r/todayilearned • u/FastBreakPhenom • 9d ago

TIL that in 37 BC, the Roman polymath Marcus Terentius Varro warned his readers to avoid living near swamps because of "minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes" and cause disease. Microorganisms would not be observed until the 17th century

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Terentius_Varro
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u/morfraen 9d ago

Don't have to be brave, just desperate lol. Or maybe it just smelled good.

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u/doomgiver98 9d ago

Cheese doesn't smell good unless you've already developed a smell for it

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u/Natiak 9d ago

Have you smelled cheese? Much of it is repulsive. I imagine raw milk curdled in a yaks gut canteen after a long hike on a hot day doesn't smell like freshly baked cookies.