Researchers in Italy excavating a crypt in Milan’s Ospedale Maggiore have discovered something which sets established history on its head: traces of cocaine in the brains of two bodies, which suggests the drug was used far earlier than previously thought. Conventional historical wisdom tells us that cocaine use in Europe started in the 19th century.
The term “Renaissance Man” is a reasonably well known one, which draws a pretty wide set of definitions but which basically refers to someone who is accomplished in multiple fields seen as desirable by their peers and superiors. This, both in the Renaissance and the modern day, is a big ask. It comes with assumptions
For those with a mind to search for them, there are many rumoured lost treasures out there. Some are certainly waiting to be find, sunken ships loaded with valuables or hidden caches. Others are more fanciful. The sad truth is that most “lost” treasures were simply disappeared into the pockets of whoever happened to be
The Book of Revelations is a total trip. It is hard to read its apocalyptic foretellings and warnings of chaos and catastrophe without feeling that someone, somewhere, was smoking something pretty strong. Perhaps the most strange thing in all this strange psychic fantasy is its inclusion at all. There have been weirder books and writings
In 1912 a Polish book dealer came across a manuscript which, at first glance, did not seem to be that out of the ordinary. Composed of roughly 240 pages of vellum, it was apparently a remnant of a larger whole with more than 30 pages missing. What remained appears to be a medical text of
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, writing about Atlantis, made mention of a fabulous metal which he called “orichalcum”, literally “mountain copper”. This mysterious element was supposedly second only to gold in value, and was highly prized by the ancients for its beauty and its versatility. Plato was not the first to mention this precious metal.