Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
ASTROLABES
Noun
astrolabes
plural of astrolabe
Source: Wiktionary
ASTROLABE
As"tro*labe, n. Etym: [OE. astrolabie, astrilabe, OF. astrelabe, F. astrolabe, LL. astrolabium, fr. Gr.
1. (Astron.)
Definition: An instrument for observing or showing the positions of the stars. It is now disused.
Note: Among the ancients, it was essentially the armillary sphere. A graduated circle with sights, for taking altitudes at sea, was called an astrolabe in the 18th century. It is now superseded by the quadrant and sextant.
2. A stereographic projection of the sphere on the plane of a great circle, as the equator, or a meridian; a planisphere. Whewell.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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GUILLOTINE
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