How Footbinding Lasted So Long in China

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For a thousand years, the practice of footbinding had been considered the standards of beauty for women in China. However, there's a deeper meaning behind the practice that goes beyond beauty. And it is all rooted in China's steadfast loyalty to Confucian values, and how it permeated all aspects of people's lives.

Footbinding only started from the 12th century, and the story goes that it was inspired by a court dancer named Yao Niang who transformed her foot to make it like the shape of a new moon. The emperor had been captivated by it, and soon the practice spread through every corner of society.

More than being a fashion statement, footbinding became the Chinese women's symbol of cultural superiority over barbarians.

From the time it started until it was completely abandoned, the reason why Chinese women willingly forced themselves into footbinding was just one: to show their utter devotion to Confucian values. That was the main impetus for the perpetuation and longevity of footbinding in Chinese culture.

And to learn the whole story behind footbinding as well as some of the renowned and highly respected Chinese women in history, check out this article on Smithsonian Magazine.

How to Kill a Medieval Knight in Two Ways

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We have this image of knights as romantic warriors who duel each other for the hand of a noble lady, or someone who writes poems and recites them to a damsel they want to court. But medieval knights weren't like that in reality.

They were elite soldiers who trained their bodies beyond their physical limits in order to prepare for war, and defend their lords and realms.

It was a herculean task to try and kill a knight, so much so, that there are actually only two ways to kill a medieval knight, and history enthusiast Luke Reitzer shares with us what those two ways are.

Not only that, but he also shares several other fun facts about knights, like the fact that they actually try not to kill each other in duels, and the reasons why these knights were highly effective warriors of their day.

The First Recorded Human and His Accounting Mistake

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It's very rare for us to find any documents dating back to the more ancient civilizations. And even if there were, we generally won't see any signatures or names of individuals. Except for this one Sumerian clay tablet which apparently shows the world's first signature, the first recording of a human, and what exactly this person did.

From this tablet, we can glean a few things. The one who wrote it was a guy named Kushim, and he was an administrator. What the document had been recording was the number of barley in a silo, and apparently, Kushim made a mistake in counting his shipments.

This is Kushim, the first recorded human in the world along with his accounting mistake.

How Horace Greasley Escaped Nazi Prison to Meet with His Jewish Girlfriend

Love is a powerful thing. Not even the horrors of war or the threat of death can prevent two people who are madly in love from getting together.

Horace Greasley was one such man whose undying love for a Jewish girl he met while he was a prisoner of war in Germany caused him to risk being caught and executed on the spot just so he can meet with her every night.

According to his account, Horace escaped 200 times to meet with a girl named Rosa Rauchbach. Never once did he get caught. Later on, he would write an autobiography detailing his escapades. The title of the book is Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell?

Unfortunately, when Horace was finally freed from the prison camp, he found out that Rosa had died from childbirth, which could have been his child but he didn't know for sure. He would marry a woman named Brenda, and live out the rest of his years with her in Costa Brava, Spain.

Horace died in 2010 at the age of 91.

(Video credit: Ancestral Findings)

The Story of the Only Black Family on Titanic

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There have been several movie adaptations of the tragedy that befell the RMS Titanic on the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. But none of these adaptations have included the story of one of the actual passengers on the Titanic, Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche.

Laroche was a young 24-year-old Haitian engineer who boarded the RMS Titanic with his French wife, Juliette Lafargue, and their two daughters, Simonne and Louise.

On the night the Titanic had struck the iceberg, Laroche had felt the impact, and immediately went to check on his wife and daughters. He placed all their family's valuables inside a coat and put it on his wife.

When the ship began to sink, Juliette and Simonne got on one of the lifeboats. Laroche then rushed to make sure that his second daughter Louise also made it onto the same lifeboat as her mother and sister. After all three had boarded the lifeboat, Laroche's last words to his wife were: "Here, take this. You are going to need it (referring to the coat). I'll get another boat. God be with you. I'll see you in New York."

Unfortunately, Joseph Laroche died along with the Titanic. His body was never recovered. His wife and daughters struggled upon landing in America. However, they were able to go back to France, where Juliette gave birth to a son, whom she named Joseph Lemercier Laroche.

