Eying the past

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Eying the past Hi! On this page you can find fun facts about our world's history! You can also find us on Instagram as , enjoy!🌍🏛

Want to know more about this creature? Swip left!
27/05/2024

Want to know more about this creature? Swip left!

Swipe left to find out more about pirate Benjamin Hornigold!
24/04/2024

Swipe left to find out more about pirate Benjamin Hornigold!

Swipe left for more!
10/04/2024

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Want to read about a hero dog? Swipe left to learn more about Juliana the Great Dane!
27/03/2024

Want to read about a hero dog? Swipe left to learn more about Juliana the Great Dane!

How do you drink tea with a big moustache? Swipe left to find out!
20/03/2024

How do you drink tea with a big moustache? Swipe left to find out!

Swipe left to learn more about the statue of Zeus!
13/03/2024

Swipe left to learn more about the statue of Zeus!

Swipe left for some astrology!
06/03/2024

Swipe left for some astrology!

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28/02/2024

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Swipe to read all about ketchup as a medicine!
21/02/2024

Swipe to read all about ketchup as a medicine!

Who doesn’t enjoy their fries with ketchup? Today it’s one of our favorite condiments, but did you know that back in the...
21/02/2024

Who doesn’t enjoy their fries with ketchup? Today it’s one of our favorite condiments, but did you know that back in the 1830s, ketchup was sold as a medicine? People claimed that it could cure ailments like diarrhea, indigestion and jaundice.The idea came from an American physician, called Dr. John Cook Bennett, in 1834. He even sold ketchup pills! After him, other people tried to sell “ketchup” pills as well, but that didn’t succeed because they basically worked like laxatives. 

Photo source: World Wide Facts, Example of a ketchup advertisement in the 1800s, via Medium, JustAnnet. March 28, 2021.

When you’re kneading dough, you do it with your hands, right? Well, normally yes. In ancient Egypt they had different th...
13/02/2024

When you’re kneading dough, you do it with your hands, right? Well, normally yes. In ancient Egypt they had different thoughts on that though. Sometimes bakers kneaded bread dough with their feet! They would walk across it in order to flatten it. Of course, they also used their hands, but maybe their feet were more practical? An interesting method indeed.  

Source photo 1: Granger, Egypt Bread Making, Fine Art America. February 17th, 2016.

Source photo 2: Seamus Blackley, The result. On Twitter. Smithsonian Magazine. August 8th, 2019. 

When we say ‘follow the breadcrumbs’, you say
? Exactly! Hansel and Gretel. The famous story was  written by the Brother...
10/01/2024

When we say ‘follow the breadcrumbs’, you say
? Exactly! Hansel and Gretel. The famous story was  written by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Most stories are inspired by an actual (historical) event. And this story is no exception. 

In 1314, the Great Famine (1314-1322) struck Europe. In order to not starve to death, people did the most horrible things imaginable. Some adults didn’t eat so that their children could survive. Others ate or abandoned their children in order to not starve. That does sound a lot like what happened in Hansel and Gretel, doesn’t it? The witch trying to eat Hansel, their parents who abandoned them. This is only a theory that scholars brought up, though, but maybe there is some truth to it?


When we say ‘follow the breadcrumbs’, you say
? Exactly! Hansel and Gretel. The famous story was  written by the Brother...
10/01/2024

When we say ‘follow the breadcrumbs’, you say
? Exactly! Hansel and Gretel. The famous story was  written by the Brothers Grimm in 1812. Most stories are inspired by an actual (historical) event. And this story is no exception. 

In 1314, the Great Famine (1314-1322) struck Europe. In order to not starve to death, people did the most horrible things imaginable. Some adults didn’t eat so that their children could survive. Others ate or abandoned their children in order to not starve. That does sound a lot like what happened in Hansel and Gretel, doesn’t it? The witch trying to eat Hansel, their parents who abandoned them. This is only a theory that scholars brought up, though, but maybe there is some truth to it?


