Perihelion Day

 3 January 2024 is Perihelion Day. On this day the Earth is closer to the Sun than on any other day in the year. The Earth orbits the Sun in an ellipse, not a circle so sometimes it is slightly closer to the Sun than at others. The point when the Sun is farthest away from the Sun is called the Aphelion. It is usually on 4 July.

Iron Bridge

 On 1 January 1781, the world's first iron bridge opened to the public. When John Wesley saw it he compared it to the seven wonders of the Ancient World. Today we take it for granted that large structures are made of metal but before the Industrial Revolution, it would have been unthinkable.

Frankenstein

 The famous story Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was published on 1 January 1818.

Comfortable Corsets

 It's a myth that corsets were torture instruments that made it difficult to breathe and caused you to faint.

Women in Anglo-Saxon England

 In Anglo-Saxon England, women had considerable rights and freedom (unless they were slaves! Both men and women were slaves). Married women could own and inherit property. Some women were landowners. If a man married a woman he had to give her either money or land. After they married it was her property to what she liked. She could sell it or leave it in her will to anyone she wished. 

The Bog

 In Britain, a cesspit was once called a bog. The toilet was the bog room. When people stopped using cesspits and had flushing toilets they kept calling the toilet room the bog room. Soon it shortened to bog. Apparently the Australian word dunny comes from an old English word meaning a store of dung. There is a lot more to the history of toilets than you might think.

Sumerian Women

 Sumer was the world's first civilization. It arose in what is now Iraq about 3,500 BC. Sumerian women could own and sell property such as land and slaves. They could also own businesses. Women could be witnesses in court the same as men. Some Sumerian women could read and write. Some women were doctors, others were scribes or priestesses.