In ancient Egypt, traitors had their tongues cut off and limbs severed before being left to die. Forgers lost the hand that wrote. During Europe’s plague, the rich fled to estates while the poor whipped each other to appease God. Peter the Great taxed those who refused to shave beards—100 rubles for merchants, 60 for nobles, 30 for commoners. Medieval duels were deemed divine judgments, with judges relying on God to favor the truthful. Louis XV boiled an assassin’s legs in water before quartering him. Newton, as Royal Society president, erased all portraits of rival scientist Hooke. Arab traders enslaved Africans as early as the 1st century, continuing even after Europe banned the trade. Pre-Enlightenment French bathed only under medical supervision, greasing children’s skin to plug pores. Lincoln’s disproportionate body and gaunt face hinted at a fatal illness—his assassination only hastened the inevitable.
History brims with absurdity and cruelty. Yet from suffering springs wisdom, and from reflection, civilization. Let us learn from the past: tyranny crumbles, but compassion endures. No system is perfect, but humility and self-awareness honor those who came before.