioned. There was little uncertainty about what was expected, and behaviors such as talking out of turn or incomplete work were met with swift consequences that could include standing in corners, writing lines, or, in some cases, corporal punishment that would be considered severe by today’s standards.

The rules were rigid and consistently enforced, a reflection of the pressure placed on teachers to maintain order. Order was a foundational principle of schooling itself, shaping the structure of daily life in the classroom. Individualism and independence were not considered traits to be cultivated in the modern sense. Instead, obedience, cooperation, and conformity within the group were expected.

Lunch and Recess

Lunch in the 1920s was simple across both rural and urban settings. Typically carried from home in tin pails or wrapped in cloth, meals might have included sandwiches, fruit, biscuits, or leftovers from the night before, as cafeterias were rare and refrigeration was limited or nonexistent. The idea of school-provided meals had only just emerged at the end of the 19th century.

Recess, when offered, was brief and largely unstructured, and children played outside in all weather conditions. Games were invented on the spot, shaped by whatever space or materials were available, and physical activity was woven into daily life rather than organized as a formal subject. In cities, health education began to take hold through public campaigns promoting hygiene and disease prevention, reflecting broader Progressive era efforts to improve child welfare.

Credit: © Kirn Vintage Stock—Corbis/Getty Images

Then and Now

The differences between school in the 1920s and school today are significant across nearly every dimension, from structure to curriculum, discipline, and daily experience. Education was shaped by local necessity, economic pressure, and limited resources rather than national standardization or individualized instruction. These limitations resulted in classrooms that were often larger, more rigid, and more dependent on repetition and collective instruction.

And yet, school has always been a place where children learn how to exist in a shared world, follow structure, form relationships, meet expectations, and gradually grow into life beyond the home. The tools have changed and the expectations have evolved, but the experience of being a child in school — figuring out where you fit and how to move within a structured environment — carries a steady thread across the decades.

What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

Roman latrine, second century — Credit: © Heritage Images—Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images

Author Tony Dunnell

June 4, 2026

Love it?73

The ancient Romans rank among history’s greatest engineers. They built aqueducts that carried fresh water across many miles, roads that are still visible 2,000 years later, and sewage systems that helped keep the city clean. Having borrowed and improved upon techniques from the Greeks and the Etruscans, the Romans became the most sophisticated builders of their time.

That said, any admiration you might have for Roman ingenuity could be tested when you learn what historians think they used instead of toilet paper. Here we take a perilous dive into the world of Roman public latrines, and what our ancient ancestors used in lieu of modern TP.

Credit: © Image courtesy of D. Herdemerten, Wikimedia Commons

Meet the Sponge Brush

The oldest known recorded use of paper for bathroom hygiene purposes dates back to China in the sixth century CE. But for most of recorded history, people around the world used whatever they could find, whether it be rags, grass, moss, or even corncobs. And when some kind of material wasn’t available, people could just wash with water, either from a bucket or a natural source such as a river or stream. The Romans, however, came up with a different solution — and it didn’t involve anything as prosaic as rags or paper.

According to many historians, the Romans’ answer to the rear hygiene question was the tersorium, also known by the Greek-derived term xylospongium. This was basically a sponge on a stick. They attached a sea sponge from the Mediterranean to the end of a wooden rod, similar to the back-washers sold in drugstores today.

It’s not a terrible idea — the sponge is absorbent and the rod gives extra reach. But here’s where things get a little sticky: The tersorium may have been for communal use.

Not everyone in Rome would have carried around their own sponge on a stick — so public latrines at bathhouses and other public spaces (the Colosseum, for example) would have had a shared tersorium that was rinsed between uses, normally by placing it into the channel of water that ran through the latrine, and perhaps also by dipping it into a bucket of water with added salt or vinegar.

An Alternative Theory

Historical sources are vague when it comes to the tersorium — it seems that few Romans found it noteworthy enough to warrant a weighty text or treatise. This has caused some modern scholars to question the actual purpose of the tool. We know it was found in most public latrines, but was it used for the cleaning of numerous behinds or simply for scrubbing the latrine itself, much like a modern toilet brush?

The greatest proponent of the latter theory is Austrian archaeologist Gilbert Wiplinger. He argues that the popular idea that Romans used the tersorium to clean their behinds is incorrect. Having reviewed ancient textual sources, including Seneca and Martial, he notes that none of them clearly describes the sponge-on-a-stick being used for personal hygiene, and that a more logical — not to mention less gross — explanation would be its use as a toilet brush.

