26Modern Fez Hats
The fez hats were once considered very modern. These hats were made famous by the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II in the 1800s as he made them a requirement as a replacement for turbans. They didn’t really go out of style due to lack of interest but were banned in 1925 by Kemal Atatürk to modernize the country.
27. People used to believe that a tarantula bite was fatal unless the victim engaged in frenzied dancing to certain music.
28. Seat belts were very controversial when they first appeared in cars during the 40s and 50s with many arguing that they caused injuries and didn’t work, no matter how much researchers disputed these claims. Many people refused to wear them and even cut them out of their car seats.
29. For the Romans, a big penis wasn’t seen as a sign of manliness or sexual skill. All of the Roman heroes - mythological, political, or athletic - were portrayed as having small, compact genitalia, almost like pubescent boys. What we consider “well-endowed” was considered a sign of a barbarian or a fool.
30. In the 50s, teenagers having a stable monogamous relationship (“going steady”) was considered edgy and frowned upon by parents and the church as amoral. Instead, they encouraged their kids to go out with different people every weekend. The rationale behind this was that going steady would encourage the relationship to develop into one of physical intimacy, something parents wished to avoid.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Medieval Female Sexuality
In the Middle Ages, Catholic women were prohibited from having sex on Sundays, Wednesdays, or Fridays, on feast days, while fasting for Lent or Advent or while "impure" (menstruation, pregnancy, 40 days after giving birth & while nursing). Everything but the missionary position was considered sodomy.
32. Ancient Sumerians believed that their water god, Enki, created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by masturbating and ejaculating into the riverbeds.
33. Treatment in the Middle Ages for venomous snakebite was to pluck the feathers from a rooster's arse and place its anus on the site of the bite. Apparently, its anus could suck up the venom. It was considered a good sign if the rooster died.
34. Before people understood where some migrating birds went away to during the winter, it was sometimes theorized that they would hibernate at the bottom of lakes, or simply fly to the moon.
35. When coffee first appeared in the Ottoman Empire, it was considered a drug, and its consumption was forbidden.
