Ancient History

Kombucha is a type of fermented tea which originated hundreds of years ago but has only recently become a global phenomenon. It is difficult to confirm exactly where kombucha first became popular, and there is much debate surrounding the question. Most people cite China as the probable homeland, possibly around 200 AD, although it’s believed to have gained its name from a Japanese doctor who lived around 400 AD.

In 1965, archaeologists were carrying out a survey in Hubei province, China, four miles from the ruins of Jinan, capital of the ancient Chu state, when they discovered 50 ancient tombs. Inside one of the tombs, sealed in a near air-tight wooden box next to a skeleton, they found a rare and perfectly preserved bronze sword with scabbard. When it was unsheathed, the blade did not have a single trace of rust, and it drew blood when an archeologist tested his finger on its edge; it was seemingly unaffected by the passage of time.

In the 1,600 years since Saint Patrick preached his way across the Emerald Isle, the legends and folk stories surrounding his life have become ever more ingrained in the Irish culture. He is credited with expelling all snakes from Ireland and using a shamrock – a three-leaf clover – to explain the Holy Trinity to the Pagan Irish.

Differing from typical Egyptian mummies from around 4000 BC – which would have had their organs stored separately in canopic jars— the mummified remains of a man were discovered in a prehistoric tomb and found with his digestive system intact. Luckily for the researchers, they could even see what his last meal was:  a simple soup of barley, green onions, and tilapia.

To the ancients, the incredible and unfamiliar natural celestial events were interpreted through cultural understandings of the day – which is to say, they were considered divine or damning.

Australia Day is celebrated on 26th of January because it is the day that Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet, made up of eleven convict ships, landed at Sydney Cove in Australia and raised the British Flag, marking the beginning of British sovereignty over Australia. Phillip took possession of the land in the name of King George III, declaring it terra nullius (uninhabited by humans).

In the remote South Australian desert, where temperatures are known to reach 125 °F in the shade, there is a town named Coober Pedy, where residents have dug themselves underground to escape the blistering heat.  Once the largest opal mining operation in the world, Coober Pedy is now a peculiar site where chimneys rise from the sand and signs warn people of unmarked holes in the ground.

Throughout history, there have been numerous recorded instances of strange objects falling from the sky - fish, frogs, candy, jellyfish, beans, nuts, seeds, worms, spiders, and all manner of bizarre and unlikely objects. The most popular explanation is that strong winds whisk objects up from the ground or water and hurl them towards an unexpected location many miles away.