Popcorn in the movie theater, a biscuit with a cup of tea or just a bag of chips. Snacks are an indispensable part of ou...
11/10/2023

Popcorn in the movie theater, a biscuit with a cup of tea or just a bag of chips. Snacks are an indispensable part of our everyday life. 

In ancient Rome, they liked to snack too! During the games in the amphitheaters, the audience ate figs, grapes, melons, nuts and olives.

Those might be healthier snacks than the ones we would choose today, but nevertheless delicious. And the fun part is, we still eat those foods nowadays! 

Source photo 1: Mikaela Johnson, Mikaela's IDEA Blog, September 16, 2018.

Source photo 2: Dr Joe Ball, Twitter, July 2, 2022.

"Mr Watson, come here- I want to see you"These were the very first words to be spoken over the telephone. They were utte...
31/03/2023

"Mr Watson, come here- I want to see you"

These were the very first words to be spoken over the telephone. They were uttered by Alexander Graham Bell on March 10th, 1876, just three days after Bell was granted a patent for his invention.

He also proposed to use the word 'ahoy' when answering a phone call but 'hello' ended up more popular. We can thank another famous inventor for that choice of words: Thomas Edison.

Photo source: Wikipedia

When you think about Leonardo Da Vinci, the words “artist”, “Mona Lisa”, “The Last Supper”, “The Vitruvius Man”, “invent...
20/03/2023

When you think about Leonardo Da Vinci, the words “artist”, “Mona Lisa”, “The Last Supper”, “The Vitruvius Man”, “inventor” and “scientist” come to mind. But what about “mirror writing”? Because he wrote in mirrorscript! 

Da Vinci wrote from right to left in a kind of shorthand he invented himself. Only the notes that were intended for others to read were written normally. But why? There are a few theories:

1: Mirror writing kept his hands clean. Da Vinci was left-handed. Writing in mirrorscript prevented him from touching and smudging the ink while writing. 

2: Other people couldn't read his notes and perhaps steal his ideas.

3: This way he could hide his scientific ideas from the Roman Catholic Church. The Church often disagreed with Da Vinci's observations.

The actual reason for his way of writing remains a mystery and one can only speculate which of the three theories is the truth. 

Source photo 1: National Geographic, Simon Worrall
Source photo 2: Museum of Science, Boston
Source: Museum of Science, Boston

Listening to the radio, shuffling your Spotify playlist or watching music videos on YouTube. Today, we listen to music o...
01/03/2023

Listening to the radio, shuffling your Spotify playlist or watching music videos on YouTube. Today, we listen to music on a daily basis and we can’t get enough of it. The music we know today, however, is very different from how it was in the beginning.

In 1400 B.C, the first song, called Hurrian Hymn No. 6,  was written in cuneiform on clay tablets. All of them contained hymns in honor of the Hurrian gods. Most tablets were broken, but one of them could be deciphered. This tablet contained instructions on how to perform the hymn. It explained how the text must be sung and the way the lyre player must tune his instrument and play the song. The theme was an ode to the fertility goddess Nikkal. 

If you want to listen to the song yourself, you can find the link to YouTube in our bio. Enjoy!

Source photo: Josh Jones, Open Culture.

Every four years, talented athletes from around the world come together to compete for a gold medal. The Olympic Games a...
13/02/2023

Every four years, talented athletes from around the world come together to compete for a gold medal. The Olympic Games are a widely popular event where sports and sportsmanship are most important. But did you know that once upon a time artists could participate as well?

Between 1912 and 1984 there were, besides sports, five other categories to compete in: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. The artworks that were created had to be inspired by sports and had to be never published before. Competitors could win a gold, silver or bronze medal for their creations. There was even an Olympic Art Exhibit.

Although the art competitions are no longer a part of the Olympics, there is a cultural programme these days that makes sure the arts keep being celebrated during the Olympic Games.

Picture 1: Jack Butler Yeats, The Liffey Swim (1924), National Gallery of Ireland

Picture 2: View of the 1932 Olympic Art Exhibit, Artclasscurator

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