So if the Romans didn’t clean themselves with the tersorium, what did they use? Having examined scraps of cloth in an ancient septic tank in Herculaneum (an ancient city preserved in Campania, Italy), environmental archaeologist Mark Robinson concluded that fabric scraps were likely used instead of a sponge. Another option was to use pottery shards, known as pessoi (Greek for “pebbles”). This may sound almost as bad as using a shared sponge, but these pottery pieces — which were readily available in ancient Rome — were specially selected, with smooth edges.

The Romans likely had options when it came to bathroom hygiene — but whether that was in the form of a shared sponge-on-a-stick, scraps of fabric, shards of pottery, or a combination of all three (or more), it’s hard to know for certain. What we can say for sure is this: We should all be very grateful for toilet rolls and bidets.

5 Facts About the World’s Oldest Countries

The Pyramid of Djoser — DEA / CHOMON-PERINO/ De Agostini via Getty Images

Author Bennett Kleinman

May 31, 2026

Love it?84

While some modern countries are little more than a decade old, others boast a rich history dating back thousands of years. Long before nations such as Iran and Egypt became the independent states we know them as today, early governments were formed by ancient civilizations in those regions, laying the foundation for thousands of years of expansion and development.

It can be a challenge to determine the exact age of any given country, but based on the current archaeological data, there are several nations in the Middle East and Asia that consistently rank among the oldest in human history. Here are five facts about some of the world’s oldest countries.

Photo credit: DEA / CHOMON-PERINO/ De Agostini via Getty Images

The First Architect Known by Name Lived in Ancient Egypt

Though the Great Pyramids of Giza are the most famous ancient Egyptian landmarks, the region is home to an even older structure. The Pyramid of Djoser — built in the mid-27th century BCE — predates the Great Pyramids by roughly a century, and was designed by a man named Imhotep, who is considered to be one of human civilization’s first architects. Imhotep not only conceived of this groundbreaking pyramidal structure, but also gets credit for using columns before anyone else and revolutionizing the use of stone in building construction. He also offered vast contributions to the world of medicine, writing texts describing the early diagnosis and treatment of many ailments. In 525 BCE, centuries after his death, Imhotep even rose to the status of full deity, being dubbed the Egyptian god of science, medicine, and architecture.

Photo credit: Pictures from History/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Two Vietnamese Sisters Led a Successful Revolt Against China

According to Vietnamese legend, the origins of Vietnam date back to around the year 2879 BCE, which marked the beginning of the Hồng Bàng dynasty — the first recorded dynasty in the nation’s history. For millennia, the Vietnamese people ruled over their own territory, which was invaded by members of China’s Han dynasty in 111 BCE. After a century of Chinese control, two women rose up to push back against their Chinese invaders, earning the status of national heroes in the process. The Trưng sisters — Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị — mobilized locals in an effort to avenge the death of the former’s husband, who had been executed by Chinese forces without trial. This newly formed army consisted of around 80,000 soldiers and 36 female generals. The forces rebelled against the Chinese in the year 39 CE, successfully driving the invaders out of the country. Though the sisters’ reign over the region was brief, as China recaptured the territory in 43 CE, the legend of their exploits and tragic fate only grew from there. Temples were dedicated in their honor throughout Vietnam, as people prayed to them for rain in times of drought. They remain important figures in Vietnamese history two millennia later.

Photo credit: Print Collector/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Armenia Was the First Country to Adopt Christianity as an Official Religion

Though modern-day Armenia did not achieve lasting independence until 1991, the country’s origins date back to around the year 2492 BCE according to Armenian mythology. In that year, an ancient Armenian warrior known as Hayk is believed to have defeated invading forces led by a Mesopotamia leader called Bel, which in turn saw what now encompasses modern-day Armenia fall under Hayk’s dominion. Many centuries later, Armenia made history by becoming the first country to adopt Christianity as its official state religion. Around the year 300 CE, an apostle named St. Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III of Armenia to Christianity, and it was made the official state religion in 301 CE. The newly formed Armenian Apostolic Church subverted the pagan ideology that once existed throughout the region, and it eventually became the country’s national church.

