15th Century facts
While investigating facts about 15th Century, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Sea urchins are called "sea urchins" because hedgehogs were called called "urchins" until about the 15th century. Therefore, sea urchins are ocean hedgehogs.
In 2007 Russia planted their national flag underwater in hopes of securing the arctic's potential natural resources. “This isn’t the 15th century,” one foreign minister said. “You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say, ‘We’re claiming this territory.’
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about 15th Century I managed to collect.
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Cats were kept on ships by Ancient Egyptians for pest control and it become a seafaring tradition. It is believed Domestic cats spread throughout much of the world with sailing ships during Age of Discovery(15th through 18th centuries).
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Oral tradition in Kenya tells that 20 shipwrecked Chinese sailors washed up on shore in the 15th century and were given permission to settle and marry into local tribes. DNA tests conducted by China's government in 2002 on one of the supposed descendants and found that she was of Chinese descent
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Until the late 15th century the word ‘girl’ simply means a child of either sex. Male babies were called ‘knave girls’ and female babies were referred to as... ‘gay girls’.
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The English language used to have six more letters: thorn (þ), eth (ð), wynn (ƿ), yogh (ȝ), ash (æ), and ethel (œ). They all disappeared by the 15th century.
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In the 15th century, King James IV conducted an experiment by sending a mute woman and two infants to an empty island to learn what the 'natural human language' would be.
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A young Italian in the 15th century fell into the side of a hill, discovering the remains of the Domus Aurea, an enormous Roman palace--filled with art. Michaelangelo and Raphael visited this buried palace, inspiring their art, and subsequently the early Italian Renaissance.
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The "L" in "could" was added intentionally in the 15th or 16th century solely to match the spellings of "would" and "should."
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The current image of what everyone thinks Jesus looks like is actually 15th Century Cesare Borgia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI. Alexander VI commissioned Leonardo Di Vinci to recast Jesus in the image of his own beloved son Cesare Borgia.
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The rules of chess were changed in the 15th century to reflect the accomplishments of Queen Isabella
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Theophrastus Phillipus Auroleus Bombastus von Hohenheim, a physician from the 15th century who said "All things are poisonous and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not poisonous". He is regarded as the father of toxicology.
15th Century data charts
For your convenience take a look at 15th Century figures with stats and charts presented as graphic.
What is true about 15th century?
You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.
A Catholic Church festival printed the lyrics to Tupac's 'Hail Mary' in their Christmas programme instead of the 15th century Catholic prayer
March 1st was new years day for much of antiquity. It was the case in Russia until the 15th century and in Great Britain until 1752. It was to coincide with the beginning of the planting season with the namesake being Mars, the roman god who was also the protector of agriculture. - source
When glasses for nearsightedness began to appear in the 15th Century, because they were unusual and rare they were seen as having magical powers, and people who wore glasses were thought to be in league with the devil. - source
Sri Lanka and India were connected as recently as the 15th century by a chain of limestone shoals known as "Adam's Bridge"
Gargoyles on a 15th century church in Loire-Atlantique, France, now include Gizmo and a Gremlin from "Gremlins" and the xenomorph from "Alien." The characters were added when the centuries-old church was restored in the 1990s. - source
The 15th century Islamic mosaics in Spain's Alhambra palace display a near-perfect understanding of mathematical logic and 16 of 17 types of symmetry identified by modern mathematicians
"o'clock" is a contraction of "stroke of the clock" and comes from 15th century references to medieval mechanical clocks
The founder of AA, Dr. Bill Wilson, developed his 12 step program par the advice of a 15th century monk, whom he communed with via ouiji board.
The association between Jewish people and money stems from 15th Century Europe. Only they could lend money as the Protestant Church prohibited usury; the king even needed "Court Jews" to handle the finances of the kingdom.
The Voynich Manuscript. A 240 page book written in an unknown language in the 15th century that is comprised of illustrations of plants that don't exist, and astronomical charts that seem alien in nature.
The Aztec Triple Alliance (which ruled modern-day central Mexico in the 15th and early 16th centuries) is widely credited as being the first nation to make education mandatory for all children.