Ancestors of the iPhone: A History of Computing

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Modern computing has gone a long way from when it all started. Before, computers used to occupy large rooms and required several people to operate them. Right now, we have the most powerful computers at the palm of our hands. The photos included here are only some of the earliest computers. Docubyte takes us back through the history of computing, where it all started and how it evolved. -via Moss and Fog

(Image credit: Docubyte)

(Image credit: Docubyte)

(Image credit: Docubyte)

(Image credit: Docubyte)

Why Justinian II, the Byzantine Emperor, Had a Golden Nose

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Justinian II was only 16 years old when he became emperor of the Byzantine Empire in 685. He was ruthless, merciless, and brutal to his subjects. But what he's most famous for is his prosthetic golden nose. And the story behind it is the greatest revenge story in history.

When Justinian was deposed, his enemies cut off his nose because they believed that it would prevent him from showing his face again and returning to power. However, Justinian did exactly the opposite of what his enemies expected.

For over ten years, Justinian gathered allies among the Slavic tribes and he amassed an army large enough to take back his throne. So, in 705, he sailed back to Constantinople. With a golden prosthetic nose, he reclaimed the throne and beheaded his enemies.

How Did Egyptian Artifacts End Up in Scotland?

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It must have been a surprise when a Scottish schoolboy, who had been digging up potatoes as punishment, accidentally found an ancient Egyptian statues buried in the school grounds.

The first discovery happened in 1952, and for the next 30 years, about 17 other ancient Egyptian artifacts were uncovered under Melville House. For the past 40 years, no one knew how those artifacts ended up there.

Now, researchers think they have solved the mystery. Apparently, the former heir of Melville House, Lord Balgonie, had traveled to Egypt in 1856, and when he came back to England, he brought several antiquities with him.

Unfortunately, he passed away after he returned and his relatives decided to store the artifacts in a building outside the house. Years later, that building was demolished and the artifacts forgotten. As further developments on the property occurred, the artifacts simply got buried underneath.

The Guy Who Discovered the Titanic Wreckage is Looking for Amelia Earhart

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There have been many mysterious disappearances in history, and some of them have been found deep underwater. Robert Ballard, a 77-year-old deep-sea explorer, is the guy who has been finding them.

Apart from Titanic, he has also discovered the German battleship Bismarck, the aircraft carrier Yorktown, and John F. Kennedy's PT-109 patrol boat which went missing before he became president. He seems to have a knack of finding missing things. Now, the question is, will he find Amelia Earhart?

The mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart in 1937 has been shrouded in a lot of speculation over the years. Some even think that the Bermuda Triangle might have had something to do with it, as there have been many unexplained disappearances in that area, with some attributing the disappearances to supernatural causes.

Ballard and his team are now on the quest to find the truth behind Amelia Earhart's disappearance. And they will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of it, even if they have to go to the bottom of the sea to find their answer.

The 4 Weirdest Epithets in History

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An epithet is a title added to a person's name to describe them in a single word or an adjective that summarizes their life in one phrase. Usually, epithets are related to a person's achievements, feats, or an event that is considered the highlight or low point of their life.

We know famous historical figures like Alexander the Great, Ivan the Terrible, "The King of Pop" (for Michael Jackson), or Honest Abe (for Abraham Lincoln). But there are some epithets that just sounds bizarre, and you wonder how they got those names.

Check out this article from Big Think for four of history's most bizarre epithets.

Why People Have Wisdom Teeth

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Have you ever wondered why we have wisdom teeth? Most of the time, they cause pain when they're impacted and start pushing the rest of your teeth. Then, you need to have them pulled out. Just like the appendix, what's the need for wisdom teeth anyway?

Scientists suggest that wisdom teeth helped earlier humans to chew their food. Back then, when people ate raw meats and plants, they were harder to chew, so they needed a set of third molars.

However, as we advanced in technology like agriculture, food preservation, and cooking, our food became softer and easier to chew. In time, wisdom teeth became irrelevant although they are still present.

Not everyone has a full set of wisdom teeth though. Depending on a person's gene pool, they may be missing a few wisdom teeth. But some scientists suggest that this is a good thing, and in fact, it would be advantageous for people to lack wisdom teeth. At the very least, it allows a lot of space for your teeth to fit into a smaller jaw.

- from The Conversation

5 Countries That No Longer Exist Today

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Over the centuries, many things happen around the world that change the history of a nation. Wars between two countries can result in territories of the losers to be split up among the victors, just like what happened in World War I.

At certain points, once-sovereign states become annexed by a conquering nation, countries change their names, and previous states simply get blotted off the map. Here are five countries that no longer exist today.