Photo credit: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The First Recorded War Took Place in Present-Day Iran

The ancient kingdom of Elam, located in the southern region of modern-day Iran, contained settlements dating as far back as 7200 BCE. Millennia later, around the year 3200 BCE, the Proto-Elamite period began, marking the start of organized civilization throughout the region. Though few specifics are known about these early societies, what is known is that the region was the site of the first recorded war in human history. Around 2700 BCE, the Sumerian King Enmebaragesi led an attack against the Elamites, ultimately emerging victorious. Though there may have been conflicts before this, the battle — for which details are sparse — marks the earliest recorded account of a long-distance military campaign between opposing independent states.

Photo credit: The History Collection/ Alamy Stock Photo

The Oldest Surviving Anatomical Atlas Originated in China

In 1973, a seminal 2,200-year-old atlas of human anatomy written on ancient silk was discovered in south-central China, dating to the time of the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE) — making it the oldest surviving anatomical atlas ever discovered. Known as the Mawangdui medical manuscripts, these texts describe various “meridians” found throughout the human body, a term used to refer to arteries, blood vessels, and other internal elements. The Mawangdui texts also predate many other ancient Chinese texts related to acupuncture, suggesting that these early anatomical findings may have heavily influenced the science of acupuncture in the region. The artifact was uncovered in the tomb of a Han dynasty aristocrat named Xin Zhui (also known as Lady Dai), who was buried alongside copies of the medical texts in 168 BCE.

5 Ways Albert Einstein Changed the World

Physicist Albert Einstein — Bettmann via Getty Images

Author Darren Orf

May 31, 2026

Love it?189

German-born physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was so influential, his very name has become synonymous with genius. While working as a patent clerk in 1905 at the age of 26, Einstein submitted four papers to the German journal Annalen der Physik that changed humanity’s perception of time, gravity, and light. Today, historians mark the year as Einstein’s annus mirabilis, or “miracle year” — and he was just getting started.

Much of Einstein’s work is famously dense. Few people other than physicists need to fully comprehend the mind-bending ideas behind the general theory of relativity and Einstein’s other theories, but these discoveries form the bedrock of technologies the rest of us enjoy every day. Here are five ways Einstein’s ideas changed the world, and continue to provide a roadmap for humanity’s future.

GPS Would Be Impossible Without the General Theory of Relativity

Some 10,900 nautical miles above our heads, 31 satellites orbit Earth as part of the Global Positioning System (GPS) — but if it wasn’t for Einstein, those satellites would be little more than space junk. The very foundation of GPS is accurate timekeeping, as satellites need to keep time to correctly log the distance from a ground-based receiver (such as your smartphone). GPS satellites are so precise, the atomic clocks on board are accurate to within three-billionths of a second, a feat impossible without Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity. The special theory of relativity states that time flows differently depending on velocity. Because satellites travel at 8,700 miles per hour, they “lose” 7 microseconds per day compared to Earth-based receivers. Additionally, Einstein’s general theory of relativity — an idea published in 1915 that basically elaborates on his previous theory by throwing gravity in the mix — similarly states that distance from a source of mass, in this case the Earth, also affects the flow of time. This means that technically speaking, your head ages slightly faster than your feet because your feet are closer to the Earth (on time scales that are ultimately negligible). Today, GPS takes into account this “time dilation,” so satellites always know where you are when you open Google Maps.

Photo credit: ALFREDO ESTRELLA/ AFP via Getty Images

The Explanation of Photoelectric Effect Helped Make Modern Solar Power Possible

It probably comes as no surprise that Einstein won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921, but what many people don’t realize is that the award wasn’t honoring the wunderkind’s groundbreaking general theory of relativity, but rather his revolutionary yet often overlooked explanation of the photoelectric effect. The initial discovery of the photoelectric effect came in 1887 from German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (yes, that Hertz), who noticed that when ultraviolet light hit a metal plate, it created sparks. What was puzzling was that different metals required different frequencies to produce the same effect. Then, in 1905, 26-year-old Einstein solved this conundrum by introducing a new conception of light, which he published in his first paper submitted to Annalen der Physik. He argued that light wasn’t just a wave, as some scientists suggested, but also a stream of particles, later known to science as “photons.” Einstein posited that these photons contained a fixed amount of energy depending on their frequency, and his theory — though derided for years — successfully explained the photoelectric phenomenon. Though solar cells predated Einstein’s discovery by dozens of years, it wasn’t until Einstein’s theory that scientists understood why they worked, which helped make solar panels even more efficient.

