The tradition of January 1st being the beginning of the new year is derived from the Ancient Romans. The feast of the Roman god Janus, for whom the month is named, falls upon January 9th of the Julian calendar. Ancient Roman Emperor Julius Caesar felt January to be the perfect month to celebrate the beginning of the new year as it paid tribute to the deity who was responsible for new beginnings as well as doors and gates, personified as a dual faced god that can see both the past and the future
Sélestat, France (pronounced “sill-eh-schtat”) is the birthplace of the Christmas tree tradition, a ritual started in 1521 as logged by town records of the first trees cut solely for decorative purposes. The first Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling of St. George’s Cathedral, a gothic church from the 15th century
The Iban people of Sarawak, Malaysia practiced head hunting until the middle of the 20th century. Iban warriors were infamous within the region for decapitating their conquered victims to save the head as a trophy. Heads were strung and hung together at the top of the loadbearing posts of the long houses which the Iban continue to live in during the modern day, housing up to 25 families in a single building. Every month the Iban light small candles or fires below the hanging skulls to keep them warm because if they do not, they believe the spirits of the vanquished enemies will come back to haunt the dreams of the Iban. This practice was used as a right of passage and milestone mark for young Iban men throughout history, with young warriors forced to kill an enemy within the jungle and then bring the head of that enemy back to their home in order to bless it for everyone in the community. It was also common practice for Iban women to carry these skulls up and down the veranda of the longhouse to signify celebration for the bravery of the males of their family
During the past 2 decades, hundreds of traumatized refugee children in Sweden have become afflicted with Resignation Syndrome in which they withdraw from the world into a coma like state of consciousness, which can last for years. Symptoms typically begin with a person frequently laying down and being unwilling or unable to talk, which gradually shifts to a change in eating habits, decreasing as time progresses until the patient stops eating and drinking all together at which time they typically require medical intervention via a feeding tube. This syndrome began turning up in Sweden in the early 2000’s and it was initially theorized that children were pretending or parents were poisoning their own children. Similar cases have occurred in countries outside of Sweden, but with fewer cases reported as Sweden is currently the world capital for this condition. Various theories have been proposed and it is believed the cultural practices unique to Sweden may play an integral role in this condition, specifically the factor of the insecurity families applying for refugee status experience and the unpredictable system which may or may not grant asylum. This is theorized as recovery typically comes to fruition once a family becomes secured (e.g. granted permanent residency and asylum etc.) and typically occurs over multiple months
Paper makers Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (pronounced “jha-ack ee-tee-yen mon-go-fee-yay”) and his brother Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (pronounced “zho-seef mee-shell mon-go-fee-yay”) created the hot air balloon after noticing that paper in their factory would be lifted by warm currents of air. This discovery lead to the innovation of hot air being confined within a bag which birthed the modern hot air ballon, an overall design which has remained relatively unchanged since its advent in 1783 despite advances in technology. As hot air is filled into a sack, the sack becomes less dense than the air which surrounds it, allowing the sack to rise in its altitude, be it 1 meter or 10,000 meters. The first successful untethered flight with passengers occurred on September 19, 1783. This initial flight was completed by a sheep, duck, and rooster. The first flight with humans occurred just 2 months later, with the hot air balloon raising 3000’ into the air and traveled a distance of 8 kilometers. The Age of Flight was born during this event as it was the first time in human history that a person or group had successfully lifted off the ground and remained in control of their flight path trajectory