Top 5 Historical Facts You Probably Didn’t Know – Everybody knows the big name historical events- The great fire of Rome, Pompeii, and the discovery of America. But how much do you know about the little details? You’ll probably never thought of most of them but it’s still worth a read.
The First Toothbrush in History
Did you know? Toothbrush we are using today, was not invented until 1938?
But there were other toothbrushes before that! One was a chew stick, which was a thin twig with a frayed end. These ‘chew sticks’ were rubbed against the teeth.
Weird, right? Yup, totally weird—and not very effective at getting your teeth nice and clean, either.
Ancient civilizations also used a primitive form of the toothpick. It’s believed to be what inspired the designs of many modern toothpicks, like those with rounded ends or those made from plastic.
In the 11th century, some cultures began using a primitive form of toothpaste made from ashes or salt. By the 16th century, people started using powdered charcoal to brush their teeth. During this time period, they also started using tools similar to modern-day floss to clean between their teeth. But it wasn’t until the 1770s that people started brushing their teeth with toothbrushes made from animal hair—first horses’ tails!
Did you know that it wasn’t until 1938 that someone finally invented a toothbrush like the ones we use today? The first modern-day plastic-handled toothbrush came out in 1938
The earliest recorded pandemic happened during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BC.
Top 5 Historical Facts You Probably Didn’t Know – The earliest recorded pandemic took place during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BC, when a disease passed through Libya, Ethiopia, and Egypt before crossing into Athens via Spartan siege lines. This war was fought between the Athenians and Spartans over control of the Delian League, which was formed by the unification of mainland Greece under Athens.
The disease itself caused fever, thirst, bloody throat and tongue, red skin and lesions. It was suspected that it could be typhoid fever but the exact cause is still unknown. The disease weakened the Athenians significantly and was a significant factor in their defeat by the Spartans.
The first known computer programmer was a woman.
Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace-also referred to as Ada Lovelace-was a famous writer and mathematician who lived from 1815 to 1852. She is most known for her work with Charles Babbage on the Analytical Engine, which is considered to be the world’s first computer.
While many dispute that claim, there is no doubt that Lovelace was a true visionary who played a central role in the development of modern digital computers.
As early as the 1840s, she had published descriptions of what we today know as modern computing: all-purpose machines
That do many different things such as play music, manipulate graphics, and power heavy machinery. It wasn’t until a century later that her visions would be fully realized.
The University of Ancient Taxila in northern India
The University of Ancient Taxila in northern India was considered to be one of the earliest (or even the earliest) universities in the world.
According to available ancient references, Takshashila, was an early Buddhist center of learning. Scholars date back this ancient university to the 5th or 6th century BC. Students came from within India and outside (Babylonia-now Iraq, Greece, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor-now Turkey, Arabia, and China), taught by nearly 2000 master-teachers.
The university became a prominent center of learning at least several centuries before Christ and maintained its reputation until the destruction of the city in the 5th century AD.
The first photo in history
It wasn’t so long ago that the concept of photography was barely even a dream—let alone an actual thing.
Daguerreotypes, the first publicly announced and commercially viable photographic process, was invented in 1839. Before that, you had to painstakingly expose photographs for hours at a time, because the earliest photosensitive chemicals were incredibly slow to develop.
In 1826 or 1827, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce captured, believed to be the first-ever photo in history: a view outside his window in Burgundy. It took eight hours of exposure time for Niépce to fix this image with his camera, but he made it happen.
After Niépce’s and Daguerre’s breakthroughs, the photography was used mostly for capturing still lifes and landscapes for long time. But they had no idea how many incredible things we’d be able to do with it—like take pictures of the moon, far away planets, and our own faces on Mars!
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