“Once you start reading, you can’t stop!”
A perfect humanities textbook that will keep you hooked the more you read, proven by 30 million views!

Stories you've been curious about but couldn't find anywhere else, Korea's premier knowledge channel "Knowledge Brunch," which turns everything around us into knowledge with a fresh, unprecedented approach, is now available in book form! "Why did Buddhism disappear from India?", "Why did the Romans eat so uncomfortably while lying down?", "How did Britain become a nation of gentlemen?", "Why did foxes disappear only in Korea?", "The long-established restaurant culture created by Japan's philosophy of harmony"—from general knowledge that seems readily available everywhere to world history within food culture that enriches dinner conversations, to unexpected history filled with shocks and twists! Just reading will change your perspective on the world and make you more intelligent and sophisticated than yesterday, unfolding the most delicious and elegant humanities banquet!

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, wigs virtually disappeared from Europe.
This is because, as the Middle Ages began, the Church declared that wearing a wig was a sin greater than adultery.
Even the church said that wigs were a symbol of the devil, so no matter how much the church blessed them, they would not be able to receive grace because of the wig.
And from this time on, when attending mass in church, married women in particular had to cover their heads with a cloth.
Wigs were only able to make a comeback after the 1,000-year-long Middle Ages ended.
But there was syphilis in the background.
Europe in the 14th century was a time when the Black Death swept through humanity.
One in three people died.
Both the authority of God and the authority of the church have fallen to the ground.
The Middle Ages ended with the wavering belief that the Church could save humanity.
And history began a Renaissance that was more human-centered than God-centered.

---From "Why did European nobles wear flour wigs?"

So why are there so many incredibly old shops in Japan? And how is it possible for them to continue doing the same thing for generations? At its root lies the "harmony" (和), which has dominated Japan for 1,400 years.
Wa is the most important key to understanding not only old Japanese shops but also most Japanese culture.
The Chinese character for 'wa' is 'hwa', which means harmony, and is used in words like 'harmony' and 'harmony'.
Korean food is called Hansik (韓食), but what about Japanese food? Japanese food (日食)? No.
That's a phrase we only use in our country.
In Japan, it is called 'Washoku'.
Our clothes are called hanbok (Korean clothes), but Japanese clothes are called wafuku (Japanese clothes).
Korean sweets are called hangwa (韓菓), but Japanese sweets are called wagashi (和菓子).
As you can see from these words, Japan is harmonious.
The simplest way to interpret the Japanese word “wa” is to mean “to get along well.”
So how can we get along? It's about each person doing their own thing, in their own place.

---From "The Old-established Culture Created by Japan's Wa Thought"

Now, let's go back to the original question and find out why the Romans ate and drank in such an uncomfortable position.
First of all, eating while lying down was a symbol of status and power.
Basically, only the ruling class or wealthy class of Rome could afford to enjoy banquets of this scale, and they were the exclusive domain of men.
Women and children were also allowed to attend the wedding banquet at home, but they were required to sit upright at the table and eat the food.
It was not until the mid-Roman period that Roman women began attending banquets in the same oblique posture as men.


Even in the arrangement of the sofas, the upper and lower seats were strictly distinguished.
The middle seat is for the highest-ranking people among the banquet attendees.
The sofa on the left is the seat of the host who prepared the banquet.
And the seats on the right are occupied by those with the lowest status.
Roman banquets were so closely aligned with social status and power that they sometimes even served different foods according to class.
---From "Why did the Romans eat their food while lying down so uncomfortably?"

During this period, precision crafts such as jewellery making were developed in Switzerland.
Due to the religious reform atmosphere that emphasized frugality, many of them switched their business to the watch business.
They learned watchmaking techniques from Huguenot artisans, and when this was combined with the craftsmen's unique precision, high-quality watches began to pour out.
Switzerland had a very small population, so trade was the only way to survive.
In this respect, the watch was a product that fit Switzerland perfectly in many ways.
There are many narrow and rugged mountain paths, so if the product is bulky or heavy, it would be difficult to transport and sell it overseas.
However, the watch was small, light, and had high added value.
Swiss merchants made a fortune by selling watches in large bags over the Alps to France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
It was the first industry in Swiss history that could support many people, even if they were not mercenaries.
By the late 18th century, more than 20,000 people were working in the watch industry in Geneva alone, producing around 85,000 watches a year.
This is how Switzerland, the 'country of watches' that is now sweeping the world with ultra-expensive luxury watches, was created.

---From "The Secret of How Switzerland, Once Poor, Became the World's Richest Country"

Ships from Switzerland, Italy, France, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar frequently came and dumped unidentified round barrels into the waters off Somalia.
In Europe, it cost $1,000 per ton to dispose of this waste, but in Somalia, the warlords only had to pay $3 per ton.
Afterwards, Somalis living along the coast began to suffer from an unknown illness.
At first, nausea, skin diseases, and bleeding from the mouth and abdomen appeared, and later, the number of birth defects increased sharply.
…and that wasn’t all.
The trash also contained a large amount of nuclear waste.
The sudden onset of bleeding, cancer, and birth defects among Somalis was all due to radiation.
The Somali coast, once the only safe haven for survival, has become a sea of ​​death.
How should Somalis live now?

---From "Somalia, Why They Became Pirates"