Strange Facts About The Ancient Greeks You Won’t Believe

March 29, 2016 By Toby Isaacson Leave a Comment

Roughly 40,000 years ago, a group of people known as the Minoans settled nearby the island of Crete. They were the foundation of what would soon become one of the mightiest civilizations in history – the Ancient Greeks. They quite literally changed the world, leaving a cultural legacy that can hardly be matched, rich in literature, art, theatre, clothing, and Olympic Games. Moreover, we also owe them a great deal for being the ones to introduce the concept of democracy, so prominent in most of the post-WWII countries today.

The Minoans were later preceded by another civilization, called the Mycenaean. Although excellent traders and builders, they were also fine soldiers, having been remembered by history for their participation in the famed battle for Troy. If you’ve taken an interest in the culture of Ancient Greece and, by default, everything that precedes it, it’s undoubted that you’re familiar with Homer’s works – the Iliad and the Odyssey – which tell the tales of the Mycenaean age.

But this is exactly the point I was getting to. So many tales have been told about Ancient Greece (the so-called Dark Ages excluded) and in so much detail, you just have to start wondering: don’t we, perchance, know pretty much everything by now? You can never know everything, my friend. But I’m sure we all know that and no one actually asked themselves that silly question. Not phrased like that, at least. A better rephrasing would be, “Is there anything left that can surprise me when it comes to this civilization?”

The answer is, obviously, yes. So, grab a pen, read ahead the following list about some of Ancient Greece’s strange facts and cross the ones you already knew. So, if you want to have your mind blown by some of the lesser known facts about Ancient Greece, proceed.

Athena V Poseidon: Dawn of Olive Trees

The city of Athens was named after goddess Athena, as you may have figured. But this was the result of a competition. When the Greeks wanted to find a patron deity of the city-state that would be known as Athens, they had two options. Athena, goddess of wisdom and skill, was one of them, with the second being Poseidon, the infamous god of seas.

Cecrops, the first king of the would-be-Athens, asked the two gods to each offer a gift that would prove valuable to the city. Poseidon offered water, which sounded nice at first… until you actually tasted it. Since the water was salty, it was pretty much useless. Athena followed next, gifting the city an olive tree. Given the alternative, Cecrops was pleased and, therefore, granted Athena the honor of having one of the oldest cities in the world named after her.

The downside is that Poseidon wasn’t too happy, cursing Athens to never have enough water and the world to have to suffer from a horrible Percy Jackson movie adaption. One of these is a lie, have fun figuring out which.

Hipster Greek Scuba Divers

Ancient Greeks were scuba diving before scuba diving was even invented. Maybe the term was a bit misused, but one thing was clear – they were one of the first civilizations to really take this whole “underwater exploration” business seriously. Long before the invention of submarines and other inventions that would help humans not die when exploring the vastness of seas and oceans, Ancient Greeks were using barrels and kettles.

Or, better said, inverted barrels and kettles which came to be known as “diving bells.” Someone would patiently sit inside of those bells as their helpful fellows would lower them into the hydrographic abyss. Air was trapped inside of an “air pocket,” something that allowed the divers to repeatedly return and take another big breath without actually returning to the surface. In case you’re in need of a visual reference, Pirates of the Caribbean uses a device that’s as similar as it gets.

This technology has been used around 360 B.C., as recorded by Aristotle. Seemingly, Alexander the Great himself handled a similar submersible for his underwater exploration missions.

Guilt-Tripping Tax Collecting

If there is one thing that Ancient Greeks truly cared about, that’s freedom. It was because of this that they would later create the foundations for democracy, the system that (at least in theory) is explicitly supposed to protect freedom. In fact, Ancient Greece cared so much about its citizens that it refused to implement direct taxes and fees. A city without taxes and fees? Where’s a time traveling machine when you need one?

However, it was still a state-city and state-cities required some sort of funding for their schools, armies, buildings, and so on. This funding mostly came from wealthy families, who paid “taxes of shame.” Sure, there may not have been any written laws stating that you need to pay any fees, but in Antiquity, sometimes ethics and pride outweighed laws. If you had money but didn’t contribute to the well-being of the city, you were pretty much considered a pariah. Many wealthy citizens contributed directly by building temples, schools, and other institutions.

Are you processing this? Ancient Greece had no law codes about taxes and fees, but still had people pay taxes and fees because of ethics, morals, and shame? These days, this sounds like the premise of a utopian science-fiction work of literature.

