Month: February 2019

Tests for determining whether a woman is pregnant go back to at least 1350 B.C. An Egyptian papyrus from that period describes a pregnancy test in which a woman would urinate on wheat and barley seeds. If the barley grew, she was pregnant with a boy; if the wheat grew, …

One of the great images of history is that of Martin Luther (1483-1546) lighting the blue touch paper starting the Protestant Reformation by nailing his famous ninety-five points to the doors of All Saints Catholic Church in his hometown of Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. This image is still very …