Top 10 Hidden Truths About Historical Artifacts
and Inventions 10. Iron Maidens Were Not For Torture For those of you who don’t know, an Iron
Maiden is an allegedly Medieval torture device shaped like a giant coffin that can fit a
person. The door and the inside have giant spikes
that slowly impale you as the door closes in on you. It’s easily the most metal torture device
ever conceived, which makes sense considering a metal band has chosen it as its namesake. However, to the disappointment of Maiden fans
everywhere, the torture device was never a real thing at all. The Iron Maiden was actually conceived by
the 19th century version of a performance artist who cobbled it together from pieces
of other old torture devices. The artist and his friend gave it to a museum
where it was mistakenly listed as a medieval torture device and before long the idea of
the maiden was horrifying and captivating people all over the world. The point of the artists had been to show
how awful the past was compared to the present, and to illustrate it by showing an example
of what they thought the worst tortures of the past may have looked like. Instead, people were trolled into thinking
that it was real, and now believe in a device that never existed. The truth is that they didn’t need to make
a new device. Many medieval torture implements were more
than brutal and horrifying enough that there was no need to make fake ones. Also, the maiden might be a painful way to
kill someone, but it would have been impractical as a torture implement. Torture was generally used to extract a confession
or get information – a device that killed someone so quickly and conclusively would
not have been helpful for that purpose. 9. Chastity Belts Are Historically Controversial
And Very Misunderstood When most people think of chastity belts,
they think of a time period in history when women were treated like objects in many respects. To many people, chastity belts are a vivid
example of how women have been abused and used for sex throughout history. However, most of what people have been led
to believe about them are wholly false. Museum exhibits showing what was supposed
to be a prudish, relatively ancient device turned out to be made in the 19th century,
and a couple that were from the middle ages were judged to actually be dog collars. Some historians and museum curators are coming
increasingly to the conclusion that the vast majority (if not all) of said devices were
made in recent years sheerly for the purpose of amusement. Now, some have speculated that some very prudish
19th century parents may have used a device – very rarely – on daughters who they
thought shouldn’t be acting on sexual urges, but there is very little evidence of that
either, and even less that such devices were used in the middle ages. In fact, the only solid evidence of them being
used in the middle ages was by the women of Florence, Italy. The important thing to note here is that the
women were not forced into them, but instead used them as a means of protection in case
the city was overrun. Back in the day, invading armies tended to
rape women, so the women had an answer for that prepared just in case. This shows that the furthest back known use
of the device was not as a patriarchal control mechanism, but a women’s self defense tool
against rapists. 8. Powdered Wigs Were Designed To Hide The Symptoms
Of Syphilis Many people just think of powdered wigs as
an incredibly odd fashion trend during an otherwise remarkable period of history, and
just kind of pay it no heed. However, while it may have indeed been a silly
trend, it didn’t begin with a whim that a wig covered in scented powder would look
really good. It turns out that the reason that powdered
wigs came into fashion in the first place is because most of the Western World was dealing
with a raging bout of syphilis. Many, many men were affected, and the symptoms
often were hurtful to people’s social standing when it came to their appearance. It could leave nasty sores, and it caused
hair to fall out. This was particularly troublesome at the time,
as baldness was definitely not in fashion. So, people started turning to wigs to save
their reputations. Large, embroidered wigs could also help hide
sores or other signs of syphilis. Eventually King Louis XIV of France and King
Charles II of England started using wigs when they contracted the disease, and before long
everyone was wearing a wig whether they actually needed one or not. The powders that became so popular were used
mainly to hide the foul scents that could be caused by the symptoms of the disease,
and weren’t really a fashion statement in terms of color. While powdered wigs became common among non-diseased
mainly as a fashion statement, many people also preferred them because of how easy it
is to deal with things like lice when you have little to no hair and wear a gigantic
wig. 7. Plate Mail Was Not Impractically Heavy Like
Many People Believe A full suit of plate mail was something only
the richer warriors in the middle ages could afford, if nothing else because of the incredible
amount of metal required, not to mention the intensive labor involved. For this reason, it has become an iconic part
of the time period and how we view it. When most people picture a knight they think
of a warrior in full plate mail, and they also imagine him to be well protected, but
heavy and cumbersome in battle. A warrior who is hardly able to move properly,
