Category: History

The Advent of the Ancient Egyptian Clepsydra (Water Clock)

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The Clepsydra (pronounced “clep-see-drah”), more commonly referred to as the “water clock”, was among the earliest technological devices engineered for measuring time, predating mechanical clocks by over a millennia. The earliest known example of a clepsydra is from Ancient Egypt, constructed close to 1400 B.C., and attributed to an Egyptian court official named “Amenemhet” (pronounced “ah-men-ehm-het”). Clepsydra clocks operated using 1 of 2 primary designs; which includes both outflow and inflow setups. In an outflow clepsydra, water exited the chamber container through a small hole at the bottom, and the measurement of time was tracked by the continually lowered water level which was measured against internal markings. Inflow clepsydras reversed this design setup with water entering a marked container vessel, and the continually rising water level indicating the amount of time which had elapsed. The main challenge of the inflow and outflow designs was maintaining a consistent flow rate of water because as water drained, pressure dropped which slowed the drip rate and skewed the clocks accuracy. Ancient Greek engineer Ctesibius (pronounced “teh-sib-ee-us”) addressed this problem by introducing an overflow tank with a fixed water level, ensuring constant pressure and uniform water flow at all times. Ctesibius also added a float regulated valve system, an early feedback mechanism designed to stabilize inflow of water and prevent overflow, much the same as the float controlled fill valve (e.g. ballcock, float cup valve, diaphragm type inlet valve etc.) installed within toilets during the modern day. Subsequent future cepsydra designs implemented gears and escape mechanisms to convert water movement into mechanical energy/motion. Chinese engineers expanded further upon the concept of the clepsydra by introducing polyvascular systems, in which water flowed through multiple containment vessels in an effort to better regulate timing intervals. These innovations permitted water clocks to function independently of sunlight unlike sundials, the prevailing time keeping technology throughout history, and laid the foundation for regulated mechanical timekeeping which proceeded it. Despite limitations (e.g. temperature dependent viscosity, leakage and evaporation, the need for constant manual maintenance by human beings etc.), clepsydras remained in use for centuries and were the first controlled, replicable timekeeping systems in history only falling out of fashion during the late Middle Ages due to the ascendency of mechanical, pendulum and gear based clocks

The Period When Human Begins Developed a Throw Away Cultural Mindset

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Human beings have arguably been a throw away culture, or at the very least mindset and culture, since 1892 when bottle caps were first introduced. The trend has become more and more prevalent to the point where we now replace an entire transmission rather than a gasket. This shift reflects the rise of planned obsolescence, in which products are intentionally designed to have limited lifespans and/or be extremely difficult or expensive to repair. As manufacturing has become cheaper and mass production more efficient, the economic incentive to discard and replace overtook the values of maintenance and longevity. In all industries (eg. electronics, automotive, fashion etc.), repair has been sidelined in favor of convenience and profit. The result is a global surge in waste, with millions of tons of usable materials ending up in landfills each year. Fortunately, there is an expanding movement advocating for the right to repair one’s own possessions which is now acting as a counterbalance to this disposable mindset

The Anthropomorphism of Satan

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Early Christians did not personify Satan, in fact it was not until the Medieval period that Satan became anthropomorphized into the image which is commonly understood during the modern day (e.g. red skin, horned head, tail etc.). Initially, Satan was predicated upon pagan mythological figures who Christian’s then viewed as demons and/or part of a larger demonic evil outside the boundaries of Christianity. Prior to this, there was no consensus among artists and theologians as to how Satan should be depicted within religious artwork. Often throughout history, Satan has been illustrated as a blue angel, a male figure with blue skin and white hair. The color blue was chosen as it is symbolic of the night and the unknown, adding emotional and spiritual ambiguity, intended to inspire fear not through grotesquery but rather through an uncanny yet elegant emulation. In addition to this portrayal, Satan has also been represented as a figure with 3 goats, designed as a direct counter balance to Jesus Christ who is often portrayed within religious artwork in possession of 3 lambs which represent humanity. More specifically these 3 lambs represent purity, sacrifice, and redemption. In contrast to this, the 3 goats of Satan were meant to represent demonic entities, more specifically rebellion, deception, and spiritual corruption. This triadic symbolism was intentional as it created a theological and visual counter weight for Christ, casting Satan not only as the antithesis of Christ, but as a distorted reflection of him within the mirror of divine structure and purpose

The Origin of Google’s Name

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Google’s original name was “BackRub”, a reference to its early algorithm which analyzed backlinks to assess their importance. Backlinks are the hyperlinks pointing to webpages on the internet (e.g. navigation from one website to another etc.). Developed at Stanford University in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, BackRub laid the foundation for PageRank, the ranking system which would later power the Google search engine. As the project matured, Page and Brin began to recognize and understand that the name BackRub did not reflect the vast scope of their ambitions for the company as the duo wanted a name that could capture the enormity of the data their engine could and eventually would process. This is why the name “Google” was chosen in 1997. Interestingly, during a domain search for “googol.com”, a mathematical term which represents 10¹⁰⁰ (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 with 100 0’s after it) the friend who registered the domain name for Page and Brin accidentally typed “google.com” instead of “googol.com”. Originally this was an error but Page and Brin believed the misspelling to be simpler, more memorable, and visually cleaner therefore deciding to keep the name as it was

The Origin of Uppercase and Lowercase Letters and the Influence of Typesetting Upon the English Language

