The world before electricity and gas lighting was a very dark place. If you could afford them–and most ordinary people couldn’t–oil lamps and candles made from beeswax shed some light. Most people made do with rush lights or smoky, smelly… Read More
Candlestick makers–or tallow chandlers as they were once called–led a wretched existence. I thought I’d make today’s blog about candle making, because I’m still without power.
Thanks to the freakishly violent October snowstorm we had over the weekend, and because… Read More
The Persian king, Mithradates IV (134 − 63 BC), was so afraid of being poisoned that he regularly drank small amounts of different poisons in an attempt to develop immunity. He was said to have developed an antidote for poisoning containing as many as 65 ingredients, which became a highly sought-after drug for centuries after his death.