Archives: Facts

Custom post type for facts

Alexander the Great was a student of Aristotle.

Alexander and Aristotle
Credit: World History Archive/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Bennett Kleinman
March 20, 2024

Love it?

Around 343 BCE, King Philip II of Macedon called upon the prolific Greek philosopher Aristotle to tutor his 13-year-old son, Alexander III, who later became known as the brilliant military tactician Alexander the Great. Philip II hired Aristotle in hopes of molding his young heir into a well-educated and cultured leader, fearing that military prowess alone wouldn’t be enough to command respect from his subordinates. He trusted Aristotle in part because the philosopher’s father, Nicomachus, once acted as the court physician for a previous Macedonian king. As payment for tutoring his son, Philip II promised to rebuild Aristotle’s hometown of Stagira, which the king had captured and razed years earlier.

With everything in place, Aristotle and Alexander set out to study at the Nymphaeum (shrine of the Nymphs) in the remote village of Mieza, where they spent roughly three years together. Though few specifics are known about Aristotle’s exact teachings, it’s believed that he schooled the future ruler in many subjects, such as medicine, poetry, rhetoric, geometry, and even botany. (In fact, Alexander’s future army included several botanists whose job it was to collect samples and study the new lands they conquered.) In 340 BCE, Philip II recalled Alexander back home, and the boy’s time with Aristotle came to an end. Alexander went on to assume the Macedonian throne in 336 BCE, while Aristotle returned to Athens and established a new public school known as the Lyceum.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Socrates didn’t write down his philosophical thoughts.

Though his teachings laid the foundation for modern philosophy, the legendary Greek thinker Socrates never wrote down his thoughts, preferring to teach them verbally. It’s said that Socrates believed writing to be an inferior form of dialogue that could be easily misinterpreted, and thus he preferred to stick to direct conversation so his beliefs could be more clearly expressed and debated. While Socrates avoided putting pen to paper, there are still many written interpretations of Socratic teachings that were penned by his students. Among them was his most devoted follower, Plato, who became a great philosopher in his own right and later taught Aristotle. Plato wrote many dialogues that featured a fictionalized version of Socrates, including the work Phaedrus. In that text, the character of Socrates is quoted as saying, “If men learn [writing], it will implant forgetfulness in their souls… because they rely on that which is written.”

September was originally the seventh month of the year.

Antique calendar showing September
Credit: belterz/ iStock via Getty Images Plus
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd
August 27, 2025

Love it?

Septuplets are seven siblings born at the same time; a septennium is a period of seven years; and September is the… ninth month of the year. What gives? As you may expect, “sept” is a prefix with Latin roots that means “seven,” and it didn’t end up at the beginning of the word “September” by accident.

The month of September was originally part of the Roman republican calendar, which was used in ancient Rome for hundreds of years before the debut of the Julian calendar in 46 BCE. At first, the Roman republican calendar included just 10 months. The last six months all corresponded to their Latin numbers, which is how not just September but also October (meaning “eighth”), November (“ninth”), and December (“tenth”) all got their names. (The fifth month, Quintilis, and the sixth month, Sextilis, were later renamed after Roman rulers.)

January and February joined the calendar later as the first and last month, respectively, but nobody changed September’s name, despite it quite literally meaning “seventh” for the Latin speakers in ancient Rome. The name stuck even after February shifted to second in order in 452 BCE, meaning that September has been the ninth month for much longer than it was ever the seventh month of the year.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

The Roman republican calendar had a messy leap month.

The Roman republican calendar had more than a few issues. The first draft was only 304 days long, leaving two lunar cycles unnamed. The addition of January and February brought the total days up to 355, which was still more than a week shy of a solar year. So every other year, the month of Mercedonius — essentially a leap month — would pop up at the end of February. But this discretionary month caused some problems of its own. Because implementation was left to the pontifex, a council of priests, the calendar was weaponized to lengthen or shorten political appointments. When Julius Caesar took office, the calendar was so out of sync that he declared a onetime 445-day year to realign it with the solar year before implementing the Julian calendar.

A woman oversaw the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Emily Warren Roebling
Credit: GL Archive/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd
February 27, 2024

Love it?