Photo credit: Ezume Images/ Shutterstock

Lasers Were Developed Thanks to Einstein’s Quantum Theory of Radiation

Lasers (an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”) scan your groceries at the supermarket, make self-driving cars possible, and form the backbone of optical communication. And yes, we can thank Einstein for this one, too. In 1917, Einstein published a paper detailing his quantum theory of radiation. The theory basically states that atoms can be stimulated to change energy levels when hit with a specific frequency. If that excited atom is hit with another photon of the same frequency, it’ll produce two coherent photons (traveling in the same direction) while the atom’s electron returns to its ground state. This means you can artificially create a sudden burst of coherent light as atoms discharge in a chain reaction, otherwise known as “stimulated emission of radiation” (the “ser” in “laser”). It wasn’t until after World War II that scientists found a use for Einstein’s discovery; the laser was developed by using mirrors to create light amplification.

Photo credit: MPI/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

The E=MC² Equation Formed the Scientific Basis for the Nuclear Bomb

The final discovery of Einstein’s “miracle year” was the concept that light and energy are equivalent, and that their relationship can be explained with the elegantly simple equation E=MC², meaning energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. Describing mass as essentially super-dense energy, Einstein’s equation shows how even small amounts of mass at atomic levels can produce a tremendous amount of energy when multiplied by the speed of light squared — and you probably see where this is going.

This process explains how a neutron fired from a uranium atom splits it into smaller atoms while releasing a tremendous amount of energy. It’s known as nuclear fission, and when the process is controlled, it provides low-emission nuclear energy. When released in an uncontrolled state, it can be used to produce an atomic bomb. Einstein himself never worked on the Manhattan Project, the secret government program to make the first nuclear bomb, but he rubber-stamped the idea in a 1939 letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt that argued for the U.S. to make the bomb before Nazi Germany. Einstein later regarded that letter as the “one great mistake in my life.”

The E=MC² Equation Could Point to the Future of Energy

As previously described, nuclear fission works by breaking apart an element such as a heavy uranium-235 atom into two smaller atoms (krypton and barium). However, something interesting also occurs: If two light nuclei (i.e., hydrogen) can overcome electrostatic repulsion, they fuse together to form a heavy helium-4 atom — sort of like fission but in reverse. Similarly, following the E=MC² equation, this process produces a tremendous amount of energy and heat. This is known as nuclear fusion, and it’s the atomic science that is the energy-producing engine of stars.

On paper, nuclear fusion could provide the answer to humanity’s expanding energy needs. There’s no enriched material involved; nuclear proliferation with fusion reactors isn’t a worry; a meltdown is scientifically impossible; there’s no radioactive material produced as a byproduct; it’s completely carbon-free; and fusing atoms together releases 4 million times more energy than the chemical process of burning coal. There’s just one catch: Building a fusion reactor is immensely complicated. That’s never stopped people before, though. An international coalition of scientists and agencies is hard at work creating the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, which is set to go online in 2025.

Things You Didn’t Know About 7 Famous Paintings

Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum — Credit: © Jose Nicolas—The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty Images

Author Kristina Wright

May 31, 2026

Love it?38

Whether you love wandering through museums or only studied art back in school, chances are you recognize many of the world’s most iconic paintings on sight. These images appear everywhere — on posters and calendars, in movies and magazines, on book covers and social media feeds. History’s most famous paintings are reproduced so widely that most of us encounter their images hundreds or even thousands of times over the course of our lives, even if we never see the originals in person.

With so much exposure, it’s hard to be surprised by these works. But many masterpieces contain little-known stories that can permanently change how we see them. Here are surprising facts about some of the most recognizable paintings in Western art.

“Mona Lisa” Wasn’t Her Name

Mona Lisa isn’t the name of the woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait. “Mona” is a shortened form of Madonna, meaning “lady” in Italian, and the sitter is widely believed to be Lisa del Gherardini, the wife of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The painting’s name, then, simply means “Madam Lisa.” The title likely emerged as a respectful way to identify the subject rather than a personal name, a convention common in Renaissance Italy.

Leonardo’s careful sfumato technique is a major reason the portrait became so enduring. By layering thin, translucent glazes of paint, he created the famously elusive smile, which seems to shift depending on the viewer’s angle and focus. Rather than depicting a single fixed expression, Leonardo designed an expression that subtly changes with human perception — and that face has fascinated audiences for more than five centuries.

