Historical
The death of King William II of England
King William II of England was killed by an arrow while out hunting on Thursday 2nd August 1100. Most historians say that this was an accident, and that the stray arrow was fired by Walter Tyrel, one of William’s companions. However, there is the intriguing possibility that it was not an accident after all.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
Witches
Wht are witches commonly depicted flying on brooms? it’s thought the idea of witches flying around on broomsticks came from the practice of concocting “witches flying ointment” and then using a broomstick to administer the drug to certain erm.... sensitive regions, thereby bypassing some of the negative side effects these hallucinogens cause when taken orally.
By Toni Cooper5 years ago in FYI
Not so crappy!
Even though Medieval Britons weren’t precisely the cleanest lot by trendy standards, the thought of them simply dropping trou and dumping half a pound of fecal matter into the street under isn’t precisely a good or representative image. In fact, whereas Medieval Britons weren’t yet conscious of how festering feces contributed to illness epidemics, they did know that it smelled really, REALLY bad and, eventually, there was even some thought that mentioned smelly fumes triggered the unfold of disease; thus, they made efforts to make sure the offending odors had been saved as distant from their properties as possible.
By Toni Cooper5 years ago in FYI
Curiosity Cabinets
The idea of the curiosity cabinet goes back to the 15th century, when collectors of (mostly) small objects, whether botanical specimens, religious relics, precious objects, or whatever, would store them in drawers in small- to medium-sized wooden cabinets, which could even be transported with them if needed. They can therefore be regarded as mini-museums. Because the items to be stored would vary in size and shape, cabinet-makers designed them with drawers and shelves of different dimensions.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
The Early History of Cricket
The possible origins of cricket How did cricket begin? One thought is that English shepherds with nothing better to do used their crooks (long sticks with a bent-over handle at one end) to hit lumps of wool or stones to see how far they would go. One shepherd would toss a “ball” towards another who held his crook upside down and the latter would give it a bash. The “bowler” or his mates might then try to see if they could catch the wool or stone before it hit the ground.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
