Browsing: July

A Brief History On July 16, 1439, the Parliament of King Henry VI of England issued a proclamation banning kissing. Digging Deeper This ban of something we now think of as being so personal was in response to yet another outbreak of plague. This particular plague was probably not the bubonic plague which caused an epidemic known as the Black Death in which entire populations were wiped out. In those years, the word “plague” was a general term used to describe any infectious malady that spread rampantly. So, was the Government getting involved in the personal matter of affection between…

A Brief History Today, on July 13th, 2014, the 20th FIFA World Cup soccer championship game will be taking place between Germany and Argentina. Digging Deeper This international tournament for soccer, known as football to most of the world, takes place once every four years and is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) who also chooses the host. The current host is Brazil. Although soccer is relatively unpopular in the United States, in Europe and South America the World Cup is the equivalent of American football’s Super Bowl, baseball’s World Series and basketball’s NBA Championship finals combined.…

A Brief History On July 12, 100 B.C., Julius Caesar was born by what many believe to have been the first Caesarian section. Digging Deeper Today it is generally assumed that Caesar was not born by Caesarian section, as C-sections were only performed on dead women in Roman times, and there are many accounts of Caesar’s mother, Aurelia, being alive well into Caesar’s adulthood. So, how did this surgical procedure come to be associated with one of the greatest generals in recorded time? This belief has certainly been around a long time; and many Western names for the procedure include…

A Brief History On July 10th, 1040, Lady Godiva is supposed to have ridden naked on horseback to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes. Digging Deeper Since Lady Godiva’s legendary ride, many other women have made great impressions on culture, society and history mainly because they were in the buff. This article will list the top 10 women famous for being naked or who, at one point in their lives, had famously been naked. The order they will be presented in is not a ranking, but merely a chronological listing. For the other articles in the…

A Brief History On July 7, 1550, chocolate is thought to have been introduced to Europe from the Americas.  In the following article, the author will list the foods native to either the North or South American continents that had the most significance on a culinary scale when finally exported to Europe, Asia and Africa. These will be in no particular order of ranking but merely alphabetical. Honorable mentions go to the grains/seeds: Quinoa and Amaranth. This is because these two foods are gaining in popularity due to growing health-food trends that involve going gluten-free and vegan, however, they have…