In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered sacred. When a family pet cat died, the entire family would shave off their eyebrows and remain in mourning until they had grown back.
This has been a moment of ... WTF?!
The Kings of Egypt were called pharaohs and worshipped as sun gods and called ‘a son of the sun god’. The Egyptians believed that their sun god rode across the sky each day. A pharaoh would have a tomb built in the shape of a pyramid. Every pyramid had four sides, one of which faced east. It was believed that when a pharaoh died he would wait for his father’s approach as the sun rose from the east and, at midday, when the sun fell on all four slopes of the pyramid, a staircase was formed for the pharaoh’s soul to climb.
Did you know that crocodiles never outgrow the pool in which they live? That means that if you put a baby croc in an aquarium, it would be little for the rest of its life.
This has been a moment of ... WTF?!
In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon... There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round indentations.
However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled.
Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.' All this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you!
This has been a moment of ... WTF?!
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
Hence the custom of holding a 'wake.'
This has been a moment of ... WTF?!
Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 4:10AM