Bizarre Historical Beliefs and Practices

Ancient Romans used urine as mouthwash because it contains ammonia which whitens teeth.

Collectors would even gather it from public urinals to sell. Vikings used to

navigate oceans by carrying ravens on their ships and releasing them to find land.

The birds would fly toward the nearest shore giving sailors direction. In medieval times

people believed barnacle geese grew from barnacles on trees because no one had seen their

Arctic nesting grounds. This let them classify the birds as fish so they could eat them during Lent

when meat was forbidden. History gets really strange when you dig deeper.