Tiny – Page 5 – hiccupstories.com

Kalikantzari (excuse me?)

On 25/11/2017

HO HO HO and happy holidays to you all!

I thought I’d give you a story today, a story straight out of Greek Christmas folklore! Put some candy on a plate, and leave it outside, you will need to feed some guests tonight.

Greece is a land filled with tales, whose origins are lost in time. One of these is the story of the -brace yourselves- Kalikantzari. Not that bad, try it slowly and repeat after me Ka – li- kan-tza-ri. These are demonic creatures, which, according to the area of the country you are in, live either in Hades (that’s the underworld people, not a God, perhaps I should write an article on the topic), or in the center of the Earth.

Giuseppe Tartini

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Myths, Legends, Folklore

Today I thought about writing something a bit more folkloric, and in fact, the possible origins behind a common urban legend theme. Hold your tea cup tight, and let’s talk about music and the Devil.

I guess most of you are familiar with the common theme of the Devil playing the fiddle, or with the infamous “deals” between musicians and daemons, where talent and fame is exchanged with lost souls and hellish torment.

John Harvey Kellogg

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary People

I’m sure that most of you have started, or continue to start your day with a nice bowl of cereal, right? Forget all about the debate on what comes first, the milk or the cereal, I have a juicy story for you all! Put the spoons down first, ok?

John Harvey Kellogg was born in Michigan in 1852. He became a rather successful doctor of his time, and was the chief medical officer of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. His holistic practice was based mostly on vegetarianism, and on his religious beliefs, which were the ones of the Seventh-Day Advent Church. So, let me clarify how those two come together.

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary People

Our next story is one of a unique love affair between a Swedish woman and a German man… wait! *sound of screeching car brakes*

Eija-Riitta was born in Sweden, in 1954, and ever since she was a child, she was fascinated by constructions with parallel lines, like railroad tracks, bridges, fences and so on. This fascination turned out to be a bit more than what you might think, and I don’t know when this happened, but she was diagnosed with Object Sexuality (objectophilia).

Ergotism

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary Historical Facts

You know how sometimes the answers to some of the biggest mysteries, is something very mundane and simple? I present to you Ergotism! I know how it sounds, but it’s not a boring philosophical theory, you can keep on reading this.

Ergot is some kind of fungus that infects rye and some cereals. It’s extremely toxic and can cause a severe poisoning, called ergotism. I won’t get into chemical details over the toxicity of this fungus, I will just say that one of its main derivatives (Ergoline) is the famous drug LSD. “Hallucinations” was the first thing that came into your mind, right? And that’s not all. The symptoms of ergotism are really severe and sometimes gangrenous. Apart from what I’ve already mentioned, it can cause psychosis, spasms, seizures, vomiting, delirium and so on. Fun fact: the kind of ergotism and its symptoms are affected by the soil, meaning that two affected regions can have different symptoms.

Dan Rice

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary People

Well, Halloween is over, the scary clowns seem to be over, and the next scariest thing, the presidential elections in the US, will soon also be over. Given the chance, let’s cross the Atlantic and let me introduce you to Dan Rice, the man who managed to combine most of those mentioned above.

Dan Rice was born in 1823 in New York City. He was an entertainer, in the broader sense, and during his time he was really famous. How was he entertaining? Well, he was a famous clown! Okay, maybe I don’t do him justice… He was more than that.

Spring Heeled Jack

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Myths, Legends, Folklore

Boing!

For people like me, London of the Victorian era is and will always be an endless pool of stories. I think the reasons behind this are part of a huge sociological study and we don’t have space for it- plus it could be awfully boring, so, let’s talk about one of the most notorious legends of this time, the Steel-heeled Jack!

I’ll do my best to stick to the facts here, as I always do, which in this case is a difficult task. There is a vast amount of information regarding Jack, far too many theories, and lots of not-so-trustworthy reports from the era.

Pope Gregory IX

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary Historical Facts

Pope Gregory IX will go down in history for his severity, the instituting of the Papal Inquisition (not the Spanish one, no one expected it anyway), and for a series of Papal Bulls.

All Bull jokes aside, “Vox in Rama” was issued sometime around 1233 condemning Satanic worship. Nothing weird here, considering the times it was issued, right? Well, according to this text, cats, especially the black ones, were incarnations of Satan and as such should be destroyed.

Caroline Prodgers

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary People

Be honest with me.

How many of you have been enraged by cab drivers? How many of you have picked up fights with them, or felt cheated, or wished you could have sought revenge, but never got around it? Let me introduce you to your patron saint, Mrs. Caroline Prodgers.

Caroline was born in 1829, and until her death in 1890, she became famous for her seemingly endless court disputes.

The Mad Hatter

By Tiny

On 25/11/2017

In Extraordinary Historical Facts

Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?

(Alice checks his temperature)

Alice: I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

Today is the Mad-Hatter Day, and it’s the perfect day to be silly, or have an unbirthday tea party with your rats and hares!

Although most people think that Lewis Carol is responsible for this character, things are slightly different.

Eccentricities, true crime, macabre, lore

Author: Tiny Page 5 of 6

Kalikantzari (excuse me?)

Giuseppe Tartini

John Harvey Kellogg

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer

Ergotism

Dan Rice

Spring Heeled Jack

Pope Gregory IX

Caroline Prodgers

The Mad Hatter