Academic journey of Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni

 

Abu Rayhan al-Biruni was an Iranian scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been variously called as the "founder of Indology", "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern geodesy", and the first anthropologist.

Al-Biruni was well versed in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian, chronologist and linguist. He studied almost all fields of science and was compensated for his research and strenuous work. Royalty and powerful members of society sought out Al-Biruni to conduct research and study to uncover certain findings. In addition to this type of influence, Al-Biruni was also influenced by other nations, such as the Greeks, who he took inspiration from when he turned to studies of philosophy. He was conversant in Khwarezmian, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, and also knew Greek, Hebrew and Syriac. He spent much of his life in Ghazni, then capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty, in modern-day central-eastern Afghanistan. In 1017 he travelled to the Indian subcontinent and authored a study of Indian culture Tārīkh al-Hind (History of India) after exploring the Hindu faith practiced in India. He was an impartial writer on customs and creeds of various nations, and was given the title al-Ustadh ("The Master") for his remarkable description of early 11th-century India.

Why do smart people fall short of their potential?

 I’ve read a story once of a man called Thomas Fuller. Thomas wasn’t his given name when he was born, nor was his last name Fuller — born around 1710, the was snatched up and sold as a slave in 1724, aged fourteen. From there on out, until the end of his days, he was a piece of human property.

No one ever bothered to teach Fuller how to read or write. He remained illiterate his entire life. He nonetheless had tremendous brainpower — he could count like no other, out of the top of his head. Like Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film Rain Man, the enslaved man could solve incredibly complex sums and equations in his head and do so rapidly. The tribe to which Fuller had belonged, known as the Bassari, famously used to have "specialists who were trained in the memorization of sums”. It is likely that as a child, before being enslaved, he was trained as one.

Ancient palace of Spain

 Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

In the year of grace 1735 on the 3rd of July in the Cathedral of Palermo the end of the Habsburg rule was officially sanctioned, at only eighteen, Charles III of Bourbon was crowned Rex Utriusque Siciliae (King of the Sicilies).

From this moment on, the Spanish Crown will do everything to strengthen ties with the local feudal class, developing and promoting new relations with the Sicilian aristocracy, which had the need to have “dignified” abode in the city to better exercise its own power. Palermo becomes a construction site, and among the local aristocrats a real competition begins in building sumptuous homes, making them a symbol of their prestige and their rank, as well as their immense wealth.

Many of the Palazzos that survived the neglect and bombs of 1943 are still there to make a fine show of themselves, but one in particular, located in the heart of the historic centre of Palermo, has had the privilege of crossing the centuries unscathed by wars or anything else, preserving itself both in the architectural structure and in the interiors, including the furnishings, it is the Palazzo Valguarnera Gangi.

As soon as you cross the threshold you are in front of an enfilade of halls for a total of 8000 square meters: the red hall, the blue one, the dining room, the ballroom , the hall of gilded mirrors with the Vietri ceramic floor, painted with flowers and animals including the leopards and also a beautiful terrace, overflowing with ceramics from Caltagirone, from which you can admire the facade of the church of Sant’Anna.

Inside, the rooms are full of precious objects, embroidered tapestries, glassware and porcelain, not to mention all the original furnishings with sofas, consoles, carved chairs, decorated walls, boiseries, doors painted in gold and tall mirrors.

Palazzo Gangi represents a very high moment of Italian Rococo. Over the centuries, the house has remained intact up to the current owners, the Vanni Mantegna of San Vincenzo, who took over the ownership of the palace, by inheritance, in 1995. Today, the Princess Carine Vanni Mantegna of Gangi opens its doors telling the story room by room.

Archeology and civilisations fb group

What drove Magdalena Solis to believe she was a goddess and start sacrificing her followers?

Magdalena Solis was born in the Mexican state of Veracruz in 1945. She grew up in a poor family and had limited opportunities for education and advancement. In the late 1960s, she moved to the town of San Francisco del Rincón in the state of Guanajuato, where she became involved in a local cult called "The Palomar."

The Palomar was led by a man named Santos, who claimed to have supernatural powers and the ability to communicate with the gods. Santos convinced his followers that he was a divine being and that they needed to make sacrifices in order to appease the gods and bring about a new era of prosperity and abundance.