A godly competition, ancient scuba diving, and shame based tax collecting – these are all real facts. Strange, but real. The list could probably go on forever, given how there’s surely enough material to work with. For instance, did you know that Ancient Greeks thought that beans contained the souls of the dead, so they never ate them? I bet that beans wish they could return to those times of glory when they were as worshipped as cows in contemporary India.

As bizarre as some of these facts are, they barely make up one percent of the huge legacy of Ancient Greece. They may have thought beans were human soul holders, but they also invented theatre and were the civilization that infiltrated Troy by building a giant wooden horse. In fact, all these strange facts, although definitely odd, only manage to make the Ancient Greeks shine more. They had a great mythology, explored the deep sea before Jesus Christ was even born, and managed to have a functioning society that relied solely on morals.

If you ever see me in the street, I’ll be wearing an “Ancient Greece Fan #1” T-shirt.

Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4.

15 Amazing Facts About Dinosaurs You Need To Know

March 3, 2016 By Toby Isaacson Leave a Comment

When I was little, there was nothing I loved more than dinosaurs. I had a big encyclopedia filled just with information on these giants. On one of my birthdays, I was gifted a box set with dinosaur plastic figurines. Also, it goes without saying that Jurassic Park was my favorite movie. You’d think that once adulthood rolls in, this interest began to fade, but, surprise: it didn’t. And why would it? Dinosaurs are like dragons, mighty and ancient, except they were actually real. So, for all the big T-Rex enthusiasts out there, here are 15 Amazing Facts About Dinosaurs You Need To Know, to indulge in.

1. Rulers Of Earth

Dinosaurs were the ruling species on Earth for over 165 million years. Humanity, on the other hand, has only been around for roughly two million. If we have so much history to study, imagine how tough life would have been in dinosaur schools.

2. Fastest Dinosaurs

They could reach some truly impressive speed. A dinosaur called the Ornithonimus being the Usain Bolt of its species. According to scientific research, it could run with a speed of 70 km/h.

3. Lifespan

Despite all the progressive steps that have been made in science since we first started to dig up dinosaur fossils, the lifespan of dinosaurs is still unclear. However, it’s estimated that some of them were able to live up to two hundred years.

4. Sizes

The majority of dinosaurs were actually not that much taller than your average human. You can find plenty of skeletons in museums that belonged to colossally big dinosaurs, but only because it’s apparently easier for large bones to fossilize and, thus, be preserved and reconstructed into a replica.

5. Stegosaurus State

Colorado is also nicknamed Stegosaurus State. No, no, it has nothing to do with a strange shape on the map or anything. The first Stegosaurus remains were found in Colorado, which is definitely an honor that needs to be boasted to the world.

6. The Name

The first time the word “dinosaur” was used, was in 1842, by a British paleontologist named Richard Owen. A Greek term, it roughly translates to “terrible lizard.” The cool fact is that, apparently, it wasn’t used derogatorily, since Owen intended it be a nod to their size and majesty.

7. Long Tails

There were some dinosaurs who had incredibly long tails, although most members of the family tended to have tails lengthier than those of our animals today. Scientists think that they were biologically engineered this way, so they could keep their balance while running. Okay, fair enough, but where is that theory that explains the T-Rex’s really, really small arms?

8. They Laid Eggs

Dinosaurs were the old ancestors of lizards, so it only makes sense that they laid eggs. So far, we know of about forty types of eggs.

9. Oldest Dinosaur

Meet the Eoraptor, a dinosaur with a name that translates to “dawn stealer” (a much better name than “terrible lizard,” just saying). It was called this way, so it could be representative of the fact that this breed is really old, having roamed the Earth during the earliest days of the Dinosaur Age. An Eoraptor was apparently no bigger than a German shepherd.

10. Bird Ancestors

You may have heard about this before, as you should since it’s a fact as fascinating as it is hilarious. Did you know that the closest relative of a T-Rex is the chicken? Birds, in general, share many traits with the mighty dinosaurs, which has led scientists to believe that some of them managed to survive their mass extinction, then continued to live on through the winged species as a mutated, smaller scale version. Honestly, I just want to know which dinosaur is responsible for geese, because it must have been quite the awful creature.

