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Huixtocihuatl- Goddess of Salt
Salt has been a source of wealth since ancient times. The human body must have some form of salt to survive and before the advent of refrigeration it was one of the main ways to preserve food. Salt was associated with sex and fertility as well for some reason, which has proved fodder for psychoanalysts. So as a source of wealth and sex, it is natural salt had its own deity. The Aztecs were no exception. Huixtocihuatl was a fertility goddess who was patron of salt and salt waters. She was also the patroness of salt making and the discoverer of salt itself. Huixtocihuatl was the older sister of the…
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The New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811
New Madrid, Missouri was at the back end of nowhere. It was technically a respectably sized town on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Natchez, but this was not a great achievement. In 1811, the population was about 1,000 people made up of farmers, fur traders and pioneers supplemented by French Creoles and Native Americans traveling on the great river. However, the events there beginning in 1811 shook the world. Literally. Related posts: September 11 Memorial and Museum USS Indianapolis – July 1945 The State of Franklin The Great Fire of 1910
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The Assassination of Domitian
Titus Flavius Domitianius was born the youngest son of Emperor Vespasian in 51 CE. This was prior to his father’s rise to emperor of Rome. (For more on Emperor Vespasian, please see this post http://www.historynaked.com/emperor-titus-flavius-vespasian/ ) His older brother, Titus, and his father were close, leaving Domitian on the outside looking in. After a stunning turn of events, Vespasian became emperor and passed the throne to his oldest son Titus on his death. Titus was groomed as Vespasian’s heir, and it was assumed Titus would marry and pass the throne on to his sons. Domitian was relegated to being a patron of the arts, and was none too happy about…
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Arachidamia of Sparta
The Greeks did not have a good track record on women’s rights in the ancient world. However, there was an anomaly in a strange place. The city-state of Sparta was not generally a tolerant place. Men were expected to give life long service to the military and boys were separated from their families to build esprit de corps. A coming of age ritual was killing a slave and not getting caught. It was a messed up place. (For more on the Spartans, please see these posts: http://www.historynaked.com/leonidas-unlikely-king/ and http://www.historynaked.com/historical-inaccuracies-300/ ) However, women there were given extraordinary rights. This was because the men were off fighting and the women were left…
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The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635
Hurricanes are a part of life if you live on the Eastern Seaboard or Gulf Coast of the US or the Caribbean. What we tend to forget is these powerful storms have been around longer than the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. We discussed a few such hurricane in our posts about the 1900 Galveston Storm (Please see this post for more information:http://www.historynaked.com/great-storm-1900-galveston-hur…/ ) and one that destroyed the young city of New Orleans (Please see this post for more information: http://www.historynaked.com/founding-of-new-orleans/ ). There was even a hurricane that possibly stopped Washington DC from burning in 1814 (Please see this post for more information:http://www.historynaked.com/white-house-white-house-white/ ) However, hurricanes have been plaguing the…
