Showing posts with the label Italy

Ponte dei Trepponti: A Unique 5-Way Bridge

May 12, 2023

The Ponte dei Trepponti or Trepponti bridge is a rare five-way bridge located in Comacchio, Italy. Although the name “Trepponti”, originatin...

Girolamo Segato’s Mysterious Petrified Mummies

May 9, 2023

For thousands of years, different cultures across continents have successfully preserved bodies of their ancestors. For the Egyptians, mummi...

Amphitheater of Capua: The First Roman Amphitheater

Sep 13, 2022

Of all the amphitheaters built by the Romans, the Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater in Rome is the largest of all in dimensions, followed by...

Frog Battery

Sep 1, 2022

The term ‘battery’ was first used by Benjamin Franklin in 1749 to describe an apparatus he had designed to produce electricity. Franklin lin...

What is Galvanism, And How Did it Inspire Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?

Jun 16, 2022

On 18 January 1803, George Foster was hanged by the neck. The jury had found him guilty of murdering his wife and child by drowning them in ...

Staglieno Cemetery: Where Death is Beautiful

May 18, 2022

The cemetery of Staglieno represents more than the dead. It represents a confluence of movements that furthered the cause of the living. Cim...

Roman Dodecahedron: History’s Mystery

May 13, 2022

It is safe to say that there are secrets to the ancient Roman civilization that even a lifetime of scrutiny will not reveal to us. Yet histo...

How a German Air Raid in Bari Helped Discover a Cure For Cancer

Apr 28, 2022

On December 2, 1943, the Germans launched a surprise attack on a key Allied port in Bari, Italy, sinking more than 20 Allied merchant ships ...

Scribonius Longus, The Roman Physician Who Used Electricity as a Treatment

Mar 30, 2022

Scribonius Longus (Latin Scribonius Largus ) was a 1st century AD Roman physician who served at the court of Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) an...

The Pyramid of Cestius

Feb 10, 2022

Although we associate pyramids with Ancient Egypt, these four-sided structures with a tapering top are found all over the world, built by ma...

Acta Diurna: The First Roman Newspaper

Feb 8, 2022

According to Cicero, from the beginning of Roman history the Pontifex Maximus compiled on a white table the most important events that had ...

The Ancient Egyptian Obelisks of Rome

Jan 19, 2022

When the Romans were not busy moving earth to build colossal amphitheaters and aqueducts, they were busy moving obelisks. The city of Rome h...

Ciampate del Diavolo: 350,000 Years Old Fossilized Hominid Footprints

Nov 29, 2021

Near the Italian town of Foresta in the province of Caserta, and very close to the extinct volcano Roccamonfina, there is an area called Cia...

Why The Romans Punished Dogs And Honored Geese

Sep 6, 2021

On a warm summer day in August in ancient Rome, a brilliantly decorated litter is carried solemnly in the direction of Circus Maximum. Its o...

Poena Cullei: The Worst Roman Punishment

Jul 1, 2021

Throughout history Man has shown extraordinary imagination in inventing penalties and sentences for crimes committed by fellow man. The Roma...

The Anatomical Machines of Raimondo di Sangro

Jun 22, 2021

Housed in glass cases in the basement of Sansevero Chapel in Naples, Italy, are two extraordinary exhibits. Called “anatomical machines”, th...

How Ancient Romans Kept Time

May 12, 2021

That days have 24 hours is a long-established convention, which is also related to the rotational motion of the Earth. Pliny the Elder expre...

Anatomical Theaters

Apr 16, 2021

Since ancient times, the primary way to teach and learn anatomy have been to dissect human cadavers. Generations of surgeons have learned an...

Johann Josef Loschmidt And Avogadro’s Number

Feb 22, 2021

Johann Josef Loschmidt is a name that might not ring many bells, yet everyone who took chemistry in junior college had surely come across Lo...

The Curious Tale of The Laocoön And His Sons’ Missing Arm

Feb 12, 2021

The story of Laocoön, the Trojan priest who was attacked and killed along with his two sons by giant serpents for attempting to expose the r...