and relies almost entirely on his advanced protection to save the day. However, the truth is that a full set of plate
mail was hardly all that heavy. Historians state that it was roughly the same
weight as a firefighter with oxygen gear, which is coincidentally about the same amount
of weight most modern soldiers carry into battle. Not only that, but because of how well the
weight was distributed, they think this would have made knights in plate armor even lighter,
and still extremely agile. It’s also been claimed that knights needed
help onto their horses, couldn’t get back up if they fell on their backs, and couldn’t
climb ladders in full gear; none of this is true. Knights were incredibly fearsome, lightweight,
and agile warriors even donning full metal armor. 6. Medieval Moats Were Absolutely Disgusting
Trenches Of Filth When many people think of castles, they also
think of the iconic moats that you see around most of them. In movies the water may look clean, or at
least fairly normal or natural. Unfortunately, we can assure you that this
was not at all the case. See, you may have noticed that most historically
known moats weren’t really all that deep or all that wide either, which may have made
people wonder why they were considered such a useful defense tool. The reason lies in how a medieval castle’s
plumbing works. See, inside a castle’s walls all the primitive
restrooms would drain down under the ground beneath the keep, and slide into the moat. In some cases, people would also fling any
extra sewage into the moat if it wasn’t going in properly. What this meant is that moats were a great
defensive barrier because they were absolutely disgusting pits filled with the most vile
filth imaginable. To put it bluntly, falling into a castle moat
would be similar to falling into a modern day septic tank. Considering how limited medicine was at the
time, and how easily you could contract a disease falling into a pit like that, it would
almost certainly lead to a horrible death within weeks at best. This also means that while used for defense,
it was hardly the primary purpose of a moat. It certainly doubled nicely as a protective
measure, but it was also an integral part of medieval sewage technology. 5. Air Conditioning Is Not A Modern Invention While we know that ancient people used various
methods to insulate themselves from the cold, and had many methods of warming up, we don’t
really think of them as having a way to really fight the heat. For the most part, people from the past are
simply assumed to have toughed it out as best they could. However, humans are very ingenious creatures
and considering that they’ve been having to deal with the heat for a very long time,
our modern air conditioning turns out to not be the first major attempt at cooling. Now, while some civilizations in the Middle
East built their structures in such a way as to properly circulate wind in an attempt
to cool off using architecture, the ancient Romans were perfecting air cooling technology
that was largely lost until recent modern inventions. Back in the days of ancient Rome, it’s known
that they possessed an aqueduct system that distributed water and removed waste water
very efficiently throughout the city. It was easily the most advanced plumbing system
anywhere in the world, and we wouldn’t see anything like it for a very long time either
once Rome had fallen. Some emperors like Elagabalus took things
a step further than most would and had huge mountains of snow imported in for cooling,
but regular Romans had come up with ingenious ways of using the aqueduct system to circulate
cool water through the walls of their house. This allowed a very advanced system of air
cooling that would likely have also required a lot less power and upkeep than ours need
today. 4. The Holy Grail Originated From Ancient Celtic
Legends And Not The Bible Everyone has heard of the legend of the Holy
Grail, the alleged cup that caught the blood of Jesus Christ and was passed down from Joseph
of Arimathea to various different groups or protectors, depending on who you ask. The story has featured heavily in Arthurian
myth, where the king is obsessed with the finding of the Grail itself. Most of these stories attribute incredible
power or knowledge to whoever possesses the grail, and many groups have been said to search
for it throughout history in the hopes of enriching their existence. We all know these stories well, but what many
people don’t realize is that the Arthurian legend most people know of is not based on
biblical legend, but actually on old Celtic Pagan myths about a cauldron of the Gods. It all started in Celtic legends about their
Gods known as the Dagda. These Gods leave a cauldron on earth that
many men seek, and is known to heal wounds, and grant great power and riches to those
who find it. Historians have explained that the Arthurian
stories are basically a retelling of the story of a Celtic God King called Gwydion, who had
very similar adventures to Arthur in pursuit of a Cauldron with almost the same attributes. While this may be surprising to some, it was
also not uncommon for one religion to rewrite some of another’s tales when they came to
prominence over the other faith. It would certainly not be the last time religions
have repurposed historical myths for their own. 3. Modern Birthstone Legends Are Likely Little
More Than A Marketing Ploy You may have noticed that birthstone lists