The Brooklyn Bridge was an incredible feat of engineering for its day, but it was a nightmare to build. It took from 1869 to 1883 to complete — a whopping 14 years — and the project was mired by political corruption. At least 20 workers died during construction, including John Augustus Roebling, the bridge’s chief engineer. His son Washington Roebling, who helped his father design the bridge, took over the project. But after spending 12 hours inside a compressed chamber while working underwater, Roebling developed decompression sickness, better known as “the bends,” severely and permanently affecting his health. On paper, he continued overseeing the project until the finish line, but in reality it was his wife, Emily Warren Roebling, who got the job done.

Emily started out as a liaison between the bridge crew and her husband, but she had a good mind for engineering, and soon grew proficient in all aspects of the construction, so much so that some assumed she had fully taken over. She also had a sharp political mind, and was able to manage the complicated web of interests associated with the bridge — even convincing the mayor of Brooklyn, who was considering replacing the chief engineer, to keep her husband on. Though she served as the de facto head of the project, she had to keep the extent of her involvement hidden, fearing her husband would be replaced if people knew he wasn’t in full control. 

Washington Roebling, meanwhile, was too ill to manage the day-to-day work. He watched the progress through a telescope from a bedroom in Brooklyn Heights, but he stopped visiting the construction site. Emily later wrote in a letter to her son that her husband was “for years dead to all interest” in the project. When the bridge was finally completed, Emily rode in the first carriage to cross the impressive span, carrying a rooster for good luck. She was well aware of the magnitude of her accomplishment. “I have more brains, common sense and know-how generally than have any two engineers, civil or uncivil,” she wrote in the same letter, “and but for me the Brooklyn Bridge would never have had the name Roebling in any way connected with it!”

By the Numbers

Did you know?

The first creature to get the bends was a snake.

Pressurized chambers didn’t exist until the Industrial Revolution, so decompression sickness is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was first observed in 1690 by Irish scientist Robert Boyle, who was experimenting with respiration by putting various animals in airtight containers before pumping the air out. When he threw a viper in there, it only swelled a little, but afterward its “body and neck grew prodigiously tumid, and a blister appeared upon the back.” When researchers studied decompression sickness in humans in the 19th century — including observations of workers on the Brooklyn Bridge — they recognized that the viper had been suffering from the bends.

There was a secret Catholic society called the Order of the Pug.

Order of Pug initiation
Credit: Photo 12/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Kristina Wright
April 3, 2024

Love it?

The rise of Freemasonry in Europe during the 18th century sparked tensions within the Catholic Church, which regarded the secretive nature and political influence of the fraternal order with suspicion. In 1738, in response to this unease, Pope Clement XII issued a decree prohibiting Roman Catholics from participating in secret societies, including Freemasonry — a ban that continues to this day. In defiance of this papal prohibition, a Catholic leader (whose identity remains unknown, although many suspect it was Archbishop Clemens August of Bavaria) established a para-Masonic secret society called the Order of the Pug, drawing its name from the breed’s qualities of loyalty, trustworthiness, and steadfastness. The group attempted to reconcile elements of both Freemasonry and Catholicism, instituting their own initiation rituals, oaths of loyalty, and hierarchical framework. Diverging from Masonic tradition, however, the Order of the Pug welcomed women as members and allowed them to assume positions of authority.

Echoing its canine namesake, members of the order were known as “Mops,” the German word for “pug,” and each lodge had a male and female lodge master and mistress who alternated serving as Grand Pug every six months. Prospective members were expected to mimic dogs by scratching at the door to gain entry, and new initiates were adorned with brass collars, blindfolded, and led around the room on all fours while fellow members barked at them. Initiates were also expected to demonstrate their dedication to the order by kissing a pug statue’s posterior. But the clandestine group’s existence was short-lived, thanks to Catholic abbot Gabriel-Louis-Calabre Pérau, who exposed the Pugs and their rituals in his 1745 French work L’Ordre des francs-maçons trahi et le secret des Mopses révélé, or The order of the Freemasons betrayed and the secret of the pugs revealed. Despite its brief tenure, the Order of the Pug remains a curious footnote in the history of secret societies.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

All dog breeds are descended from wild wolves.

Of all living land mammals, dogs have the greatest variance in appearance, body size, and shape among different breeds. Despite their differences, a small 4-pound Chihuahua and a massive 230-pound mastiff are both members of Canis lupus familiaris and direct descendants of the wild wolf. Recent research suggests that dogs were first domesticated in Siberia around 23,000 years ago, but the journey from wolf to the hundreds of currently recognized dog breeds reflects both the dog’s evolutionary adaptability as well as the significant influence of human intervention through selective breeding. The pug, which originated in China around 400 BCE as a lapdog for the wealthy, was first brought to Europe in the 16th century. There, it gained popularity as a companion among the nobility, and also played a role in helping minimize the size of other breeds.