Credit: © Tristan Fewings—Royal Academy of Arts/Getty Images

The Couple in “American Gothic” Aren’t Husband and Wife

Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” has become one of the most recognizable images of rural American life, and it’s easy to assume that the stern-looking pair are husband and wife. In reality, Wood intended them to represent a farmer and his adult daughter. The models were his sister, Nan, and his dentist, Byron McKeeby, chosen for their striking, angular features. By leaving their connection deliberately ambiguous, Wood created a tension that continues to shape how viewers interpret the painting.

When “American Gothic” debuted in 1930, many Iowans took offense, reading it as a bleak satire of rural life. Wood insisted he meant it as a sincere tribute to Midwestern character, but the painting’s lasting power lies in its uncertainty — a portrait that can appear either affectionate or critical, depending on who is looking.

“The Starry Night” Was Painted From Memory

When Vincent Van Gogh painted “The Starry Night” in 1889, he was living inside a psychiatric asylum in southern France, where he had voluntarily committed himself following a mental health crisis. Confined to the hospital grounds, he worked largely from memory and imagination, transforming the limited view from his barred window into one of the most recognizable skies in art history.

The quiet village in the foreground of “The Starry Night” was not visible from Van Gogh’s room and appears to be largely invented, shaped more by memory and emotion than by the actual landscape around him. The dramatic whorls of the sky, long seen as purely symbolic, have been compared by scientists to mathematical patterns found in turbulent flow — phenomena formally described decades after the painting was made. Whether intentional or instinctive, Van Gogh’s brushwork captured a natural rhythm that science would only later begin to explain.

“The Last Supper” Began Falling Apart Almost Immediately

Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” is one of the most reproduced religious images in history — yet surprisingly little of the original surface remains. It was painted on the wall of the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, and Leonardo did not use traditional fresco, which required painting quickly on wet plaster. Instead, he experimented with a slower, experimental technique that allowed him to rework details and facial expressions. The paint failed to properly bond with the wall, and the image began deteriorating within just a few years of its completion.

What visitors see today is the result of centuries of repair and restoration layered over the fragile remains of Leonardo’s original work. Wars, humidity, pollution, and repeated retouching further compromised the surface, leaving conservators to stabilize rather than truly preserve the paint. While modern restoration efforts have carefully reconstructed missing sections, experts agree that just 20% of what is visible today reflects Leonardo’s original brushwork.

Credit: © Print Collector—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

“Girl With a Pearl Earring” Isn’t Really a Portrait

Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is not a traditional portrait of a specific individual, but a tronie — a Dutch Golden Age character study that emphasizes expression, costume, and lighting rather than identity. The girl’s exotic turban and luminous earring enhance the painting’s drama, turning her into an idealized, timeless figure rather than a known sitter. Tronies were popular among Dutch artists as a way to experiment with light, color, and facial expressions, and Vermeer’s work exemplifies this approach.

Even the pearl itself may not be a real gemstone. Its simplified brushwork and reflective highlights suggest it could be glass, metal, or even a painterly effect designed to catch light and draw attention to the girl’s gaze. Vermeer’s true focus was the interplay of light and shadow across the subject’s face and costume, using the earring as a visual anchor that emphasizes her expressive look.

Photo credit: © James Kirkikis/Dreamstime.com

Seurat Used Color Science To Paint “La Grande Jatte”

Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” may look serene, but it was constructed based on scientific color theory. Influenced by scholars such as Michel Eugène Chevreul and Ogden Nicholas Rood, Seurat applied thousands of tiny dots of pure, unmixed pigment side by side, letting the viewer’s eye optically mix them at a distance. This method, called pointillism, forms the basis of neo-impressionism, a movement Seurat helped pioneer that emphasized luminous color, systematic technique, and scientific principles in painting.

The resulting scene feels controlled and still, despite depicting leisure in a Paris park. Figures are arranged with geometric precision and rarely interact, giving the painting a formal, almost frozen quality. Scholars interpret this composed stillness — along with the meticulous technique — as a reflection of modern urban life, social order, and the tension between observation and human isolation in late 19th‑century Paris.

“Christina’s World” Depicts Life With Disability

At first glance, Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” may appear to show a woman resting in a sunlit field, but the story behind the image is far more compelling. The painting depicts Anna Christina Olson, a lifelong resident of Cushing, Maine, who lived with a degenerative muscular disorder that left her unable to walk by her mid‑20s. Rather than use a wheelchair or other mobility aid, Olson pulled herself across the ground using her arms.

