Browsing: The Bizarre

A Brief History On February 13, 1961, while 3 Californians were looking for geodes, they picked up a rock believed to be 500,000 years old that was later found to contain a spark plug!  Understandably, this find, now known as the “Coso artifact,” sparked a lot of mystery and controversy.  Digging Deeper Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell (love that name), were poking around the geology of Olancha, California when they came across their amazing discovery. Upon cutting open the supposed geode, they expected it to be hollow inside and containing crystals.  Instead the trio’s diamond-bladed saw blade was ruined, and rather than find…

A Brief History On January 14th, medieval Christians celebrated Feast of the Ass Day, although perhaps not the type of “ass” you may be thinking of!  It actually celebrated the various accounts in the Bible where a donkey (or ass) is mentioned, especially the one that supposedly carried Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt. Digging Deeper Not surprisingly, like many or even most Christian holidays, the Feast of the Ass had its origins in Paganism, being derived from the religious feast called Cervulus. During this bestial-based holy day, a ceremony often took place in which a girl with a baby (or a pregnant girl) was…

A Brief History On December 29, Catholics and Lutherans celebrate the feast day of David, a man from the Bible perhaps most famous for slaying the giant Goliath.  Listed as 6 cubits tall (9 feet in today’s cubits, 6 feet according to some scholars), Goliath was the mightiest warrior of the Philistines, Israel’s go-to nemesis in those days.  David, as with other Biblical characters, is considered a “legendary” character by many historians and other people.  To believers, however, he is an historical figure that also happens to be a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ.  Digging Deeper With a rock that…

A Brief History For starters, if you have never heard of the Christmas Pickle, do not feel bad!  The author herself only learned of the Christmas Pickle two years ago while she was living in Germany and was being visited by a fellow American who brought up the topic.  The friend hung a pickle-shaped ornament on her Christmas tree every year, and since she believed the tradition came from Germany, wanted to know more about it. Digging Deeper Various American Christmas traditions include: singing carols; hanging stockings over the fireplace; leaving cookies out for Santa; placing mistletoe over doorways; but some Americans apparently also hang an…

A Brief History On December 23, 1972, the survivors of an airliner crash in the Andes Mountains were finally rescued after 73 days.  Rescuers soon discovered the grisly evidence that the survivors had lived only because they had eaten those who had died. Throughout history, there have been instances where humans have eaten other humans, sometimes out of sheer desperation to survive, other times just because they wanted to.  Here 10 more such incidents are listed. (No, Hannibal Lecter does not count, even if they do call him “Hannibal the Cannibal!”)  In case you feel cheated out of a couple famous cannibals, consider…