The Bizarre and Dangerous Beauty Trends of Ancient Times

Black Teeth

Ohaguro was the practice of dying one's teeth black with a drink made of iron, cinnamon, and different dark spices. This was extremely popular in Japan in the late 1800s-1900s. Even though this looks strange and grim, the cocktail actually protected people's teeth from rot.

Victorian Piercings

Men getting their genitals pierced was a popular practice in the Victorian-era. Have you ever heard of a "Prince Albert"? Yeah, that was Queen Victoria's husband.

The More You Know

When a piece of bread is toasted, it's called the "Maillard reaction."
Commercial flights were allowed to fly any course to their destination and would often detour over points of interest. This ended in 1956 when two planes crashed mid-flight over the Grand Canyon.
Danny Devito used to work as a hairdresser. For corpses.
A pack of chihuahuas once terrorized a town in Arizona.

Post originally appeared on Upbeat News.