A solar eclipse helped prove Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Moon during solar eclipse
Credit: jo Crebbin/ Shutterstock
Author Rachel Gresh
March 26, 2024

Love it?

Decades before Albert Einstein became a pop culture phenomenon by sticking out his tongue on his 72nd birthday, he was an emerging theoretical physicist on the brink of a major revelation: that massive objects cause space-time to curve, resulting in gravity. Einstein’s theory of general relativity, published in 1915, introduced the groundbreaking idea that gravity is not a force but a curved field created by the presence of mass. The problem was proving it. Einstein claimed the theory could be tested by measuring the position of stars near the sun, which would appear to shift slightly as gravity from the sun bent the path of light. This type of experiment was difficult to perform in the early 20th century, but a perfect opportunity soon presented itself: the total solar eclipse on May 29, 1919. 

Britain’s Royal Astronomical Society sent two expeditions to test Einstein’s theory during the eclipse. A group led by British physicist Arthur Eddington was based on the island of Príncipe off the coast of West Africa, and a second team went to Sobral, Brazil. The total eclipse allowed scientists to get a better view of the stars closest to the sun as the moon blocked nearly all the light from the sun. If Einstein was correct, the light produced by the stars would bend due to the sun’s gravity. 

During the eclipse, the scientists were amazed as the stars seemed displaced from their usual locations because their light traveled to Earth on a curved plane around the sun. The light was deflected by around 1.7 arc seconds, just as Einstein had predicted, proving the physicist’s idea that gravity isn’t a force but a geometric distortion of space-time. Thanks to the experiment, the Royal Astronomical Society officially recognized Einstein’s theory of general relativity on November 6, 1919, roughly four years after its publication.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

A solar eclipse ended an ancient war.

The Greek historian Herodotus described a war between the ancient kingdoms of Lydia and Media that culminated in the Battle of Halys, better known as the Battle of the Eclipse. In ancient times, people often saw solar eclipses as bad omens, and the Lydians and Medes were no different. As “day turned to night in the battle,” Herodotus wrote, the feuding kingdoms took the darkness as an ominous warning and laid down their weapons, agreeing to make peace after six years of turmoil. Though no battle date was initially recorded, modern historians point to May 28, 585 BCE, based on scientific calculations of solar eclipses in the region. The eclipse is also called the “Eclipse of Thales” after the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, whom Herodotus credits with predicting the astronomical event. However, how Thales could have accomplished such a feat so long ago remains a mystery.

Ancient Romans threw walnuts during weddings.

Wedding in ancient Rome
Credit: Florilegius/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd
April 3, 2024

Love it?

The most important part of an ancient Roman wedding was the domum deductio, when the bride traveled from her family’s home to the home of her new husband, often after a staged kidnapping. The procession was public and frequently included an entourage — sometimes friends and family, sometimes random people — and, even in high-class weddings, the journey was accompanied by some extremely bawdy songs. During the domum deductio, it was customary to throw nuts, particularly walnuts. Walnuts were considered sacred at weddings, both as a fertility symbol and because the sound they made as they hit the ground was believed to be a good omen. It’s also possible that throwing nuts, which Roman children played with, symbolized the groom giving up childish things — similarly, the bride gave away her dolls the night before the wedding.

According to historians, nuts also may have been thrown by the groom after the bride reached his house, possibly as an offering to the god Jupiter, who was associated with sacred oaths such as weddings. Additionally, the Roman scholar Servius wrote that some people believed the sound of nuts clattering and children scrambling after them could drown out the sound of the marriage being consummated. It’s also possible that the Roman tradition of scattering walnuts grew from an ancient Greek tradition, in which the bride and groom had fruits and nuts poured on their heads during their nuptials.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Ancient Roman priests kept sacred chickens.

Augury, or reading signs from the gods through the behavior of birds, was an important religious practice in ancient Rome. Because wild birds weren’t always available, Roman priests kept sacred chickens for divination purposes, and would consult them before major military actions and, often, government decisions. The fortunes revealed by the birds were taken very seriously. It was a bad sign if the chicken didn’t eat, but if it gobbled up grain while stomping its feet, it was considered a positive omen — which may be why the sound of falling walnuts was also considered auspicious.

Basque has no known linguistic relatives.

Basque children's book
Credit: Andia/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Rachel Gresh
March 26, 2024

Love it?

