Month: August 2018
In 1994, 35,000 Americans insured themselves against being kidnapped and eaten by aliens. The very first company to offer Alien Abduction insurance was the St. Lawrence Agency in Altamonte …
In the Medieval period, monkeys were a stand in for depraved humanity, often appearing in the margins of illuminated manuscripts. The prayer book written for Charles V. of Austria …
To medieval Europeans, elephants were equally ‘real’ as unicorns, as both existed in texts but were never seen. Vikings sold unicorn “horns” for centuries. The dominant story about unicorns …
How do you like them pineapples? Probably not enough to risk seven years of hard labor for the crime of pineapple theft. People in 17th and 18th century Europe …
In Georgian and Victorian times, armies of bathing machines protected a woman’s modesty before she slipped into the waves. (Image credit: Messy Nessy Chic) People entered the changing room on …
Queen Marie Antoinette’s birthed a brief craze for Caca Dauphin, a shade of brown that resembled the contents of the new prince’s diapers. Carolyn Purnell in The Sensational Past describes …
One reason Charles VI “the beloved,” became Charles “the mad” was his belief that he was made of glass. As part of this glass delusion, Charles would stay motionless …
Chastity belts are a story that’s been told for hundreds of years. Medieval men going off to the crusades (for years at a time) would fasten an metal underwear …
The most bloodthirsty Medieval torture device, the Iron Maiden, was the product of two Victorian minds. 19th century art collector Matthew Peacock pieced together the Iron Maiden from real …
In the 17th and 18th century, Europe experienced a pineapple craze, led by royalty. The pineapple, like royalty, was put on Earth to rule. Take this account from 1702: …