Wyeth and his wife Betsy were close friends with Christina and her brother Alvaro, and Wyeth spent decades capturing their world in drawings, watercolors, and tempera. While Wyeth’s painting reflects Christina’s lived experience, the torso and youthful form in the painting were modeled by Betsy — a choice that has sparked some debate over authenticity and the ethics of representing another person’s body in place of the subject’s own.

9 Facts About the Vice Presidents Who Succeeded to the Presidency

Gerald Ford being sworn in, 1974 — Bettmann via Getty Images

Author Adam Levine

May 31, 2026

Love it?87

In the United States presidential line of succession, it falls to the vice president to succeed to the presidency if their predecessor is no longer able to carry out the duties of the office. This has happened nine times in the history of the country, under a wide variety of circumstances. Some vice presidents, such as Calvin Coolidge, succeeded to the top spot during a time of relative peace and economic prosperity. Others, such as Harry Truman, were appointed to the office in a climate of war and political turmoil. Vice presidents only inherit the presidency under unusual circumstances, and each instance is unique. Here are nine facts about the U.S. vice presidents who have succeeded to the presidency.

Photo credit: GraphicaArtis/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

John Tyler Was Nicknamed “His Accidency”

John Tyler was elected vice president in 1840 as the running mate of William Henry Harrison. Unfortunately, Harrison’s administration did not last long: The president died in 1841 just 31 days after taking office, which meant Tyler quickly found himself the nation’s commander in chief. Tyler’s presidency was marked by tension with his own Whig Party. He vetoed bills proposed by Whig leaders in Congress and began to advocate for policies that broke with the Whig Party line. As a result, the Whigs expelled President Tyler from their party, and some even called for his impeachment on the grounds that he had abused his veto power. To further disparage Tyler, his political critics saddled him with the nickname “His Accidency,” a pejorative reference to the fact that he had become president through chance, and was never elected to the office.

Photo credit: Heritage Images/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Millard Fillmore Was the Last President Who Was Not a Democrat or a Republican

When Vice President Millard Fillmore ascended to the presidency in 1850, after his predecessor Zachary Taylor died following a mysterious illness, he did so as a member of the Whig Party, which was founded in 1830 to oppose the policies of then-President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat. President Fillmore proved to be the last Whig Party member to become president of the United States. The party largely disbanded a year after his administration ended in 1853, with many of its anti-slavery members branching off to form the Republican Party. In fact, Fillmore was the last U.S. president to belong to neither of the two major parties that continue to dominate American politics today. Fillmore’s successor, Franklin Pierce, was a Democrat, and every U.S. president since has been either a Democrat or a Republican.

Andrew Johnson Was the First President to Be Impeached

Andrew Johnson became president in 1865, during one of the most turbulent moments in American history. The Civil War had just ended, and the nation was still reeling from that violent conflict and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. When Vice President Johnson took office following Lincoln’s death, his principal task was the reconstruction of the former Confederate states. President Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, was criticized by Republicans in Congress for being too lenient with former members of the Confederacy, and for vetoing legislation designed to protect the rights of newly freed Black Americans.

The escalating tensions between Johnson and the congressional Republicans reached a crisis point in 1868, when the president fired Edwin Stanton, his Republican secretary of war, without the required congressional approval. In response, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson, marking the first time in U.S. history such an action had been taken against the president. Johnson narrowly escaped conviction by just one vote, but by the end of his first term, he found himself with few political allies in Washington, and was not elected to a second term.

Chester A. Arthur Earned the Approval of Mark Twain

Chester A. Arthur succeeded to the presidency following the death of President James Garfield in 1881. During Arthur’s one term in office, he advocated lower tariffs for businesses and tax cuts for American citizens. President Arthur also passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which made some federal government jobs attainable only through merit-based examinations instead of through the “spoils system.” The “spoils system” allowed politicians to hire and fire civil servants based on their loyalty and political affiliations, and had frequently been denounced as a tool of political corruption. Through policies like these, Arthur managed to earn the praise of one of the sharpest and most unsparing satirists of his day, Mark Twain. Though Twain was noted for his pointed criticisms of many politicians, he claimed that it would be “hard to better President Arthur’s administration” — glowing praise indeed from a writer who once called President Teddy Roosevelt “the most formidable disaster that has befallen the country since the Civil War.”