Who could not be stopped by anybody?

It was the time when the Spanish terrorized the indigenous people of South America.

After the lost battle of Lagunillas (around 1500), the Spanish mutilated about 150 Mapuche warriors who had lost to them.

They chopped off their right hands and cut off a piece of their noses. Because of this, the Mapuche became even more incensed against the Spaniards.

What happened to the mummified remains in Venzone after the earthquake in 1976?

Venzone is a small town in Italy that has a unique history of mummification. In the 14th century, the town was hit by a deadly plague, which killed many of its inhabitants. To prevent the spread of the disease, the bodies of the deceased were buried in a special soil mixture that was high in calcium, which helped to dry out the corpses and preserve them. Over time, this process of natural mummification became more common, and by the 16th century, it was a widespread practice in the town.

What happened to the Bonaparte family after Napoleon III died?

Some of the previous answers have already alluded to the fate of the Bonaparte Family. After Emperor Napoleon III (1852–1870) was infamously defeated at the Battle of Sedan against the Prussian Army, the Parisians and the French people rose up and dethroned their Emperor, rallying their arms to try to repel the Prussians when their Emperor so miserably failed to defend them.

Napoleon III fled to Britain, where he remained until his death in 1873, all the while lamenting the rout at Sedan. His only son, Napoleon IV, was proclaimed the French Emperor by Bonapartists, and there was some sympathy for the Bonaparte Dynasty, as I recall that the monarchists in France had much political power in the 1870s and 1880s.

However, as fate would have it, the Bonaparte Dynasty was destined for obscurity following their final defeat at Sedan. Napoleon IV was much adored for his bravery and his heritage. He volunteered to go to South Africa and help the British forces fight the Zulus, taking the very sword Napoleon I used at the Battle of Austerlitz. Ultimately, the young Emperor would not live to see another French Empire, as he was killed in an ambush set by the Zulus. He was heavily wounded before he succumbed in combat, while a few of his fellow comrades were killed while the rest failed to intervene in time.

Dramatic interpretation of Emperor Napoleon IV’s last stand, titled Prince Imperial by Paul Jamin.

Statue of Queen Zenobia in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea in Lattakia, Syria

Septimia Zenobia (Palmyrene: (Btzby), pronounced Bat-Zabbai; c. 240 – c. 274 AD) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria.

Wonders of the Past 🏺✨

What is the origin of the mummified "mermaid" that is worshipped in Japan, and what is its supposed power?

The supposed 300-year-old mummified "mermaid" that was worshipped in Japan for its immortality-giving powers has been exposed as a fabrication made from cloth, paper, cotton, and fish parts. The artifact was allegedly caught off the Japanese island of Shikoku between 1736 and 1741 and is now kept at the Enjuin temple in Asakuchi.

Scientists sent the relic for various analyses including CT scanning, radiocarbon dating, DNA analysis, and fluorescent X-ray analysis, among others. The results revealed that the mummy was manufactured, likely created to cash in on the Japanese fascination with mermaids.

Check cmts for Source or full information ℹ️

The mermaid mummy's hair is mammalian in origin, while the nails were made from animal keratin, and the jaws were taken from an unknown carnivorous fish. The upper body, meanwhile, was mostly made from cloth, paper, and cotton, with pufferfish skin used on the arms, shoulders, neck, and cheeks.

No internal skeleton was detected, but there were metal needles in the back of the neck and lower body. The bottom half, on the other hand, was made with scales from a croaker fish.

According to Hiroshi Kinoshita of the Okayama Folklore Society, who conceived the study, the mummies were likely made in various parts of Japan as a spectacle or for export to foreign countries. There were groups and technicians in Japan at the time who had the skills to make these elaborate mummies. Kinoshita added that mermaids have a legend of immortality in Japan, and it is said that if one eats the flesh of a mermaid, they will never die.

There is a legend in many parts of Japan that a woman accidentally ate the flesh of a mermaid and lived for 800 years. The mermaid mummy's discovery location also had a legend preserved about a mermaid who predicted an infectious disease.

