For some reason, I’ve been going to a lot of baby showers recently–I have another one Monday night. It’s fascinating to see all the new-fangled baby contraptions available these days, and to learn what has gone in and out and… Read More
One warm spring day back when I was about fourteen, I was casually dandling my fishing line into the shallow water on a bank of Lake Champlain. I was with my older sister and her friend, who were off kayaking… Read More
In 19th-century London, water companies made no effort to filter the drinking water pumped in from the Thames. On several occasions, live eels came wriggling out of people’s faucets.
source: Liza Picard, Victorian London: The Life of a City… Read More
“Poison cups” were used in antiquity to detect the presence of poison in wine or food. They were made of electrum (a gold and silver alloy). The goblet was said to have revealed the presence of poison by emitting a crackling sound (an apparent chemical reaction) and by displaying iridescent colors.