Photo credit: Historical/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images

Theodore Roosevelt Was the First President to Win a Nobel Peace Prize

Theodore Roosevelt was vice president to William McKinley until President McKinley’s death in 1901. During his time in the White House, President Roosevelt became many things: a conservationist, a trust buster, and, in 1906, a Nobel Prize-winning peace negotiator. From 1904 to 1905, Japan and Russia were locked in the Russo-Japanese War over conflicting imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The war threatened to destabilize Asia and disrupt the balance of power in the Pacific, so Roosevelt decided to intervene to de-escalate the conflict. In August 1905, Roosevelt invited delegates from Japan and Russia to convene in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for peace negotiations. The president presided over the peace talks for 30 days before the two warring countries ended the conflict by signing the Treaty of Portsmouth. For his role in brokering the peace, Roosevelt was awarded the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, making him the first U.S. president to receive the honor.

Calvin Coolidge Was Administered the Oath of Office by His Own Father

After serving as vice president from 1921 to 1923, Calvin Coolidge became president of the United States after Warren G. Harding passed away following a sudden illness. Coolidge was at his family home in Vermont when he learned that Harding had died and he needed to take the oath of office. While the oath is typically administered by the chief justice of the United States, Coolidge wound up going for someone less formal: his own father. As a notary public, Coolidge’s father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr., had the legal power to administer the oath. The modest inauguration ceremony was attended by just a handful of people, and since it was the middle of the night and the house had no electricity, the new president took his late-night oath by the flame of a kerosene lamp.

Harry Truman Had the First Televised Presidential Inauguration

Harry S. Truman had been vice president for just 82 days when Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away in 1945. After completing his first presidential term, during which he oversaw the end of World War II, Truman ran for a second term (the first to which he would need to be elected) in 1948. In a famous upset, the incumbent president beat his Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey. When it came time for Truman to take the oath of office, the event was a far cry from Calvin Coolidge’s candlelit affair. The inauguration ceremony was the first in history to be broadcast on television, and was watched by some 10 million viewers.

Photo credit: PhotoQuest/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Lyndon B. Johnson Was Elected by the Widest-Ever Margin at the Time

Lyndon B. Johnson’s first presidential term began in 1963 under tragic circumstances following the death of President John F. Kennedy. During his time in office, Johnson laid out his “Great Society” platform, which included new social policies such as Medicare and numerous laws designed to alleviate poverty. In 1964, when it was time for Johnson to seek election to a second term, it quickly became clear that his first term had made a good impression. Johnson won the presidential race against Republican challenger Barry Goldwater by 15 million votes, the widest margin of any U.S. presidential election at the time. (Richard Nixon later won the 1972 election by nearly 18 million votes, and Ronald Reagan won reelection in 1984 by around 16.8 million votes.)

Gerald Ford Replaced a Resigning Vice President and a Resigning President

Though Gerald Ford served as Richard Nixon’s vice president from 1973 to 1974, he was never Nixon’s running mate. Ford was a leading Republican congressman when, in 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amid a corruption scandal. To fill the vacancy left by Agnew’s resignation, President Nixon appointed Ford as his new VP. Ford’s tenure as Agnew’s replacement didn’t last long, however, because just one year later he became Nixon’s replacement. Following the events of the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974, leaving Ford to take his place in the Oval Office. To this day, Ford remains the only person to serve as U.S. president without winning a general election as either a presidential or vice presidential candidate.

Why Are Traffic Lights Red, Yellow, and Green?

Traffic light, circa 1955 — Credit: © Harold M. Lambert—Archive Photos/Getty Images

Author Tony Dunnell

May 31, 2026

Love it?85

For drivers in many parts of the globe, the red, yellow, and green sequence of traffic lights has become an instinctual part of how we move through the world. But why these three colors? How did they come to govern the movement of billions of people across the planet every day? As it turns out, there are a few factors in play, including the history of transport, color psychology, and basic physics.

Credit: © Barry Winiker—Stockbyte/Getty Images

Red Lights and Railroads

The colors used in traffic lights today were not invented for roads. They were largely inherited from the railway industry, which began developing light-based signaling systems in the 1830s (based on even older semaphore flagging). But in the early days of railroads, the colors were slightly different: While red was used to signal “stop,” white meant “go,” and green was the color used to indicate caution.