THE MEDUSA

 

Artist: Caravaggio | Year (completed): 1597 | Period: Baroque

Both of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s depictions of Medusa, one from 1596, named after poet Gaspare Murtola, and the other from 1597, show the precise moment when Perseus slew her. Caravaggio toys with the idea by swapping Medusa’s face with Perseus’ to demonstrate his resistance to her terrifying gaze. The painting is seen to go well with Caravaggio’s particular fascination with brutality and reality due to its odd and complicated style. Apparently, Cardinal del Monte commissioned Caravaggio to paint two versions of Medusa to rival Leonardo da Vinci’s earlier depiction of her. Unfortunately, da Vinci’s Medusa is lost. Thus we can never know how closely Caravaggio’s rendition matched up with da Vinci’s.

What did James Marion Sim do to Anarcha Westcott and other enslaved women, and why is this problematic?

 

Anarcha Westcott was a young slave who underwent numerous surgeries without anesthesia for a vesico-vaginal fistula, a condition which caused urine to come out of her vagina. 

She underwent approximately 30 surgeries, with the intent of finding a cure for the condition.   Your support is everything just scroll read through and check the cmmts for more historical The man who performed these surgeries was James Marion Sim, a physician who is often referred to as the "father of gynecology". 

However, Sim's use of enslaved women as experimental subjects without their consent and without providing them with anesthesia was a clear violation of their human rights.  Despite the horrific nature of the surgeries that she endured, Anarcha Westcott's resilience and determination were critical to her survival. Without her bravery and strength, it is unlikely that she would have been able to withstand the repeated operations.  

While Sim is often credited with pioneering modern gynecology, it is important to acknowledge the role that enslaved Black women like Westcott played in this history, and to recognize the injustice and harm that they suffered. The story of Anarcha Westcott and the other enslaved women who were used as experimental subjects by James Marion Sim is a painful and difficult one.

Which countries have the most brutal and horrific history?

This answer isn't really about saying what one single country has done the worst, but I do want to share below on the cruelty of humankind that many people don't know about.

Graphic content below but I want to make this known because so many people around the world have heard of Hitler, Nazis, concentration camps but they have not heard of the Asian holocaust that took place around the same period. In western schools, history classes do not teach people about this part of the world.

This is regarding what the Japanese did during their occupation of Korea and the war crimes they committed to the surrounding Asian countries, including some Pacific Islands they invaded: Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, East Timor, New Guinea, Indonesia, Guam, Nauru, Wake Island, Attu and Kiska Islands, and Kiribati.

They even had some prisoners of war from the west such as America, any forces against them at the time etc.

Hundreds of thousands of women from my country in Korea were forcefully abducted (called comfort women) during the Japanese occupation in WWII. They endured torture beyond imagination if they did not sexually submit to these vile men and were forced to have sex with 60–100 men every single day. Their innards rotted because of the STD’s and they were destroyed, unable to have children even after they were rescued. They have still not been compensated for the war crimes that they endured and majority have died.

Pregnant mothers were cut open and rape victims were sodomized with bamboo sticks and bayonets until they died in agony.

On top of this they literally tore the unborn from women’s wombs and speared them alive with bayonets in front of them. They’d crush the infant’s skull against concrete floors. They would actually do this for fun.

They tied sons and daughters up and tore them apart, spearing them and forced their own parents to watch.

They raped and pillaged women of all ages, even toddlers to old women in the most vile, disgusting way imaginable. They would often disembowel them while in the process, leaving them to die in agony.

They conducted unspeakable evil torture and experiments on LIVE prisoners from these countries even children and infants in UNIT 731. Torture methods such as vivisecting pregnant women without any anesthesia, centrifuging and killing people in pressurized chambers, and slowly burning and freezing people alive. They artificially created what is similar to the ‘bubonic plague’ to see the effects on the prisoners. They were forced into X-rays until they perished and hung people by their thumbs or tongues etc. These torture tactics were deliberately planned to see death happen SLOWLY, not fast as the scientists wanted to observe the resilience of the human body.

Unbelievably Inhumane Japanese Torture Methods Used During World War II


Bodies of slayed, raped, mutilated women in China.


Carcasses of babies and children piled up

Despite this, Japan still presently denies what has happened and even believes that it is a rumour. The young people as shown in this video are absolutely clueless on the whole tragedy, or are so far removed in cognitive dissonance and lack of care it is astounding. There is even a middle aged woman in the video who even says “Well I’m not sure if it’s a rumour or not…” which is an absolute lunacy and an embarrassment of the failure of the country in not properly educating their citizens of what truly happened. One young girl even says “Well, I wonder when they will ever get over it…” How are people supposed to get over it when there are still thousands of victims still alive who didn’t receive any form of compensation for what they have been through??!

