Fans were a sign of the wealth and authority of the owner.
The historians believe that the first fan appeared in China. Mentions of these things are found in the works of ancient Chinese poets, dating back to the second millennium BC. During the excavation of the grave of the principality of Chu fragments of fans made of feathers with a wooden handle were found. Similar findings refer to the Eastern Zhou Period (770-256 BC).
In the III century BC, Chinese fans had a semi-circular shape. They were made mainly of thin bamboo plates. Later, the masters began to make round paper fans on the handle. In the I century, the Chinese presented several such fans to the Japanese emperor.
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Amphibian man is real or not? Can human beings become really amphibious, by adapting themselves to the ocean depths as other mammals have done? Is it possible for human beings to adapt themselves to breathing in water? There are a lot of questions and it seems impossible. However, scientists are studying this possibility.
Observations have shown that lungs can, in fact, absorb oxygen from water just as the fishes’ gills do. Water normally contains about seven cubic centimeters of oxygen per liter, which is enough for fish. To be breathed by animals, water must contain at least 10 times as much oxygen as it normally does.
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When the ancient Romans and Greeks appeared in the African desert for the first time, they looked at boundless barchans with astonishment and horror. The entire army could disappear there. Hundreds of miles of dead sand definitely had their master and patron. The ancient decided it was basilisk – king of the desert.
Now it is difficult to say who exactly was a prototype of the basilisk. Perhaps it was a small snake inhabiting the Libyan desert. It could attract the attention with its red “crown” and the way of moving. It moved almost vertically, standing on its own tail.
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Blood is a liquid that carries nutrients and removes waste. It moves through the body’s cardiovascular system. The heart pumps blood through the blood vessels to all parts of the body. Blood is an important part of the body and it consists of cells. There are three main types of blood cell: red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells transport oxygen, white blood cells (leukocytes) help to keep the body healthy. The plasma is watery part of the blood, which contains nutrients, chemicals, hormones, and wastes.
For a day the heart of an adult man pumps about 10,000 liters of blood. The average heart rate of a healthy person is 60-80 beats per minute.
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All the monarchs of Europe had court jesters. They had to amuse the king and his guests. It was believed that the jester was an idiot who was allowed to do much of what was not allowed even to the king himself. In fact, the jester was the alter ego of the master. In a simple humorous and often allegorical form, he expressed the will of the lord. He also influenced the policy of monarchs. In Europe, the tradition of hiring jesters ended with the advent of the era of the Enlightenment and the Reformation.
We remember the kings and emperors, but undeservedly forget those who were not afraid of a sharp word, even if pretending to be a fool, to direct the rulers to the right path. Even the wise Khodja Nasreddin, as they say, was a jester of Tamerlane himself. Some of the court jesters were smarter than the kings themselves.
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Mercury, or “liquid silver”, is known to man since ancient times and is the only metal that is in liquid state at room temperature. Alchemists considered mercury to be an integral part of all metals, the “mother of metals”.
Mercury is found in the form of small drops, occasionally in large clusters. Because of the fluidity and silvery brilliance, the Romans called mercury argentum vivum, “living silver”, and hydmgirum, “silvery water”. The chemical symbol of mercury is Hg. Alchemists called it mercury by the name of the Roman god Mercury, famous for the speed of movement. Mercury was mentioned in the works of Pliny and Theophrastus and was widely used by the Greeks in the Peloponnesian War. The Phoenicians used mercury to produce gold.
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False hair has been a success in all ages. For a long time people used wigs to achieve different goals: to protect themselves from the sun, hide a bald patch or emphasize their status.
Because of the heat in Egypt, both men and women cut off their hair, but wore wigs, which appeared in the III millennium BC. Men wore short wigs. Women decorated their wigs with ribbons and multicolored threads. Pharaohs, their close associates, important officials and priests wore huge wigs made of natural hair. Landowners, warriors, merchants, peasants wore short wigs made of wool, feathers, palm or papyrus fibers, sea grass and linen threads. The wigs were fixed with beeswax. Black and dark brown wigs were common, although later orange, red, blue, green and yellow colors were used. Wigs were sprayed with aromatic oils and essences, sprinkled with flower petals and spices.
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