If you consider yourself a history buff, or if you’re just into learning about the most bizarre things that people have ever done, read on and discover 7 weird and secret facts from the depths of ancient history.
Chinese Da Vinci
Predicting and monitoring earthquakes is pretty easy today thanks to the seismograph, but a little-known fact about this modern instrument is that its ancestor, the seismoscope, was invented by a Chinese astronomer and literary scholar by the name of Zhang Heng. In AD 130 Heng invented the first instrument for monitoring Earthquakes, and it could even pinpoint the general location of a quake. It turns out that Heng invented a lot of cool stuff and made serious contributions to astronomy and math, but it wasn’t until after his death that he received the bulk of his honors.
Throwing Stones
The Ancient Celts have something of a reputation for being barbarians, and some historical sources claim that they sacrificed humans and animals. Ironically, these “sources” tend to be of Greco-Roman origin, and let’s just say that this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The Ancient Greeks organized games that had humans fighting each other to the death, and the Ancient Romans made their prisoners fight each other or vicious animals inside public arenas. For that matter, King Agamemnon of Greece is said to have sacrificed his own daughter, so the Celts look pretty tame by comparison.
Sleep With my Wife—Please!
The Ancient Arabs practiced a custom called wife-lending which was an early form of genetic selection for reproduction. Lower-ranking families would lend their wives to a man of great distinction to bolster their family line. She’d stay in his house until she got pregnant, and the husband would abstain from sex with any other women in order to claim the child. She gets a baby, and the family improves their line.
Crocodile Cure
In ancient times it was pretty common to use animal dung as a treatment or a cure for various diseases. In ancient Greece, crocodile poop was used as a female contraceptive, and in ancient Egypt, warriors used animal dung to treat battle wounds. Sheep droppings were used by the Scots to treat smallpox, and pig dung was used to stop nosebleeds. Thank goodness someone invented Kleenex!
Respect-Not Ridicule
In modern movies/television, dwarves are often depicted as outcasts or in a comical way, but in ancient Egypt, dwarves were revered and even worshiped. Dwarves held official jobs in all facets of society and the Egyptians had several dwarf gods such as the god of luck, dreams and dancing and the god of arts, crafts, and creativity.
A Sticky Mixture
Finding ways to increase sexual performance was a specialty of the ancient Greeks, and one of them involved smearing a honey/crushed pepper mixture on their penises to make their erections “stick” around for a long time. Makes perfect sense!
