Though they’re now commonly found on everything from jackets to couch cushions, zippers were actually originally made for shoes. The history of this versatile mechanism can be traced in part to inventor Whitcomb Judson, who in 1893 was granted a patent for a rudimentary zipper that he called the “clasp-locker,” an alternative to lengthy shoelaces. The patent described it as “a series of clasps securable to the flaps of the shoes,” which automatically engaged or disengaged with a movable hand device. Judson displayed his creation at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, but it was met with minimal interest. And despite several refinements to the product, this zipper ultimately never caught on due to its sharp hooks and the resulting frequency of torn fabric.

The first high-heeled shoes were worn by soldiers.

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High heels were originally worn by 10th-century Persian cavalry, who used them to stabilize their feet in stirrups while riding horseback. They later popped up in Europe, where aristocrats viewed them as a sign of virility. In 1670, France’s King Louis XIV decreed that only nobility could wear them.

Swedish inventor Gideon Sundback later improved upon Judson’s design, creating a more reliable version with two rows of metal teeth pulled together by a slider. These hookless fasteners were designed to be used on “shoes, corsets, and other articles of wear,” according to the 1917 patent. The invention then caught the eye of New York City tailor Robert Ewig, who sewed them onto money belts. The belts were popular among U.S. sailors, whose uniforms lacked pockets, and in 1918, the Navy bought 10,000 fasteners to incorporate into flight suits. In 1923, the BFGoodrich Company added Sundback’s fasteners to rubber boots and coined the word “zipper,” an onomatopoeia based on the sound they made.

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Octagon, octopus … most words that begin with the Latin prefix “Oct” have some connection to the number eight. But what about October? While the modern calendar considers the autumn month to be the 10th of the year, it wasn’t always that way. For the ancient Romans, who created the earliest form of the calendar we use now, October was originally the eighth month.

The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months.

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Cultures around the globe track time differently; take, for example, the Ethiopian Ge’ez calendar, which gives each month 30 days and runs about seven years behind the Gregorian calendar. After December, the year’s five or six remaining days create a mini month called “Pagume.”

Today’s calendar follows a 12-month cycle, though the earliest iterations had only 10 months. In ancient Rome, the year began in March and ran through December, with the first four months named for Roman deities. The next six months had more straightforward, numerical names that referenced their place in the year. The remaining weeks of winter (which would eventually become January and February) were largely ignored on paper; when the harvest season ended, so did the calendar, until the next spring planting season rolled around.

Over time, the calendar expanded by two months; January and February were added around 700 BCE, and by about the middle of the fifth century BCE, they had become the starting months of the year. When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, he didn’t adjust the number-named months to more appropriate places, though later Roman emperors tried, using names that didn’t stick. Domitian, who ruled from 81 to 96 CE, called October “Domitianus” after himself, and decades later, Commodus dubbed the month “Herculeus” after one of his own titles. Some historians believe the attempts to rename October (and the other months of the year) were widely disregarded because the leaders themselves were generally disliked, though another theory might explain it best: Like many people today, Romans of the past just weren’t fans of change.

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The ancient Egyptians are known for many firsts. Hieroglyphics, papyrus, the calendar, and even bowling all come from the minds of the ancient people along the Nile. Egyptians were also some of the first to pay particular attention to oral care. Not only did they invent the first breath mint, but toothpicks have been found alongside mummies, and they created the oldest known formula for toothpaste. 

Teeth are considered bones.

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Teeth and bones are the hardest materials in the human body, but they’re very different. Bones are made of living tissue, so they’re constantly growing or regenerating throughout your life. Teeth are not living tissue, and are the only part of the human body that doesn’t regenerate.

The Ebers Papyrus, one of the earliest medicinal texts, contains an astoundingly accurate understanding of the human circulatory system as well as an assortment of medicinal remedies. Written around 1550 BCE, this ancient text also describes an ancient form of toothpaste. This early dentifrice was likely made from ingredients such as ox hooves, ashes, burnt eggshells, and pumice (a type of volcanic rock), but by the fourth century CE, when Egypt was under Roman rule, the recipe evolved to include salt, pepper, mint, and dried iris flower, based on descriptions in another papyrus. Egyptians may have applied the paste with toothbrushes made from frayed twigs.

Although Egyptian toothpaste may seem unrecognizable compared to the formulas found in modern tubes of Colgate or Crest, these ancient toothpaste recipes essentially do the same thing. Modern toothpaste uses materials known as abrasives to remove gunk from teeth, lessening the potential for decay and cavities. While Egyptians used salt and pepper (or pumice) for this task, today we use hydrated silica for that same abrasive purpose — though thankfully it’s gentler on our gums. And the mint the Egyptians used helped freshen their breath, just as today’s mint-flavored toothpaste does. So while our tubes of toothpaste are a relatively modern creation, cleaning our teeth is a habit that goes back at least as far as the ancients.

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Throughout more than a century of publication, the Sears catalog was a go-to source for American shoppers seeking out standard home goods. But in addition to those traditional products, the catalog also offered some curious items for sale, including live chickens, 14-room mail-order houses, and even highly explosive dynamite. A 1902 edition of the catalog advertised dynamite as a tool for removing tree stumps, claiming it to be “far superior to any other agent.” The company also offered more powerful varieties that could be used for blasting into hard rock and even underwater. Sears sold dynamite for as little as 13 cents a pound — less than $5 today — along with all of the electric fuses, connecting wires, and blasting machines required for operation.

The former Sears Tower in Chicago used to be the world’s tallest building.

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The Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) stands 1,450 feet tall, making it the world’s tallest building from its completion in 1973 until 1996. It took the record from the North Tower of the World Trade Center (1,368 feet), and was surpassed by the Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1,483 feet).

There were no prerequisites for purchasing this dynamite, despite the obvious safety risks associated with amateur use. Instead, Sears promised to “mail a booklet giving full information” to “those who are not familiar with handling dynamite,” hoping buyers would carefully follow the instructions. The dynamite could be found in the catalog’s “sporting goods” section, just a few pages away from comparatively mundane products such as baseball uniforms and hammocks. Eventually, however, dynamite and other more unusual items were phased out as Sears largely trended toward selling housewares. In future editions of the catalog, Sears noted that “to conform with the insurance laws,” it had been “forced to omit carbide from [its] stock,” which prevented it from selling explosives and combustibles. The traditional Sears catalog was discontinued in 1993.

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