When Chocolate was Medicine: Colmenero, Wadsworth and Dufour

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Chocolate has not always been the common confectionary we experience today. When it first arrived from the Americas into Europe in the 17th century it was a rare and mysterious substance, thought more of as a drug than as a food. Christine Jones traces the history and literature of its reception.

Poseidon taking chocolate from Mexico to Europe, a detail from the frontispiece to Chocolata Indaby Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, 1644 – Source.

n the seventeenth century, Europeans who had not traveled overseas tasted coffee, hot chocolate, and tea for the very first time. For this brand new clientele, the brews of foreign beans and leaves carried within them the wonder and danger of far-away lands. They were classified at first not as food, but as drugs — pleasant-tasting, with recommended dosages prescribed by pharmacists and physicians, and dangerous when self-administered.

Romney Will Not Run for President in ’16

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After a three-week flirtation with a new campaign for the White House, Mitt Romney announced Friday that he will not seek the presidency in 2016.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney told supporters on a conference call.

The exit of Romney, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, comes after several of his former major donors and a veteran staffer in the early voting state of Iowa defected to support former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

How To Be The Smartest Person At Your Super Bowl Party

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Chances are high that on February 1st, you’re going to be watching the Super Bowl. We use the term “watching” loosely: Maybe you’re the type of person who will find any excuse to eat and drink without remorse and this faux holiday is right up your alley. Regardless, you don’t want to attend a social function and not have any knowledge about what’s taking place. This isn’t the 2012 Presidential Election.

Take these fun, insightful and interesting facts about Super Bowl XLIX (that’s 49, for those of you who struggle with Roman numerals) and pawn them off as your own to wow your friends, new and old. Who doesn’t love fun facts? No one, that’s who! Everyone will be so impressed that they’ll totally forget that you didn’t know who Jill Stein was in 2012.

Russia in Color, a Century Ago

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An Armenian woman in national costume poses for Prokudin-Gorskii on a hillside near Artvin (in present day Turkey), circa 1910. Google Map, (Prokudin-Gorskii Collection/LOC)

With images from southern and central Russia in the news lately due to extensive wildfires, I thought it would be interesting to look back in time with this extraordinary collection of color photographs taken between 1909 and 1912. In those years, photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook a photographic survey of the Russian Empire with the support of Tsar Nicholas II.

Vatican to Offer Haircuts, Shaves as Well as Showers to Rome’s Homeless

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The Vatican will offer homeless people in Rome not only showers but also haircuts and shaves when new facilities open next month, the head of Pope Francis’ charity office said.

The Vatican announced last year that it would provide shower facilities in St Peter’s Square for homeless people.

Bishop Konrad Krajewski told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire on Thursday that it would also offer haircuts and shaves when the services start on Feb. 16 in an area under the colonnade of the square.

Krajewski, whose official title is the pope’s almoner, said barbers and hairdressers would volunteer their services on Mondays, the day their shops are traditionally closed in Italy.

They had already donated chairs, hair-cutting instruments, and mirrors, the newspaper’s website said.

NYPD to Launch a Beefed-Up Counter Terrorism Squad

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The NYPD will launch a unit of 350 cops to handle both counter terrorism and protests — riding vehicles equipped with machine guns and riot gear — under a re-engineering plan to be rolled out over the coming months.

The Strategic Response Group, or SRG, will be devoted to “advanced disorder control and counterterrorism protection,” responding to the sort of demonstrations that erupted after the Eric Garner grand-jury decision and also events like the recent Paris terror attacks.

Suge Knight Just Killed a Guy on a Movie Set

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Death Row Records founder Suge Knight ran over a man, possibly killing him, during an argument on a movie set where The Game, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were filming, TMZ reports.

Suge Knight got into a fight on the set of a film project in Compton, and ran over a man and we’re told the victim is dead.

We’re told a fight broke out between Suge and 2 crew members. Suge got back into his car, took the wheel and threw the vehicle in reverse … and ran over a bystander.

Bill to Keep Police Body Cam Videos Private Raises Alarm

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A bill introduced in the Minnesota House on Thursday would keep any videos recorded by police body cameras private, alarming those who say it would hinder efforts to hold police accountable.

Sponsors say the cameras are likely to record embarrassing personal information about people dealing with police at extremely traumatic points in their lives.

But others say if the videos are kept secret it defeats the purpose of the cameras, which is to record how officers interact with the public — and serve as a check on police abusing their authority.

A handful of police departments across Minnesota already are using body cameras.

A Rare Megamouth Shark Just Washed Up in the Philippines

Taliban Arrests ISIS Leader For ‘Anti-Islamic Activities’

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The Pajhwok Afghan News reported the Taliban captured Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) leader Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim along with 45 supporters. The United States detained Khadim at Guantanamo Bay, but released him to Afghanistan in 2007.

Afghan security officials did not confirm the detention, but a Taliban commander relayed the information to Pajhwok Afghan News. Orders for Khadim’s arrest came from Taliban Governor Mullah Abdul Rahim Akhund “because he was against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban’s official name” and “involved in anti-Islamic activities.” Taliban religious leaders and judges will judge Khadim and the 45 men.