364unbirthdays

Ancient Egyptians replaced teeth by using gold wire to attach the crown from a donor tooth to their own teeth.

(Source: milesian)

January 14, 2012, 7:21pm

cracksillo:

Victorian tear catchers, usually used by a widowed bride. Upon the day of the funeral, the widow would collect her tears into this small vial, and all the tears she cried in the first year over the loss of her husband, she would capture in this vile she would wear upon her neck. And on the anniversary of his death, she pours the preserved tears atop his gravesite.

(Source: theodditiesblog)

January 12, 2012, 7:01pm

New York City established the office of the medical examiner in 1914… The coroner was paid by the body, but there were not enough of them to satisfy his income requirements… In one rowdy episode, an unclaimed body was seen in the East River floating between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The coroners for each borough rowed out to the middle of the river and whacked each other with oars until one of them lost his balance and fell into the water. The winner hauled in the dead body, trussed it up, and rowed back to shore, as hundreds cheered. Such spectacles did nothing to advance the integrity of the profession…

from Unnatural Death by Michael Baden

November 06, 2011, 10:56pm

liquidnight:

Detail of an artificial left arm, Europe, 1850-1910

“Made from steel and brass, this unusual prosthetic arm articulates in a number of ways. The elbow joint can be moved by releasing a spring, whereas the top joint of the wrist allows a degree of rotation and an up-and-down motion. The fingers can also curl up and straighten out. The leather upper arm piece is used to fix the prosthesis to the remaining upper arm. The rather sinister appearance of the hand suggests the wearer may have disguised it with a glove. Among the most common causes of amputation throughout the 1800s were injuries received as a result of warfare.”

[via The Science Museum where you’ll find two more images of thise beautiful prosthesis]

November 06, 2011, 5:59pm

temenuga:

In 1808, Napoleon, running out of scenic holiday destinations to invade, somehow totally forgot about his neighbor to the south, Spain. So that year he dispatched his troops, kicking off the Peninsular War.

Only 20 years old and working as a barmaid in the town of Valdepenas, Juana Galan was not expecting a surge of French soldiers to come storming through her village. But on June 6, that’s exactly what happened. At that time, most of the men were fighting Napoleon’s forces elsewhere in the nation. Juana, unfazed by things like rifles and Frenchmen and French riflemen, began organizing the women in her village to form a trap for the approaching army.

When the army arrived, Juana and her friends were ready. They dumped boiling water and oil on the French troops, which by all accounts will instantly take the fight out of pretty much anyone. Then Juana, armed with only a batan, beat back the heavily armed French cavalry with her squad of village women, almost none of whom were armed with guns.

The French retreated, giving up on capturing not just Juana’s town but the entire province of La Mancha, leading to ultimate Spanish victory. Today, she is seen in Spain as a national hero, a symbol of resistance, strength, patriotism, feminism and hitting shit with a stick.

(x) 

(Source: lady-eboshi)

September 08, 2011, 8:01pm

(Source: thenotebooktoremember)

July 09, 2011, 11:43am

March 23, 2011, 9:56pm

dizzy-spells:

A vampire hunting kit from 1890.

(Source: babyspooks)

March 09, 2011, 9:00pm

thingsorganizedneatly:

Thomas Edison’s laboratory in West Orange, NJ.

February 26, 2011, 5:41pm

Amelia Earhart

December 07, 2009, 4:42pm

Christina of Sweden

November 25, 2009, 7:54am

skysignal:

During the plague in the Middle Ages, some doctors wore a primitive form of biohazard suit called “plague suits”. The mask included red glass eyepieces, which were thought to make the wearer impervious to evil. The beak of the mask was often filled with strongly aromatic herbs and spices to overpower the miasmas or “bad air” which was also thought to carry the plague.

November 22, 2009, 12:37pm

vavavoom:

“A technician tests a space suit in simulated moon conditions - a Mojave desert lava cave. By the time the first deep-space voyagers actually depart, tens of thousands of tests will have been made, so that every conceivable exigency can be met and overcome. For example, this suit allows its wearer to pull his arms inside for the vital luxury of scratching an itch.”

September 25, 2009, 9:02pm

September 09, 2009, 5:48pm

August 13, 2009, 10:20am