As seen in Pablo Picasso’s famous painting “Guernica,” the destruction of the Basque region (especially the city of Guernica) during the Spanish Civil War was devastating. The conflict nearly led to the extinction of the region’s unique ancient language, Euskara (commonly called Basque), after Spanish dictator Francisco Franco banned the local tongue. However, after Franco’s death in 1975, Basque Country was granted its (limited) autonomy, and its language experienced a resurgence. There are at least six Basque dialects today, but most speakers use a modern dialect developed in the 1960s. Euskara is spoken by 35% of the Basque population and remains one of Europe’s most mysterious languages. 

Euskara is a “language isolate,” meaning it has no linguistic relatives and is unlike any other spoken language that exists today. Some linguists support the Vasconic substrate hypothesis, which proposes that Basque is the only surviving version of an ancient family of Vasconic languages — but other linguists reject this. Most experts agree that Euskara likely developed during the Neolithic period (late Stone Age) by farmers who were geographically isolated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees mountain range in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. Its popularity diminished following the arrival of the Romans and Indo-European languages (namely the Romance languages) around the second century BCE.

Today, the mystery continues. A recent discovery of a 2,100-year-old inscribed amulet from Navarre in northeastern Spain (where the Basque language originated) features a Vasconic language that might be related to Euskara. The first word of the inscription, “sorioneku” or “sorioneke,” is very similar to the modern Basque word “zorioneko,” meaning “good fortune,” leading experts to believe this amulet might reveal more information about the enigmatic Basque language.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Spain has at least four regional languages.

The official national language of Spain is Castilian Spanish (also referred to as modern Spanish), which is spoken by the majority of the population. Initially a local dialect from the Cantabria region in northern Spain, it spread throughout the Castile region (for which it is named) and eventually became the official national language in the 15th century. Yet the Spanish Constitution recognizes other languages that “shall also be official in the respective Autonomous Communities”: for example, Catalan, Galician, and Euskara. These regional languages are centuries old. Catalan, dating to the 12th century, has around 9 million speakers within Spain, primarily in Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Galician is spoken by around 4 million Spaniards, mainly in the Galicia region. Basque is the least-spoken native language of Spain, but has been one of Basque Country’s official languages since 1979.

Ancient people slept on pillows made of stone.

Egyptian headrest
Credit: Penta Springs Limited/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Kerry Hinton
March 26, 2024

Love it?

Choosing a pillow in the 21st century is no simple task. The options can seem overwhelming. Memory foam, down, feathers — the list goes on. There are even customized pillows that sell for around $5,000. But long before humans had their pick of soft, comfortable pillows, many ancient cultures developed early versions that barely resemble the cushy supports we use today. 

The earliest pillows can be traced to Mesopotamia — the region known as the “cradle of civilization,” centered in modern-day Iraq — around 7000 BCE. These curved stone bolsters served a practical purpose: keeping bugs and vermin out of the mouths, eyes, and noses of the wealthy. Ancient Egyptians improved on the formula some 5,000 years later with the elevated headrest. Made of wood or stone, the Egyptian headrest consisted of a base and stem attached to a cradle to raise the user’s head. Most Egyptian headrests consisted of a flat, rectangular base with a straight shaft and curved neckpiece, and the user’s head was meant to mimic the sun rising in the horizon. The Egyptians also added a spiritual element to pillow use, often placing them in the tombs of the deceased; Pharaoh Tutankhamun was laid to rest with no fewer than eight ancient pillows in his tomb. Ancient Egyptians believed that protecting the head was essential even in the afterlife. Headrests were also thought to dispel demons, and many were adorned with images of Egyptian gods such as Bes and Taweret, believed to banish evil from the dark night in both life and death. 

By the Numbers

Did you know?

The first Saturday in April is International Pillow Fight Day.

Although pillow fights have likely existed since the days of ancient Rome — the Romans were among the first cultures to use soft pillows, stuffed with reeds and straw, or feathers for wealthier citizens — they didn't become globally organized until the 21st century. Combining this ancient pastime with the modern-day flash mob, International Pillow Fight Day is organized by the Urban Playground Movement, whose internet-promoted activities have included massive pie fights, dance parties, and zombie marches. The first International Pillow Fight Day was held in 2008, across 25 cities around the world, reaching approximately 5,000 participants in New York City alone. It is now held each year on the first Saturday in April.

Charles Dickens was in a paranormal investigation society called the “Ghost Club.”