on jewelry websites seem to hardly ever be consistent. There are some gems like diamond or amethyst
that seem to stay the same, but others seem to differ wildly based on the jeweler. Not to mention the countless sites that ascribe
various mythological powers to each stone, most with very dubious sources in terms of
where they got their historical information. This means that in general, there is a lot
of misunderstanding about birthstones and where they actually came from. Many people know that they have an ancient
origin, but aren’t aware of the details of it – nor are they aware that most common
birthstones were decided upon by jewelers as a marketing ploy. Back in 1912 a bunch of American jewelers
got together and came up with a quasi-official list, that still isn’t often followed by
some sellers if it doesn’t fit their inventory. This list has been criticized by some for
being designed mainly to sell as many shiny stones as possible, regardless of historical
veracity. The reason many people are disappointed with
how jewelers went about this, is because the historical origins are being completely ignored. The very start of the birthstone stories began
with a Jewish historian named Josephus, who believed that the breastplate of Aaron – a
treasured armor plate from the bible with 12 sacred gems set in it – was connected
to the 12 months of the year and to the signs of the zodiac. However, to add to the confusion, the writings
of Josephus themselves have two separate and contradictory lists. Also, in modern birthstone lore people are
expected to buy one for their birth month and wear it most of the year. However, when superstitions regarding birthstones
first began among early Christians, the fashion was to wear the appropriate stone for the
appropriate month that you were currently in, not just wear the one from your birth
month all the time. 2. Globally And Regionally Organized Time Is
A Recent Invention Many people tend to take time for granted,
but they forget that it’s an entirely invented construct designed to organize meeting places
and make sense of our surroundings. Or to put it simply, time is relative to the
place that we are right now, and the point of reference we’re using. While this may seem a strange way to mention
time today, what with organized time zones throughout the world that work like clockwork
(uh, no pun intended), the truth is that not even 200 years ago, even entire countries
didn’t operate on the kind of standard, organized time system we have now. Even as recently as the mid 1800s many towns
simply had their own timepiece that used the sun as a local reference for what time it
was. This was simple and made perfect sense for
the time period, as high speed travel and communication was not really particularly
in use. However, as train tracks started to expand
throughout the country, it began to become imperative that there was a set standard for
time. Without time being properly organized, trains
would have a good chance of slamming right into each other, and there were in fact some
avoidable train crashes before standard time was implemented. While early attempts at standardizing time
and adding time zones had been attempted before, it was the dangers of the new railway system
and the precision needed that finally created the catalyst necessary for it to become encoded
into law in 1883. What this means is that not even 200 years
ago, time was completely local and thoroughly disorganized throughout the world. It’s hard to even begin to imagine just
how different having standard time has made everything. 1. The History Of Cars Goes Back Much Further
Than Most People Realize Most people think that the first cars were
created in the early 1900s when Henry Ford’s experiments in gasoline-based engines began
to pay off. As we all know, he started a motor company
and perfected an assembly line process that quickly pumped out massive amounts of cars,
and changed the face of the world forever. Before long, using animals to pull your transportation
was a thing of the past, and burning fossil fuels became the new thing. However, what many people don’t realize
is that the reason cars’ popularity is so recent is not because an automobile is a new
idea, but because Ford was the first to perfect it in a way that made it appealing and somewhat
practical to use – as well as the first person to find a way to easily mass produce
said process. People had been experimenting with vehicles
that could move without an animal’s help going back hundreds of years. Back in the 1600s a skilled inventor named
Ferdinand Verbiest built a self-propelled steam vehicle as a toy for the then-Emperor
of China. This vehicle, however, was likely not large
enough to hold or propel a person even when it was actually built, and was little more
than a novelty. However, in the 1700s, a French inventor named
Nicholas Joseph Cugnot invented something that could actually be described as the world’s
first truly self-powered vehicle capable of carrying people. It was an absolute monstrosity of a steam
powered creation that weighed roughly 2.5 tons, was a whale to steer, and could reach
a speed of roughly five miles per hour at the best of times. Due to these limitations and the amount of
energy required it just wasn’t seen as that practical or impressive, and people kept using
animals to haul goods until Ford came along with a much improved version.