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The term “uppercase” and “lowercase” in relation to alphabet letters was derived during the Victorian period within England. Advertising was highly prominent during the 19th century and used ubiquitously by businesses. The poster makers who would serve these businesses would use letters which were essentially stamps, dipped into thick, viscous, oily ink, specifically formulated this way to cling to and transfer cleanly onto coarse paper which was designed to be rough so that it could absorb as much ink as possible. Compositors, which was the name for this particular vocation during the 19th century, would keep their letters in a type case with large letters at the top and small letters at the bottom. The letters were kept in what was effectively a suitcase which did not close which is where the terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” originated from, as the letters were stored in either the upper portion of the type case or the lower portion of the type case. Each individual letter, a block referred to as a “sort”, was cast in metal and crafted backward to be arranged by hand by a skilled craftsperson. The layout of the case, with capital letters in the upper section and lowercase letters in the bottom, was highly pragmatic, as it positioned the most often used letters at the bottom closer to the person setting the typeset. Interestingly, this pragmatism influenced the English language as compositors not only set letters, they also selected when to use punctuation, spacing, and line breaks, all of which shaped how text was read and understood. Because movable type requires physical pieces for every character used, punctuation was to be used deliberately as too many commas, colons, em dashes etc. meant more time spent, more metal used, and more space being taken up upon the page. This physical constraint helped standardize English punctuation use and even influenced sentence structure, encouraging clarity and economy in writing which are themes that have endured into the 21st century

The Fermentation and Manufacturing Process of Ancient Roman Garum (Fish Sauce)

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The Ancient Roman’s created a special fermented fish sauce called “garum”. Garum was highly valuable and in modern times accounting for inflation, garum would cost $1250.00 for 1 liter. Garum was made from nothing more than salt and decayed fish. The original preparation is unknown as the ancient recipes have been lost. The fishes organs and digestive fluids help in the fermentation process. The container which the garum is made in is left in the sun for a few days to allow the process to ferment as much as possible. The oily slush oozing from the fishes organs and digestive enzymes is the garum and it is loaded with nutrients and contains glutamate which triggers chemical receptors on the tongue to make the brain crave more of it. Glutamate is the primary ingredient/component in monosodium glutamate, commonly abbreviated as “MSG”, and is used by many chefs all over the world

The Fallacy of the American Cowboy Dueling at High Noon

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The classic cowboy motif of two gritty outlaws squaring off at high noon in the middle of the street is a fallacy. Street duels directly related to the American West have only occurred 5x – 10x from 1860 – 1900. The most well renowned high noon dual and the inspiration for much of the cowboy genre aesthetic within Hollywood cinema was in 1865, a standoff between Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt in Springfield, United States of America. This particular dual inspired over a century of cinematic exaggeration and hyperbole within the film genre. In reality, most gunfights within the American West during the 19th century were spontaneous, chaotic, and rarely honorable (e.g. ambushes from behind saloon doors or shootouts from areas with ample coverage etc.). Whilst Hollywood would later romanticize these rare dual encounters, the cowboy lifestyle day to day was far more rugged and utilitarian than it is depicted within media. Cowboys were working class laborers, much like agricultural workers of the modern day, they were often young, diverse in background, and driven by necessity of survival rather than personal glory. These men and women spent long days upon horseback herding cattle across a vast and unforgiving landscape, contending with harsh weather cycles, animal stampedes, and the constant threat of injury via animal or human being. The cowboy period of American history, although brief, played a vital role in shaping the economic and cultural landscape of the American frontier

The Origin of the Excalibur Sword Mythology

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In 1136 A.D., a Welsh cleric named Geoffrey of Monmouth while traveling through South Wales, wrote a chronicle entitled “Historia Regum Brittaniae” (pronounced “his-tor-ee-yah ray-gum brit-ann-ee-eye”) which means the “History of the Kings of England” in Latin. This compendium was a clever weave of historical facts and fantastical tales, and the text did a great deal to reignite the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Geoffrey wrote of Caliburnus which is translated to “Excalibur” in English, the mythical sword which provided Arthur the destiny to rule over England. Geoffrey accounts that the sword was forged upon the Isle of Avalon which would “carve the souls from out of them with blood”. Excalibur is an excellent demonstration of how highly the English venerated their swords, with other western cultures following suit

The Discovery of Pulsar Stars

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Neutron stars were thought to be preposterous when first suggested until 1967 when scientists used radio-antenna telescopes to map the universe. 3 pulses would be unusual, 4 pulses would be phenomenal, but scientists had received pulses from certain parts of the universe 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for months on end. The reason the pulses occurred was because every rotation of the neutron star causes energy to swipe past Earth exactly how light from a lighthouse sweeps light onto the oceans. Scientists first thought the pulses were from aliens until they proposed that the new star had to be denser than any type previously discovered, being the size of a planet but with the power of a star. Astronomers named these new stars “pulsars” and investigated continuously until 1 year later when they found a pulsar, burried deep within the remains of a super local, the pulsar known as the “Crab Pulsar” which is the closest pulsar to Earth. Interestingly, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky had mathematically proven this phenomena 80 years prior but was labeled a hack for his wild theories

The Reason Living Wills and Last Will and Testaments Were Developed

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Living wills and testaments were designed because it was believed that being prayed for sped up the time in which one stayed in purgatory and although during the modern day, living wills and testaments do not include the prayer portion, this was the main reason the concept was designed during the Middle Ages. Living wills often instructed people to pray for the deceased a set amount of times per day, week, or month, as well as the type of funeral service desired, with minute details being paid attention to (e.g. the type of candles which would burn alongside the gravestone etc.). Living wills and testaments also offered the bequeathing of physical, tangible items that the dead would no longer need. In the modern day, living wills and testaments do not include the prayer portion, but this was the main reason the concept was designed during the Middle Ages