Who said History was Boring?

IN THE NEWS: According to World Magazine, teenagers' choice for breaking up isn't a phone call or an in-person conversation. It's MySpace.

I love learning little trivia and such, so when my hubby pointed out this article in our local paper to me, I jumped at the chance to blog about it. The author, Joe Gilbert, always posts interesting facts every week or so, and this article is no different.

Here are a few of the facts about sayings derived from life in the 1500's he wrote about:

Over 500 years ago, most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide body odor. Hence, the custom of carrying a bridal bouquet.

When people obtained pork, it was quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon". They would cut off a little to share with guests and they would all sit around and "chew the fat".

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat/drink and wait to see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

In England, the local folks started running out of places to bury people. They would dig up old coffins and take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When opening those coffins, one of out 25 coffins was found to have scratch marks on the inside. They realized they were burying people alive. So, they would tie string to the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would sit out in the graveyard all night--"the graveyard shift"--to listen for the bell. Thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer".

Cool, huh? And now you learned something.

Have a great weekend!