11. Jurassic Park

Speaking of Jurassic Park, earlier mentioned in the introductory paragraph, one of the reasons why the movie was so insanely successful was because it was as accurate as a dinosaur movie could get. Steven Spielberg wanted scientific precision, so he hired actual paleontologists that were consulted on the creatures’ behavior and movements. Thanks to that, we also got to experience the eerie realism of the suits and animatronics that were used to bring the T-Rex, raptors, and others to our screens.

12. Dinosaur Nests

Close your eyes and try to imagine a raptor frantically running back and forth, picking up twigs and pieces of wood in its mouth, which are taken to decorate its home, sweet home: a nest. Also like birds, dinosaurs kept their eggs safe in nests. The first one was discovered by an explorer named Roy Andrews Chapman in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Before this discovery, how dinosaurs reproduced was a great scientific mystery.

13. Extinction

That dinosaurs no longer inhabit Earth we already know, but there are actually multiple theories trying to explain how it was possible for a whole species to go completely extinct in such a short time. The most common one refers to a six-mile diameter meteorite that crashed on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The impact was so powerful that it triggered a chain reaction of cataclysms, including volcano eruptions.

14. Blood Temperature

Despite being similar to the biology of our modern lizards, scientists argue that not all dinosaurs were cold-blooded. Some had warm blood while some had neither. One belief developed into a theory that concluded small carnivores may have been warm-blooded due to their constant activity, while large herbivores had colder blood run through their systems, because of their sedentary nature.

15. Hollow Bones

Ah, we’re not done with the dinosaur-bird comparisons just yet. Despite how massive looking a carnivore’s bones may seem, they’re actually empty on the inside. This was a great asset to their nature as hunters since it meant that the bones were lighter. This means that the dinosaurs could accelerate to great speeds when running.

Trying to squeeze 65 million years of history into 15 Amazing Facts About Dinosaurs You Need To Know is as impossible as it is mildly offensive. Humanity may be the most developed and complex species in history, with achievements that are miles ahead of anything any animal could accomplish, but we have a long way to go before we can even dream about reaching the performance of ruling Earth for as long as the dinosaurs have. And when we eventually do, hopefully, it won’t end as tragically for us.

Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

5 Strange Truths About Your Valentine’s Day Roses

February 17, 2016 By Toby Isaacson Leave a Comment

Ah, yes. Valentine’s Day. The day when the scent of love invades our senses (even to the point of trespassing) and dazes our heads. Regardless of what your personal opinion towards the thing is, we can’t deny that the 14th of February is becoming a bigger and bigger mark on our calendars. All that it’s been doing for the last decades is receive more media exposure, more people accepting to celebrate it and, by extension, more people to boost the sales of every florist who sells roses. I dare say that all of those gifts we associate with the big day of some dude named Valentine, have become more or less an obligation. So, unless you want to sleep for the next week on the welcome carpet at the entrance, you better prepare for The Hunger Games of emptying shelves in your local supermarket’s chocolate aisle. Still, there is nothing that says the three magic words (food is ready) quite like the ever so mysterious and romantic rose. But, like most things that seem beautiful and harmless, your Valentine’s Day bouquet has a baggage of 5 Strange Truths About Your Valentine’s Day Roses that most florists have to face on a regular basis.

1. The Holiday Of Secret Affairs

Florists have pretty much seen it all. When cheating is involved (how romantic), opting to order your two (or more if you’re greedy and just that much of a horrible person) bouquets online seems like a bit of a dangerous idea. So, most of these people need to actually move and come face to face with the florists, then let all of the secrets pour. After all, it’s not like they have anyone to share them with, aside from websites and other publication platforms visited by thousands of people.

Either way, flowers have become a traditional method of either mending, either breaking a relationship. More than once, according to an interviewed florist, flower shops are visited by people who will even go as far as to purposely ruin the day of their exes. Some ordered withered flowers to be delivered to them or, even crazier, someone asked if the pretty rose bouquet could be sent off with a nice dose of bees to the side too.

2. Why Roses Are Expensive

I’m not up to date with the whereabouts of the flower growing world, but I do know that I’ve always been aware of one thing: roses are just expensive as heck. But what is the reason for that? Surely there have to be flowers that are considerably superior in aesthetic, scent and longevity, right? Surprisingly, the price has nothing to do with any of those, but it’s rather a typical effect of the supply-demand curve. We grew to associate roses with Valentine’s Day, so we will go buy roses. Flower shops take advantage of that and, boom, we get astronomical prices every time we decide to spoil our other halves with at least one rose.

