Despite what his adversaries said at the time - and his detractors later - Napoleon wasn't in reality as short as you might think. Actually he was above the average height for Frenchmen at the time. You didn't want to harm, in any way, a cat in Ancient Egypt. Considered to be a sacred animal, killing it, even by accident, meant simply the death penalty. No excuses and no forgiveness.
The very first person in history which name we know is Kushim, who was an accountant in Mesopotamia in around 3200 B.C.
Even if we are both fascinated and terrified by the strange and unusual ways of the Aztec empire, with it's history, culture and especially religious beliefs, how many of us know that the human sacrifices meant about 250,000 people every year. That was roughly 1 percent of the total population, even if many of the sacrifices were war prisoners.
The custom of placing your right foot forward comes from the Ancient Romans, who always entered the house of a friend this way. It was considered to bring good luck, while the left side of the body was an evil omen.
During the Ice Age the Britons used for cups to drink of the very skulls of the dead.
When you hear about the Children's Crusade it sounds like a fantasy movie but it was an actual historical event. Or wasn't it? For centuries we believed that in about 1212 children and teenagers joined together in scores and started their own crusade to free Jerusalem, but according to recent studies it is most likely that the Children's Crusade is only a legend. A fascinating one, but just a story, and all the data point to the fact that not only it was a failed project, but a real disaster, as many of the participants died on the way or were sold in slavery.
Statistics say that the Bible is not only the best-selling book of all times, but also the most shoplifted book. No matter that you can often receive it for free, there are some who prefer to "borrow" it from bookstores.
Photo: wikipedia.org