Their government still warps their history books and deliberately tries to hide the evidence of what truly happened. There are active groups within Japan who refuse to accept what happened and truly believe that it is just a ‘rumour’ to make Japan look bad.



Below is a real life account by a South Korean comfort woman on the horrors she went through. It is heartbreaking to watch but quite educational. She sadly passed away early January of this year, fighting until her last breath but still never receiving any compensation or apology from the Japanese. They don’t even recognize that she went through this or who she is.



What Japan did wasn’t just an invasion or occupation, it was a literal carnage, hell on earth genocide. They didn’t have to go this far as majority of the Koreans and the people they invaded were helpless farmers, uneducated servants, and innocent people who were not trained in war at all. They did this because they did not see these people as human, and their goal wasn’t simply to occupy, but to desecrate the spirit from within. They knew when you destroy someone’s spirit from inside out, the enemy will bend the knee and yield to the point where they do not have the soul to fight back. On top of this, it was just pure, raw sadistic savagery because all of these helpless people surrendered and begged for mercy yet they were still tortured for absolutely no reason.

Presently Japan is one of the most wealthiest and prosperous Asian countries in the world yet they cannot even fully take responsibility for their own committed atrocities. It shows the savage barbarism that still resides in some of these people and makes one question just how this is even acceptable. Instead they choose to warp their own history books, flat out deny it existed and have refused to offer sincere, acceptable compensation/apology for the people who are still alive. They are waiting until every last victim is dead so they no longer have to worry about it. They are not truly ashamed of this past, they just see it as an eyesore they want to bury. Keep in mind Japan has very strong political parties that strives to ensure this shameful past does not reach the masses to retain their false honour. Still to this day, they praise their war criminals in shrines.

From the invasion of China in 1937 to the end of World War II, the Japanese military regime murdered near 3,000,000 to over 10,000,000 people, most probably almost 6,000,000 Chinese, Indonesians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Indochinese, among others, including Western prisoners of war. This is more than the estimated Jewish victims of the Holocaust.


Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe controversially claimed that “there was no evidence to prove” that the women had been coerced into sex.

“The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is engaged in an all-out effort to portray the historical record as a tissue of lies designed to discredit the nation," wrote Mindy Kotler, director of Asia Policy Point, in 2014.

“Mr. Abe’s administration DENIES that imperial Japan ran a system of human trafficking and coerced prostitution, implying that comfort women were simply camp-following prostitutes,” Kotler continued. "The official narrative in Japan is fast becoming detached from reality, as it seeks to cast the Japanese people -- rather than the comfort women of the Asia-Pacific theater -- as the victims of this story.”


Edit: Since I'm getting quite a lot of people who clearly don't seem to understand and may not have read or researched in depth in this matter. They are saying that 'Japan does not need to offer apology or compensation for what people of their past did etc'

It's more complicated than that. Please read the links again. Even if they can't take full responsibility for their past, they SHOULD take responsibility for the future by not warping textbooks and giving power to political parties who enforces the dangerous fallacy of denying any of this ever happened or triviliazing everything that has happened. They should make sure to teach the correct history not just for educational purposes but to ensure their citizens fully know and accept their own history and in hopes that it never happens again. This is also to help not silence the voices of the people who did suffer in the past and to not spit into their graves and ruin their legacy by spreading false lies.

Also the comfort women and people who were forcefully taken into labour camps as prisoners, many are still alive who didn't actually get any compensation or even sheer RECOGNITION. They suffered their entire lives without anyone hearing what they have to say with nothing from Japan. This isn't just about wanting Japan to go up to a stadium and saying 'I am sorry' and stepping down. Words are meaningless and worthless when not backed up by actions.

They are hypocrites by warping textbooks and also praising their own war criminals. Imagine what the world would say if Germany praises Nazis and gave strong political power that has the power to make Germans never even hearing of the Nazis or even contemplate if it was just a rumour or not. Think about how insane that would be.