So, it’s simply business. Many people don’t seem to understand that, though, and they pointlessly feel infuriated whenever they learn of the price attached to a bouquet of roses. But when florists try to convince them that any other flower would send the message across just as well, they huff and puff and desperately cling to the mass produced flower that’s economically bound to be the most expensive. You just can’t win.

3. Why Roses Actually Suck

But why all this fuss around roses? They are, statistically and practically, the most difficult kind of flower. The first sign that you should turn around and buy something else is their longevity. Most flowers actually last a few weeks, except for roses. On a bad day, they may start to wither in just a couple of days, along with your $100 invested in that short lived bouquet. I mean, nothing says “forever and ever” like a gift that dies off and falls apart after three days. Sweet!

If that wasn’t bad enough, roses are also associated with a series of diseases. Fortunately (well, I guess not for them), the ones most likely to encounter them are the growers and florists. As customers, the only disease you will have to face after purchasing a dozen of roses is the barrage of reproof from your significant other over your poor gift choices.

4. Emotional Disaster

Next time you arrange your roses, think of all the tears that were invested in getting them into your vase. Halloween pumpkin sales and Christmas tinsel sales are nothing compared to flower sales near or on Valentine’s Day. Orders for flowers start piling up months ahead of the holiday, and with so many demands, there are bound to be some mistakes too. Unfortunately, we are fickle and impatient creatures, so it’s practically impossible to find a customer who will understand that you accidentally delivered them a bouquet of daffodils with a love message from a strange man named Bob. This often leaves florists depressed and extremely stressed, so it’s no easy business.

5. Awkward Deliveries

I’m sure all of this sounds at least a tiny bit hilarious from the sidelines, but try putting yourself in the place of the poor delivery man or florist who has to make it rain rose petals over the heads of a divorced couple. Although flower shops these days hire companies to bring the flowers to our doorsteps, there are some florists who still have to do the deliveries themselves. Regardless of which kind it is, we feel sorry for them. It’s not easy bringing a bouquet that was ordered before a husband’s death, to the widow, and cheerfully chime, “Harry will see you tonight!”

The life of a florist in the heart of the “love season” is tough. They have to deal with keeping secrets, balancing tons of orders of the oddest caliber and, to top it all, they have to make sure they won’t spend the rest of the month in hospital because of stress and rose diseases. Either way, we need to appreciate them more, and acknowledge all the effort and the 5 Truths About Your Valentine’s Day Roses that are hidden in our overpriced tokens of affection.

Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

10 Facts That You Thought To Be True

February 2, 2016 By Toby Isaacson Leave a Comment

… but really aren’t. And that’s perfectly fine. Over the course of time, humanity has been constantly evolving, and that refers to the knowledge we possess. Back in the B.C. times, people thought that rain was a sign that the sky was going to collapse on them. That obviously isn’t true, and funnily enough, neither are the things that are on this list. But given the constant change in our perception, maybe ten years from now someone will be writing an article proving that, in fact, they are true. But let’s not get into that. For now, here are 10 Facts That You Thought To Be True (but unfortunately aren’t).

1. Lightning Doesn’t Strike The Same Place Twice

We’ve all heard this expression before, though I can bet that it had a much more metaphorical sense to it. Scientifically, however, there is absolutely no foundation that would prove the statement to be true. Nature doesn’t abide by any rules, especially a powerful force like the lightning. If it wants to strike the same place twice, it will do it and it’s done it before. Lightning hooks to the nearest electricity conductor, making tall buildings and constructions like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower sure targets. And there are people out there who can vouch that they have definitely been struck more than once.

2. Bats Are Blind

This common misconception has spawned one of the most used retaliations: have you ever heard of the expression “blind as a bat?” Couldn’t be falser. Unless you’re insinuating that the certain someone the expression is aimed for needs some eyesight improvement, in which case you’ve hit the nail. Out of over 1200 total bat species, none of them are sightless. Truth be told, there are some that that don’t really see particularly well, but they have their infamous “echolocation” systems to guide them around through the power of high frequency sounds.

