In Roman times an as was the name given to a small copper coin, possibly of Etruscan origin. The same word was also used to denote a ‘unit’ of weight, measure or coin. When as was borrowed into Old French in the twelfth century, it most commonly referred to ‘the …
On this day during a currency shortage in New France, in modern-day Canada, King Louis XV issued playing card money to replace coins. Like a standard casino deck, the cards were stamped with suits, numbers, and faces, but on the back they contained a note handwritten by the governor distinguishing …
There was a real-life Uncle Sam. This symbol of the United States government and of the national character, in striped trousers and top hat, was a meat packer and politician from upstate New York who came to be known as Uncle Sam as the result of a coincidence and a …
The humble table napkin has a surprisingly long and varied history. The Spartans used lumps of dough called apomagdalie, cut, rolled, and kneaded at table, to wipe their hands. The ancient Romans used lengths of cloth called mappa at the edges of eating couches to protect the furnishings. In the …
Chicago crime boss Al Capone made his fortune bootlegging liquor during Prohibition. But as Prohibition died out in the early 1930s, the man known to the world as Public Enemy No. 1 was staring unemployment in the face. Capone needed a legitimate business if he was to keep turning profits, …
The Finnish have a wonderful word, knapsu, for anything that’s not male behaviour. Other cultures are quick to notice the gender-specific: Stutenbeißen (German) the special behaviour of women in a rivalry situation (literally, mare biting) dzinana (Tsonga, South Africa) to pummel one another with the side of the fists, away …
According to Hanna-Barbera, Pebbles Flintstone was born at the Bedrock Rockapedic Hospital at 8 p.m. on February 22, 10,000 B.C., weighing in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces. She premiered on TV on her 11,963rd birthday—in the February 22, 1963, Flintstones episode “The Blessed Event.” As an infant, Pebbles quickly became …
Tests for determining whether a woman is pregnant go back to at least 1350 B.C. An Egyptian papyrus from that period describes a pregnancy test in which a woman would urinate on wheat and barley seeds. If the barley grew, she was pregnant with a boy; if the wheat grew, …
When most people picture a physician they probably visualize a man or woman in a white lab coat, a stethoscope draped around his or her neck. Still the most useful instrument for diagnosing cardiovascular disease, the stethoscope can also supply information about the intestines, veins, and arteries. Until the early …
Computer fanatics seem to attract pejorative words to describe them. (Now why should that be?). More often than not, they are words previously known in other contexts, but given new strength and life in the computer age. Geek and nerd both come into this category. The online New Hacker’s Dictionary …
