5 Facts of Randomness

[blue_hours_too]

Elizabeth Blackwell, born in Bristol, England on 3 Feb 1821, was the first woman in America to gain an M.D. degree (Medical Doctor).

The great Russian leader, Lenin, died 21 January 1924, suffering from a degenerative brain disease. At the time of his death his brain was 1/4 of its normal size.

Between the two World Wars, France was controlled by 40

Comments

[ppuma]

oh god.. urine??
that must have smelled terrible..

[blue_hours_too]

Indeed. It was the Roman way, how very civilized, eh? ;o)

"The ancients were not acquainted with soap, but they used in its stead different kinds of alkali, by which the dirt was more easily separated from the clothes. Of these, by far the most common was the urine of men and animals, which was mixed with the water in which the clothes were washed (Plin. H. N. XXVIII 18. 26; Athen. XI p484)." http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Fullo.html

[keepsakes]

Jeez! Why'd he have them drowned? Why didn't he just kick them out or something. The things they don't teach you in History class

[blue_hours_too]

Yeah, women couldn't just "roam" the streets in Turkey at the time, they belonged behind closed doors, especially when of certain status. Had he simply kicked them out, they would have had no place to go, except maybe to live the life of a prostitute. Not that that would be a good reason to order them drowned instead - but the conditions were so different in then. Harems still exist in some places, just not officially. If you'd like to read some more about this, here's an article about harems in the Ottoman Empire. :) I've always been fascinated with the concept. http://www.allaboutturkey.com/harem.htm

[yemeron]

Urine was once used to wash clothes.

And the reason for this was...?

During the 17th century, the Sultan of Turkey ordered his entire harem of women drowned, and replace with a new one.

Again, I ask, "Why?"

[blue_hours_too]

"The ancients {of Rome} were not acquainted with soap, but they used in its stead different kinds of alkali, by which the dirt was more easily separated from the clothes. Of these, by far the most common was the urine of men and animals, which was mixed with the water in which the clothes were washed (Plin. H. N. XXVIII 18. 26; Athen. XI p484)." http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Fullo.html

And the sultan? Because he could? They had absolute power over their harems. Crazy but true. This particular sultan was clearly mad though. Here's something on him http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/ibrahim1/ibrahim1_bio.htm

[bib_specialist]

I think it was the Romans who used urine as bleach.
Lenin's illness paved the way for Stalin to take over, as he had been made party general secretary in 1922 with Lenin's support, which he later regretted. But by the time he changed his mimd about Stalin, Lenin was already too sick to do anything about it.

[blue_hours_too]

Yes, basically. Apparently, the alkali made it easier to remove dirt - how disgusting. I can't imagine the smell during that activity.