So why do they need to apologise? Because unlike Germany what they are doing is absolutely deplorable and morally bankrupt by continuing to CONTRIBUTE to the legacy of the abomination Japan was in the past. You don't see Germany do the same about the Nazis and for good reason. It means Japan hasn't learned and is not truly remorseful. By Japan I am talking of the FACES of Japan which are the politicians who represent that country. The rest of the Japanese experience their trickle down effect so while it's not saying it's their fault, they end up indirectly contributing to supporting these vile politicians. So yes the people who represent JAPAN who hold the power of influence does need to sincerely apologise and stop contributing to what they are presently doing.

As I am getting tired of having to repeat the same information again and again, any comments that say things along the lines of 'Japan does not need to apologise' or those questioning or defending the existence of any of these crimes, their war criminals will be either ignored, deleted or blocked. It is extremely disrespectful to the victims and deplorable. The links are already here clear as day for reading and one can also do the research themselves. Also for anyone who brings up another atrocity and pitting them against each other, STOP. This post isn't about pitting one atrocity against another, it is disgusting to even keep doing that and seriously lacks any insight into the original point of my post.

Otherwise thank you for reading and have a nice day.

TLDR: Japan did some truly horrific shit that many people including the present day Japanese citizens are unaware of. What they did is abysmal carnage from the Antichrist itself.

Also, piece of shit apologies that require uttering words and throwing money at victims isn't a true apology when they are still in 2019 warping textbooks and none of their youths know anything about their crimes.

Why do you think Germany forces every citizen to learn about their nazi history and Japan doesn't ? It is to deliberately ignore and not acknowledge their past due to their pride and selfishness. I'd equate this to even pathological narcissism and psychopathy due to how far they have gone in managing stomping this knowledge out of their own present day citizens.

Edit 2: As I am still getting very disrespectful, deranged comments on here pitting atrocities against each other, saying that I am spreading lies and others spewing ignorant hatred against Koreans, here's my final message.

Instead of blaming others, look at what Japanese Nationals do. Stop diverting the attention away by blaming the mistakes of other countries yet not acknowledging the corruption of the Japanese government

Japan’s leaders are still stubbornly refusing to admit their war crimes

What Japanese history lessons leave out


Japanese people often fail to understand why neighbouring countries harbour a grudge over events that happened in the 1930s and 40s. The reason, in many cases, is that they barely learned any 20th Century history. I myself only got a full picture when I left Japan and went to school in Australia


The Germans in contrast have personally done everything possible to make people aware of their Nazi past. Japan doesn't scratch the surface of what it means to have true honour while Germans go to great lengths to do humanitarian work and to allow their citizens to understand the FULL facts. This is what true compensation and remorse actually is, not the dogshit excuse of what Japan does by also denying people, correct history. End of.

The History of Independence Day in the U.S

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By Nova Barela

Photo Courtesy: MediaNews Group / Orange County Register via Getty Images / Getty Images

Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, is celebrated in the United States to commemorate the Declaration of Independence and freedom from the British Empire. Although the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence from Great Britain on July 2, it wasn’t until July 4 that revisions of the declaration were completed. Most delegates didn’t sign the document until August 2.

Since then, Americans have celebrated the Fourth of July in many ways, although it wasn’t until 1870 that it was declared a holiday. From fireworks to parades, this is how — and why — Americans celebrate the Fourth of July

Early Celebrations

While people often celebrated on the Fourth of July in the decades after the Revolutionary War, there was little regularity to the festivities. John Adams described a spontaneous celebration in Philadelphia on the first anniversary of the original July Fourth, and both Philadelphia and Boston held the country’s first Fourth of July fireworks in 1777, but none of these festivities became annual celebrations. Bristol, Rhode Island held the oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration in 1785, but it wasn’t until after the War of 1821 that such events became common across the country.

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Photo Courtesy: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

The first Fourth of July celebrations includes parades, speeches, feasts and especially toasting ceremonies. There had previously been a British tradition of using celebratory toasts on monarchs’ birthdays and other events to indirectly speak about current political events, and it was soon applied to the Fourth of July. By the mid-1790s, the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans — the two major political parties of the time — each held separate Fourth of July events where the festivities had distinctly political overtones. In the 1800s, the Fourth was used by everyone from abolitionists to nativists to spread their political goals.

