Unusual place names:

Blue Ball, Ireland

Boogertown, North Carolina, USA

Christmas Pie, Surrey, England, UK

Condom, France

Dead Women Crossing, Oklahoma, USA

Devilsmother (a hill in Ireland)

Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada

Dolphin’s Barn, Ireland (a suburb of Dublin)

Emo, Ireland

Fucking, Austria (rhymes with “booking”)

Gogogogo, Madagascar

Various places called Hell

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (a lake in Webster, Mass., US)

Lake Disappointment (a lake in Western Australia)

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales, UK - longest place name in Europe

Miass, Russia

Mianus, Connecticut, USA

Middelfart, Denmark

Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada

Nameless, Tennessee, USA

Nasty, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Pity Me, Durham, England, UK

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada

Scratchy Bottom, Dorset, England, UK

Shades of Death Rd (a road in New Jersey, USA)

Shagnasty Island, South Orkney Islands

Silly Department, Burkina Faso

Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu (a hill in New Zealand with the longest one-word place name in the world)

Te Urewera, New Zealand (means “the burnt penis” in the Maori language)

Ugley, Essex, England, UK

Upper Dicker, East Sussex, England, UK

Useless Loop, Western Australia, Australia

Wank, Germany

Westward Ho!, Devon, England, UK

Zzyzx, California, USA

Depicted: Don’t go to Nasty

Zoom into the tiniest particles and then zoom out into the viewable universe and beyond.  Mind-blowing stuff.

The character “&” evolved from “et” (Latin for “and”) written in Old Roman cursive in the first century AD.  In the US, it was once taught to children as the 27th letter of the alphabet.

Depicted: Evolution of the ampersand from Old Roman cursive to Carolingian Miniscule.  We no longer use Carolingian Miniscule but our modern ampersand is still written in a similar script.

Despite popular belief, they ancient Greeks often used bright colors and bold patterns on their clothing and art.  Modern science has allowed us to find traces of the color left on statues and recreate what they looked like just after being made.

Depicted: A restoration of an ancient Greek statue.  It’s less elegant white marble and more Magical Mystery Tour.

The fork was first used in the Middle East sometime in the 1st millenium AD and was introduced to Europe in the 10th century by Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I.  When brought to Italy in the 11th century, the Catholic Church disapproved of its use stating that “God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating.” Despite this, eating with a fork became popular in Italy and was thought of by most Europeans as an emasculating, distinctively Italian practice.  Forks were not widely used in Britain until the 18th century.

Depicted: Two views of a post-Medieval fork found in northern England.

Original:

Now to conclude, that you may make a Horse to pisse when you woulde have him (or at least to straine and move himselfe thereunto) or to leave pissing when you please, you shall for two dayes at the least, watch him, and keepe such distance of times, that hee may never pisse, but when you urge him, and to that end you shall once in two or three houres leade your horse uppe and downe upon straw, so softly, that hee may as it were but put out one foot and stand still, then another & stand still, your selfe continually saying unto him Pysse, Pysse, and thus you shall do if it be a whole day togither, till he do pisse or straine himselfe to pisse, and then you shall reward him with bread; and til he do pisse or straine himselfe to pisse, you shall neither moove him in any other lesson, nor let him taste foode though it were for a weeke together, and by this meanes after he understands your meaning, you shall no oftner say pisse, but he either will pisse, or straine himselfe to Pisse, and then at your pleasure acquainting him with a contrarie worde as No more or such like, which being spoken in threatning sort, and accompanied with correction, you shall make him staie his pissing when and as oft as you please. As this motion of pissing, so you may use him in his eating, drinking, or anie other naturall action, and though these appeare verie unnatural, yea even to horsemen themselves, yet they are as easie to bee effected, as anie toye whatsoever.

Modern English:

In conclusion, to make your horse pee on command (or at least strain himself to) or to leave him peeing when you want to, watch him for at least two days and only allow him to pee every two to three hours when you will lead him onto a bed of straw and repeat to him, “Pee, pee…” for as long as it takes until he does pee or strain himself to pee, and then you can reward him with bread; and until he does pee or strain himself to pee, don’t try to teach him anything else or feed him even if it takes a week, and he will eventually understand your command and no longer need you to say “pee” and will either pee or strain himself to pee. You may then teach him different words such as “no more”, which if spoken in a threatening manner with corrective actions, will keep him peeing as often as you please. You may use this method in his eating, drinking or any other everyday action, and even though this seems unnatural, even to the handlers themselves, horses are as easily taught as any other (distraction? tool?).