Category Archives: History

Haiti’s Anti-Zombie Law

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In English, the provision reads:

  • Is considered a poisoning any attempt on the life of a person through the use of substances which can cause death more or less cleanly, regardless of the manner in which these substances were used or administered, and regardless of the consequences.
  • Is also considered attempt on life by poisoning the use made against a person of substances which, without giving death, will cause a more-or-less prolonged state of lethargy, regardless of the manner in which these substances were used and regardless of the consequences.
  • If the person was buried as a consequence of this state of lethargy, the attempt will be considered a murder.

Article 246 originally defined just the simple crime of “poisoning.”

It wasn’t until 1864 that the provision was expanded to include the second and third paragraphs, containing the language about “the use made against a person of substances which, without giving death, will cause a more-or-less prolonged state of lethargy” and burial thereafter.

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Top image by Haitian painter Wilson Bigaud in 1939.
By Mark Strauss via io9 for the full article. Worth a look.

The Textus Roffensis: The Oldest Surviving Copy of 12th Century English Law

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Textus Roffensis

“If a mouth or an eye becomes damaged, one is to compensate with 12 shillings”, exhorts the Textus Roffensis, a 12th century manuscript containing the only surviving copy of the oldest law in English.

The four front teeth, meanwhile, are worth six shillings apiece, while “if one strikes off a thumb, 20 shillings”.

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“The Textus Roffensis is truly a unique manuscript: it predates the Magna Carta by almost 100 years, contains the only copy of the oldest set of laws in English, and was penned by an English scribe within 60 years of the Norman conquest. That it is being made accessible to the public is worth shouting about, and is a tribute to all those involved with the project”, said Dr. Chris Monk.

The book, about the size of a hardback novel, features, said Monk, an excommunication curse with an obscenity, the only copy of William the Conqueror’s law of trial by combat used to settle disputes between Englishmen and Frenchmen, and a “pseudo-religious, magical charm for the recovery of stolen livestock sandwiched between a law on betrothal and a law on bequeathing property”.

Nice to know how much one’s teeth are worth. I should tell my dentist she’s been totally overcharging me. Hopefully she doesn’t do the math and adjust for inflation.

By some legal guys and monks in the 12th century, available digitally at John Rylands University Library Image Collections via The Guardian for the full article.

The Russian Cosmonaut Machete-Gun

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For decades, every Soyuz rocket crew packed a sidearm in their emergency kits—even after joining the International Space Station partnership. This “survival gun”, the TOZ 82, had three barrels and a swing-out machete.

[T]he official purpose of the gun — which could fire rifle bullets, shotgun shells and flares — was for survival in a harsh environment, such as the Siberian wilderness, in the event of an off-course landing.

But according to journalist James Oberg, one of the leading U.S. experts on the Russian space program: “I proposed that to guarantee the gun only be usable in an off-course landing, it be stashed in compartment accessible only from outside the Soyuz, after landing. There never was any response to my helpful suggestions”.

The practice has been unofficially suspended; by “unofficially” I mean that the weapn is included on the inventory list, but it is then removed by vote before each individual flight.

Via io9.

Rome in the Renassance 1549

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From 1514 or 1515, [Sebastian] Munster deepened and broadened his knowledge of mathematical geography and cartography. In 1524 he was appointed to teach the Hebrew language at the University of Heidelberg; this appointment was ill paid, and it was evidently with no reluctance that Munster accepted an invitation to the chair of Hebrew at the university of Basel, whither he moved in 1529 [and] was to spend the rest of his life until his death from plague in 1552.

Having completed the Geographia, Munster returned to his pet project, the description of Germany. In 1544, he published the first edition of the Cosmographia, a summary both of Munster’s own geographical researches and those of his many correspondents. For the 1550 edition additions included a large number of town prospects.

The 1550 edition of the Cosmographia was the final flowering of Munster’s work.

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Supplementary photos via Wikipedia.
By Sebastian Münster in Cosmographia 1550 via Hominis Aevum.

England’s World War II Plan to Build an Aircraft Carrier Out of Ice and Sawdust

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Britain was taking a beating from the German ships and submarines and were looking for something to build a ship out of that couldn’t be destroyed by torpedoes, or at least could take a major pounding without incurring a fatal amount of damage. With steel and aluminum in short supply, Allied scientists and engineers were encouraged to come up with alternative materials and weapons.

One of [scientist Geoffrey Pyke’s] ideas was to build a 2,000 foot long, 300 foot wide and two million ton carrier. Besides the ship’s size, what was so different about Pyke’s vessel was that it would be built of ice.

There is no real limit on the availability of ice; it’s easy to make, fairly durable (except in warm temperatures), buoyant, and very easy to repair when damaged. Further, repairs can be made extremely quickly with the right equipment, even during a battle.

A dome made of the same substance - 96% ice, 4% sawdust.

A dome made of the same substance – 96% ice, 4% sawdust.

Early experiments ran into problems, with the ice actually being too fragile to take much of a pounding, and the idea was shelved. Later that year, a firm from New York tried adding 4% sawdust and wood chips, and it worked much, much better – slower to melt, more buoyant, and stronger.

So what was the catch? To keep it from warping, the ship’s surface had to be covered in insulation and carry a refrigeration plant and system of ducts – actually not as crazy as it sounds, and a small scale version was built that worked perfectly well even in summer temperatures.

Better still, ballistic tests showed that it was very resistant even to direct torpedo hits. The ship would need a monster of a rudder, and its top speed was very slow, even for the time, so given the experimental nature of it the plan was ultimately scrapped.

As a footnote, the smaller test vessel took three summers to completely melt it.

Via Today I Found Out and Wikipedia.

“Vote No on Women’s Suffrage” Pamphlet from Circa 1910

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One of the big voices against giving women the vote was the organization National Association OPPOSED to Woman Suffrage. In the 1910s it published this pamphlet explaining why women shouldn’t be allowed to vote:

BECAUSE 90% of the women either do not want it, or do not care.

BECAUSE it means competition of women with men instead of co-operation.

BECAUSE 80% of the women eligible to vote are married and can only double or annul their husband’s votes.

BECAUSE it can be of no benefit commensurate with the additional expense involved.

BECAUSE in some States more voting women than voting men will place the Government under petticoat rule.

BECAUSE it is unwise to risk the good we already have for the evil which may occur.

Cultural change is much slower than I think most would prefer (well, unless you’re the Taliban or of similar inclinations) but it’s worth seeing things like this to remember that not even that long ago, as absurd as it seems today, this kind of opinion was actually a mainstream opinion.

Jewish Women’s Archive via The Atlantic.