The Fourth of July represented not just a time to celebrate the country’s past, but also to plan its future. While it wasn’t yet a federal holiday, it was an important celebration, with one European observer even going so far as to describe it as “almost the only holy-day kept in America.”

Black Americans and Independence Day

For much of U.S. history, Black American enthusiasm for Independence Day was mild at best, and for understandable reasons: the American Revolution brought freedom from the British crown, it did not end slavery. In fact, many of the Founding Fathers themselves owned slaves, while the British abolished slavery three decades before the United States in 1833.

Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress / Getty Images

In a speech later known as “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass eloquently critiqued the holiday: “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”

After the Civil War, Black Americans suddenly had cause to embrace the holiday, with massive celebrations sweeping the South. White Americans, however, resented their participation in the Fourth of July. Through a combination of new laws and acts of violence, Black celebrations of Fourth of July became a thing of the past by the end of the 19th century.

Fourth of July Fisticuffs

While we don’t think of the Fourth of July as a particularly violent holiday today, wrestling and other forms of controlled fights were once popular ways to celebrate American independence. One account in the Library of Congress from a woman who lived in Oregon during the 1870s describes a tradition where “the men who drank got into fights and called each other Englishmen” in a rather creative reenactment of the American Revolution.

Photo Courtesy: DEA / M. SEEMULLER / Getty Images

Similarly, a South Carolina man describes a sort of Fourth of July fighting tournament: “A great barbecue and picnic dinner would be served; candidates for military, state, and national offices would speak; hard liquor would flow; and each section would present its ‘bully of the woods’ in a contest for champion in a fist and skull fight. Butting, biting, eye gouging, kicking, and blows below the belt were barred. It was primitive prize fighting.”

Big boxing matches, such as the July 4, 1910 World Heavyweight Championship match between Jack Johnson and James Jeffris (illustrated above), were also major draws on Independence Day. Needless to say, Fourth of July Celebrations of years past could get a bit rowdy.

Independence Day Now

Today’s Fourth of July celebrations still emphasize the founding of the country, independence from Britain and the liberties Americans have won over time. However, the observance of the holiday has shifted over time. Deaths, injuries and property destruction caused by fireworks, alcohol consumption and even tetanus-inducing toy guns led to the Safe and Sane Fourth of July movement, which called for less dangerous Independence Day celebrations. As a result, the Fourth of July today is much tamer than it once was.

Photo Courtesy: Joshua Lott / Getty Images

Additionally, while speeches from elected officials were once an essential part of the holiday, few people spend Independence Day focused on politics. Instead, because of a rising standard of living and a shorter work week thanks to the labor movement, many Americans use the holiday as a chance to enjoy summer and hold cookouts with friends and family. Freedom and patriotism are still the reasons for the season, but hotdogs and hamburgers fresh off the grill also help keep Americans enthusiastic about Independence Day.

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What is the most interesting historical fact you know off the top of your head? The Salem City witch trial.

 

In February 1692, a young girl in the city of Salem(present-day Danvers,Massachusetts,)began having seizures that defied all medical explanation at the time, not so long after the first case two other young girls started having similar manifestations of fits including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. Doctors and ministers watched in horror as these girls twisted themselves, hid under chairs, and shouted uncontrollably.

With limited knowledge of medicine and understanding of disease processes, the medical experts of the day put their heads together and concluded the girls were bewitched. They punished the girls until they began pointing figures at some unlucky women around them and labelled them as witches.

These unlucky women were severely punished until one of them who was called Tituba began confessing and started pointing fingers to several other women in the city,this threw the whole city in chaos. Nineteen convicted “witches” were soon hanged.

Image above: Depiction of Tituba.

When it was all over,it was reported that ;141 suspects, both men and women, were tried as witches. Nineteen were executed by hanging. One was pressed to death by heavy stones. Several more perished in harsh prison.

What is the strangest statue in the world?

This is my favorite: St. Wenceslas riding a dead horse in a Prague shopping mall

I also like this elephant. At a distance of 18,000 km from the earth, the elephant Wursa could balance on her trunk. It is on the basis of learned scientific calculations that the artist Daniel Firman reached this conclusion, and came above all to produce this extraordinary work which confounds all our certainties regarding the gravitation of bodies.