Due to social convention, 19th-century doctors, who were considered gentlemen, were not exempt from the bloody and sometimes fatal practice of the gentlemen’s duel. Society pressured them to entertain an attack on their honour with a duel, even though it went against their oath to heal, lest they be cast out of high society. Some doctors, like Peter Hennis, reconciled these duelling ideologies by deliberately missing or refusing to pull the trigger; in a cruel twist of fate, Hennis eventually died from injuries induced in a duel. Read full article here
History
Remembering When America Banned Sliced Bread
Rationing was not new to the world when the US decided to ban sliced bread during WW2, but it caused an uproar. Already burdened by previous sugar, butter, and nylon rationing, American households made their anger known. Sliced bread was considered something of a household staple; their breakfast and lunch featured sliced bread, and it was too time-consuming to slice bread in the morning. The ban ended two months later, when officials finally claimed there was enough wax paper—used to keep sliced bread fresh—to go around. Read full article here
Merv
November 23, 2022
