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Historical Curiosities© Debbie St. Germain
You turn on the television and in an instant you are watching a movie, seeing news and weather from around the world, or watching a nature program about alligators and their behavior. You know that tornadoes are natural phenomenon and alligators are not swamp monsters, but over a hundred years people didn't know that. Many people thought weather phenomenon was magic, or that illness was punishment or witchcraft. Below are four reports from the past. Can you guess what they really were? Next week the answers and more about these curiosities from the past.
EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON.-The inhabitants of the village of Moulton were greatly astonished on Saturday last, at observing a considerable quantity of hay (from a field where it was in cocks for stacking) rise rapidly into the air. There was not the slightest breeze of wind perceptible at the time;however the hay continued to ascend until it apparently passed through the clouds, which were sailing high at the time. After the lapse of a few minutes it again appeared like a small black streak in the cloudy vapour,where it continued to form a most novel and extraordinary sight for ten or fifteen minutes, when it gradually descended again to the earth.-Linconsure Chronicle. Can you guess what weather phenomenon they witnessed?
Did you know rocks could have babies? Well maybe not, but that's just what a lot of people used to think. When some rocks were broken, they revealed smaller rocks inside, and some rocks were even rumored to spontaneously burst open, giving birth to little rocks. Now we know that the rocks don't have babies, so what actually does happen that can cause smaller rocks to grow inside of larger ones? There is a name for this geological event, can you guess what it is?
In 1665, the first blood transfusion was performed by a Cornish physician named Richard Lower. Using hollow goose quills, he transferred blood from one dog, into the veins of another. The first human blood transfusion was performed by Jean-Babtiste Denis, who transferred blood- from a sheep- to a man. Denis was so thrilled with his success that he attempted two more transfusions with this man - talk about tempting fate. The man died when the third transfusion failed. The man's widow became so distraught that she bought Denis up on murder charges. Lucky for Denis, he escaped the charges, but the trial bought an end to all blood transfusions in France. When news got around all of the countries joined in on the ban, and for two hundred years the practice was abandoned by the medical communities. What did the doctors do wrong? What knowledge did they need to know to perform transfusions safely?
The copyright of the article Historical Curiosities in Science for Kids is owned by Debbie St. Germain. Permission to republish Historical Curiosities in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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