Sir Francis Bacon was one of the greatest scientific minds of the 17th Century. He encouraged the use of the scientific method which calls for experimentation and observation to reach a conclusion. He was one of the leaders of the Scientific Revolution. He is credited with saying “knowledge is power.” Read more
Marcus Crassus became the richest man in Rome partly through real estate. He created the first fire department in Rome. Sometimes he paid arsonists to set fire to a house and then he would wait around the corner with his fire fighters. When the fire was underway, Crassus and Read more
Once upon a time, a mummified cat was found between two walls in the Reformed Protestant church called Grote Kerk in Breda, Netherlands. It was determined that the cat most likely was what was called a “foundation sacrifice” or a “building sacrifice”. In the Middle Ages cats were associated with Read more
Attempts to identify soldiers go back to ancient warfare. Some Spartan warriors put their names on sticks which were tied to their wrist. After a Roman legionary was enrolled, he was given a “signaculum” which was an identification disk worn around the neck Read more
Cats do not really have nine lives, but there once was a cat that had four. Oscar was a black and white feline who patriotically went to war for Germany in WWI. She was on board the mighty battleship Bismarck when it was sunk by the Royal Navy on Read more
What we label today as post-traumatic stress disorder was called “nostalgia” during the Civil War because doctors felt the condition was due to homesickness. In WWI, it was called “shell shock”. The disability was first called the “Guadalcanal Disorder” in WWII because in the first campaign of the war, the Read more
When the US entered the war, the US Medical Department had only 1,200 doctors, by D-Day it had 50,000, including 83 women. It also ended up with 15,000 dentists and 2,000 veterinarians. Nurses rose from 1,000 to 52,000. Some drafted and enlisted men became medics (known to the troops as Read more
Dec. 29 is National Pepper Pot Day. Pepper Pot or Pepper Pot Soup came to colonial America from Africa, the West Indies, and the Caribbean. It was brought by slaves and was particularly associated with blacks in Philadelphia. These cooks made it out of a variety of ingredients. It usually Read more