The use of red in the original system was never really in doubt. In the human psyche, red has an innate connection with warning and danger — a psychological and possibly biological response that might be due to the color’s association with blood and fire.

That alone makes red a natural choice for warning signs. But there’s also some physics in play. Red has the longest wavelength of any color in the visible light spectrum, making it visible over greater distances than many other colors. Red light also dissipates less in the atmosphere when compared to shorter-wavelength light.

So, when a signal must be seen from as far away as possible — and remain visible in fog, rain, or at night — red is the perfect choice. The people in charge of developing railway signals were well aware of both the psychology and physics of the hue, and as it worked just fine for trains, it was later used as the color for “stop” in the world’s first mechanical, electric traffic lights, which appeared in Paris in 1923.

Credit: © DigiPub—Moment Open/Getty Images

From White Light to Green

While red was a no-brainer for “stop” for both train and traffic lights, the choice of yellow and green wasn’t so inevitable. The railway system originally used white as the color for “go” — but it soon became apparent that this was problematic and potentially dangerous, simply because of the sheer prevalence of white lights in our surroundings. A train driver could easily mistake a star, streetlamp, oil lantern, or the light from a building for a “go” sign. So the railroads decided to adopt a new color — something more distinctive and not easily confused with the light pollution of the modern world.

The solution was to replace white with the color initially used to indicate caution: green. Green light has a shorter wavelength than red but remains highly visible over long distances — and, due to the nature of the photoreceptors in the human eye, green is actually a more widely visible part of the light spectrum at any distance.

The human eye contains photoreceptor cells called cones, which come in three types sensitive to roughly red, blue, and green wavelengths. The green-sensitive cones are the most numerous and most sensitive, so our eyes process green light more efficiently than any other color. This, combined with the psychological association that green has with calm and safety, made it a good option for “go.” It also offered an obvious contrast with the red lights already used for train traffic.

Credit: © Jupiterimages—liquidlibrary/Getty Images

The Addition of Yellow

With green selected for “go,” the railroads chose yellow (or amber) to represent caution. Yellow was distinct enough from red and green to make it a viable option — it sits between those two colors in the visible spectrum. As well as being bright and easy to spot, yellow occupies a middle ground psychologically, having neither red’s alarm nor green’s calm.

When William Potts — the Detroit police officer credited with designing the first three-way colored traffic lights in the 1920s — adapted the system for the road, he continued the use of yellow as the intermediate cautionary light. The system — colors included — spread rapidly, and in 1935 the Federal Highway Administration officially standardized red, yellow, and green as the required colors for all traffic lights in the United States.

What Everyday Life Was Like in Ancient Rome

No Matter Where You Went, You Could Always Find a Public Bath

The Empire’s Cities Were Filled With Graffiti

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

The Roman Workday Ended at Noon

The Roman People Loved to Gamble

The Roman Forum Was the Center of Public Life

There Was a Temple Where Citizens Could Go to Worship Caesar

Are These 6 Famous Nursery Rhymes Actually About Death?

“Ring Around the Rosie”

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

“London Bridge Is Falling Down”

“Humpty Dumpty”

“Who Killed Cock Robin?”

“Jack and Jill”

“Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary”

Why Were Missing People Printed on Milk Cartons?

The Cases That Changed the Conversation

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

Breakfast Tables Broadcast Information

The Campaign Goes National

What the School Day Looked Like 100 Years Ago

The School Day

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

The Classroom

The Curriculum

Discipline

Lunch and Recess

Then and Now

What Ancient Romans Used Instead of Toilet Paper

Meet the Sponge Brush

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

An Alternative Theory

5 Facts About the World’s Oldest Countries

The First Architect Known by Name Lived in Ancient Egypt

Two Vietnamese Sisters Led a Successful Revolt Against China

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

Armenia Was the First Country to Adopt Christianity as an Official Religion

The First Recorded War Took Place in Present-Day Iran

The Oldest Surviving Anatomical Atlas Originated in China

5 Ways Albert Einstein Changed the World

GPS Would Be Impossible Without the General Theory of Relativity

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

6 Things Seniors Should Know About Travel Insurance Before Their Next Trip

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

The Explanation of Photoelectric Effect Helped Make Modern Solar Power Possible

Lasers Were Developed Thanks to Einstein’s Quantum Theory of Radiation

The E=MC² Equation Formed the Scientific Basis for the Nuclear Bomb

The E=MC² Equation Could Point to the Future of Energy