3. Red Is a Bull’s Greatest Enemy

Except, it’s not the color, it’s the flag. Like most other animals, bulls are what we call “color blind.” The crew of Myth Busters made it their quest to disprove this particularly intriguing myth, and they were successful in their attempts. It turns out that the bull helping with the experiment charged towards the waved flags, regardless of their colors. It’s safe to assume that the red flag is more of a symbol in bull fighting rather than a scientific means to an end.

4. America Was Discovered By Christopher Columbus

Then why is it named America? Because it’s named after another one of history’s greatest explorers: Amerigo Vespucci. And because Christopher Columbus never actually set foot on North American land. Most of his voyages circled around Caribbean islands and he definitely made plenty of important discoveries. However, America wasn’t just a deserted land prior to his so called discovery. The continent was inhabited by indigenous folk, and long before Columbus was even born, the first people to set foot on American land were the Vikings of the 11th century. Who’s pro changing America’s name to Vikingia?

5. Sushi Is Raw Fish

For many people, sushi is a delicate type of dish. After all, how many people are readily willing to experience the taste of raw fish? If this is your case, then you don’t have to worry about sushi. That’s because what sushi really refers to is a type of dish served with vinegar rice. The Japanese meal that consists of raw fish is sashimi, something entirely different from sushi. Moreover, so many people still believe this to be true and, in turn, avoid consuming sushi, that new types have been intended, marketed solely for westerners so they won’t have to worry about eating raw fish again.

6. Coffee Is Made From Beans

This one is a definite shocker. But don’t worry, it’s not too far away from truth either. Coffee is actually made from the seeds of a type of fruit called “coffee cherries.” They’re red, strongly resembling grapes, and underneath a layer of bitter skin lays delicious, sweet flesh. As for the “beans” we’re all so fond of, in their natural form they’re a blue-green hue, gaining the well known brown shade after being roasted.

7. China’s Wall Is Visible From Space

The Great Wall of China is seemed as one of the greatest man made constructions in history, and this statement has been backed up by the claim that it can be allegedly sighted from outer space. Well, surprise, it’s not. It’d be a wonder if it were barely visible. In fact, astronauts would need vision 17,000 times better than your average human’s to be able to see it. That doesn’t mean that nothing else is visible from space. Several astronauts claimed that, upon looking at the shadowed side of Earth, they were able to clearly see city lights and distinguish cities from the outer, less populated areas. Some say that, with the aid of binoculars, they were able to see large buildings, roads, airports, dams and even large sea and air vehicles.

8. Mount Everest Is The World’s Tallest Mountain

The delicate bit about this statement is the wording. While at 8,850 meters, Mount Everest definitely possesses the highest altitude on Earth, it’s not the tallest. When we talk about how tall a mountain is, we need to refer to the meters both below and under the sea level. On the other hand, altitude only refers to the distance above the sea level and the mountain’s summit. Going by this criteria, the tallest mountain in the world is actually in Hawaii, and it’s called Mauna Kea. While its altitude is half Mount Everest’s, given how 60% of the mountain is below sea level, it sums up a total of 10,100 meters from base to summit, making it the true tallest mountain in the world.

9. Fortune Cookies Are Chinese

Odd, isn’t it? Apparently, they’re an American invention, although how they came to be created is up to debate. Some say it was a Cantonese immigrant from 1918 who took pity on the poor and started spreading around cookies with inspirational, Biblical based messages in them. Others say that it was a Japanese man who wanted to thank his new employer at San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden for taking care of him, by slipping a small note of gratitude in his cookie. Whichever will prove to be the real story, we can be sure of one thing: fortune cookies were never a Chinese thing.

10. People Thought The Earth Was Flat

Some believe that before Christopher Columbus made the legendary discovery of American land (which he didn’t, as we’ve just established), people thought that the Earth was flat. Wrong. Contrary to popular belief, Columbus wasn’t the first man to set sail and explore the world beyond European borders. Many before him have traveled the seas and oceans, and have concluded that the Earth was indeed round. More than that, this claim was made even longer prior to the 15th century: Greek philosopher Pythagoras suggested Earth’s roundness back in the 6th century B.C. It’s true, however, that there was a point in time between the 18th and the 20th centuries when this claim was up to debate, but it was mainly kept between religious and secular groups.

How did this list affect your views on the world? Changes in perspective and even universally accepted realities have been a common recurrence in the course of humanity’s existence. They happened before and they definitely still will. This is why all of these were 10 Facts That You Thought To Be True.

Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.