Doctors warned women of developing “bicycle face” from cycling in the 19th century. 

SCIENCE & INDUSTRY 

The modern bicycle — originally called a “safety bicycle” because it wasn’t as treacherous as a big-wheel penny farthing — was invented in the 1880s, ushering in the 1890s bike craze in America. Cycling was especially popular with women, as it offered a freedom they didn’t have before, such as easier means to travel where they pleased, go on unchaperoned dates, or skip church. Female cyclists also began wearing bloomers under skirts, which, in the eyes of some who disapproved, were a little too close to pants. The popularity of cycling (and its implications for women’s empowerment) caused something of a moral panic. Men weren’t immune — some religious leaders worried about physical exertion, competitiveness, and performance-enhancing drugs — but women got the bulk of the ire. Cycling, some medical authorities claimed at the time, could lead to uterine displacement, or a new condition called “bicycle face.”

Descriptions and alleged causes of bicycle face varied; according to one magazine, a woman suffering from the malady would be “usually flushed, but sometimes pale, often with lips more or less drawn, and the beginning of dark shadows under the eyes, and always with an expression of weariness.” One physician said that those suffering from bicycle face have “an anxious look and an unwholesome pallor.” Others said that symptoms include a clenched jaw and bulging eyes. Nobody was immune to bicycle face, but women were considered much more susceptible. Theories as to the cause included overexertion from trying to keep the bike balanced, bad posture, or even a more spiritual cause: riding bikes on the Sabbath. Fortunately for cyclists, the crisis subsided in the early 1900s as the bicycle became more commonplace and hand-wringers turned their anxiety toward automobiles — and, naturally, “horseless carriage face.”

The Heel Hosts the Most Variety of Fungus of Any Body Part

Not every bodily superlative is a happy one. In 2013, scientists analyzed the human body to discern what nook or crevice played host to the greatest variety of microscopic fungi. After conducting close inspections of palms, feet, toenails, groins, nostrils, and more, the researchers determined that the human heel is the body part most ripe with fungi. The heel of the foot contains 80 different types of fungi, and that number only increases when you include the rest of the foot, as toenails were found to provide refuge for 60 types of fungi (the space between toes adds another 40). While not all fungi are necessarily harmful, about half of them can be, and these numbers may help explain why feet are prone to fungal infection such as athlete’s foot.

Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were originally painted, not pure white.

Sculpture from classical antiquity is often presented in museums, textbooks, and more as a world of white marble. Whether unearthed from the ground or perched upon crumbling temples, these supposedly pale masterpieces also influenced Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo, who — in the throes of a classic art obsession — created sculptures meant to highlight the natural beauty of stone. Other Renaissance masterpieces, such as Raphael’s early 1500s fresco “The School of Athens,” placed colorful figures of antiquity against a backdrop of white marble. But these representations aren’t an accurate portrayal of the past: Ancient Athens and Rome were full of eye-popping color, with statues sporting vibrant togas and subtle skin tones — in fact, no sculpture was considered complete without a dazzling coat of paint. 

Over time, these impermanent paints —  left unprotected from the elements — wore away, leaving behind unblemished stone and a false legacy of monotone marble. This perception of the “whiteness” of antiquity was cemented in the 18th century, tied to racist ideals that equated the paleness of the body with beauty. When German scholar Johann Winckelmann (sometimes called the “father of art history”) glimpsed flecks of color on artifacts found near the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, he brushed off the work as Etruscan — a civilization he considered beneath the grandeur of ancient Rome. Besides bits of color still clinging to some statues, other evidence of the Mediterranean’s colorful past survives in frescoes from Pompeii (which even depict a Roman in the act of painting a statue); the Greek playwright Euripides also mentions colored statues in his work Helen. In recent decades, the art world has been busy recreating the colorful past of Western civilization as archaeologists use UV light to illuminate certain pigments and art exhibits travel the world to unshroud the colorful palette of these ancient civilizations.

The shortest reign of any monarch lasted just 20 minutes.  

WORLD HISTORY 

King Louis XIX of France holds an unfortunate record: the shortest reign of any monarch in history. Born Louis Antoine in 1775, he was technically king of France for a mere 20 minutes in 1830 following the abdication of his father, Charles X, during the July Revolution. The dauphin abdicated his right to the throne in the same document, which he signed 20 minutes after his father. (Legitimists — supporters of the Bourbon dynasty — didn’t accept this, and considered him the rightful king for the rest of his life.) On the other end of the world-record spectrum is Sobhuza II, whose 82 years and 253 days as both paramount chief and king of Swaziland make up the longest verified reign of any monarch in recorded history.

Some consider Louis XIX’s record to be a shared one, however. Luís Filipe, prince royal of Portugal, was fatally wounded in the same attack that killed his father, King Carlos I, on February 1, 1908, but survived 20 minutes longer. The 20-year-old was technically king for those few minutes, though he was never formally declared ruler. His younger brother Manuel II became the last king of Portugal on that fateful day instead. His reign wasn’t especially long, either: Portugal became a republic as a result of the October 5, 1910, revolution, and Manuel spent the remainder of his life exiled in England.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

The question of should we put a former President in prison or not seems to be of great concern to some people. So take a look at history, entire courts have been beheaded by the masses because the royals just could not figure out how to treat people that were not born with a silver spoon. The Czar and his family were killed to free citizens of harsh rule, did not work as the leaders that came after were worse not better.
Jail should be the least that should happen to someone that has betrayed his nation for the sake of personal gain. Look at the evidence and say that the reason he was in office was to promote America, only to the point that he could sell the assets to the highest bidder.
Who is he most friendly with, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Who wants him back in office, the same people because they know he will sell them anything they want.lWe do not need this as our Head of State, maybe his head on a plate.
There are efforts to keep people from voting and to restructure voting districts to give the advantage to Trump. Most of this effort is being pushed by conservative organizations that seem to think they are going to end up with a world that follows their blueprint. It will not happen. The help they get to make this happen and the puppet they put to lead will leave them with little more than coffee grounds in their cups and humiliation on their faces.
All the laws that the conservatives are passing currently and they are so proud of are going to come back to bite them in the ass. Someone under their own roof is going to violate one or more of the laws and some one of these good ole boys is going to try to bend the rules for his darlin and get called out for it. That is when the shit will hit the fan.
We have become intolerant of any view that does not mirror our own and we refuse to even listen to possible alternatives. Call it what you will but the truth is, at your peril refuse to see because you will not look, refuse to hear because you will not listen, and refuse to learn because you refuse to think and you are assured to lose it all by following the pied piper down the rat

Asia Is Bigger Than the Moon

The moon isn’t as big as it looks. It’s around 27% of the size of Earth and has 14.6 million square miles of surface area. Although this seems like a lot, it is significantly less than the total surface area of Asia, which is 17.2 million square miles — making Earth’s biggest continent larger than the moon.