Charles Dickens
Credit: Everett Collection/ Shutterstock
Author Nicole Villeneuve
March 20, 2024

Love it?

Charles Dickens is known for a good ghost story. Some of his most famous works, including the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, revolve almost entirely around the supernatural. The English author’s interest in spirits even extended beyond the written word: He was an original member of the Ghost Club in London, an exclusive group interested in dissecting all things otherworldly. 

The Ghost Club claims to be the oldest society of its kind. It was formally founded in 1862, although its history dates back to informal gatherings of Cambridge University academics in the mid-1850s. Along with Dickens, the group has counted such literary luminaries as W.B. Yeats, Siegfried Sassoon, and Arthur Conan Doyle among its members. Spiritualism was a hot topic in Victorian-era England, and the curiosity and discussion around it was widespread: Physicists, philosophers, biologists, and more were found among the early Ghost Club members. The club kept minimal records, and little is known about specific investigations at the time of Dickens’ membership, but research suggests that ghostly encounters, clairvoyance, and exposing frauds working as mediums were all on the table.

Dickens, for all his obvious spiritual inclinations — including dabbling in hypnosis — was also healthily skeptical. “All such narratives must be received with the greatest circumspection, and sifted with the utmost care,” he wrote in an 1853 article about haunted houses. “Nothing in them must be taken for granted, and every detail proved by direct and clear evidence, before it can be received.” Dickens died in 1870 and the Ghost Club later disbanded, although not for long. It was revived in 1882, and despite fluctuations in activity, the club endured, and remains an active organization today. 

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Mary Todd Lincoln held seances in the White House.

On February 20, 1862, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln died in the White House after battling typhoid fever. The death of young Willie Lincoln devastated the family, and Mary Todd sought solace by communicating with the spirit world. She brought mediums into the White House and, eventually, started holding her own seances, some of which were even attended by the president. The practice brought the grieving mother some relief. “Willie lives,” she once told her half-sister. “He comes to me every night and stands at the foot of the bed with the same sweet adorable smile he always has had.” Visiting with Willie, Mary Todd said, was her younger son Eddie, who had died just before his 4th birthday. The Lincoln children were not the last of the family to appear as apparitions on the premises: Years later, several people, including Winston Churchill, claimed to see the ghost of Abraham Lincoln throughout the White House.

There’s a 2,400-year-old ship at the bottom of the sea, and it’s virtually intact.

3D shipwreck model
Credit: PA Images/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Nicole Villeneuve
March 20, 2024

Love it?

Ancient Greek shipwrecks have proved to be unparalleled sources of historical insight. The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known analog computer, for instance, was discovered in a wreck found in the Mediterranean in 1901. And in 2018, a primitive Greek trading vessel was discovered in the Black Sea that provided previously unknown information to historians — because despite its age, the 2,400-year-old ship was almost entirely intact.

The 75-foot vessel dates back to about 400 BCE and was found lying on its side roughly a mile below the water’s surface. Its mast, rudders, and rowing benches were all in place and in excellent condition. The unique preservation is thanks to the Black Sea’s deep waters being anoxic, meaning they don’t contain oxygen. Beyond a distance of about 500 feet near the shore, the oxygen levels drop to zero — a crucial component in the preservation of organic materials such as wood. More than 60 other shipwrecks have also been discovered in the fruitful area.

Before the ship was found, researchers had only seen its kind in ancient Greek artworks such as the Siren Vase, a piece of pottery depicting the ship of the mythical hero Odysseus. The discovery, according to the archaeology team that found the ship, serves as an important piece of a historical puzzle, providing a real-life look at previously theoretical shipbuilding and maritime practices.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

The Titanic might be completely gone from the ocean floor by 2050.

It was once considered a mighty engineering marvel, but the Titanic is fading away — and the remains may be completely gone in the not-too-distant future. Resting on the ocean floor since it tragically sunk in 1912, the iconic ship has been subject to a harsh marine environment, including not only the strong North Atlantic Current, but also microorganisms that feed on the iron in the ship. Research and tourism expeditions have contributed to the ship’s decline, too, as submersibles sometimes land on or bump into the wreckage. Deterioration has been observed since the site of the famous shipwreck was found in 1985, and researchers from Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University as well as UNESCO suggest it might only take a few more decades for it to entirely disappear. The U.S. company that owns the salvage rights to the site is planning another expedition to recover historic artifacts, but the government maintains that it should remain undisturbed and respected as the gravesite that it is.

x