Some of these I've seen before, but some I wonder about. Mod - delete if this is too OT...;)**

**In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted.  Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms.  Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are 'limbs,' therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression, 'Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg.'   (Artists know hands and arms are more difficult to paint)

As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year (May and October) Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs made from wool. They couldn't wash t he wigs, so to clean them they would carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake it for 30 minutes.  The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term 'big wig.' Today we often use the term 'here comes the Big Wig' because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.

In the late 1700's, many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board folded down from the wall, and was used for dining. The 'head of the household' always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man, would be invited to sit in this chair during a meal. To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge.  They called the one sitting in the chair the 'chair man.' Today in business, we use the expression or title 'Chairman' or 'Chairman of the Board..'

Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions.  When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told, 'mind your own bee's wax.'  Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term 'crack a smile'.  In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt . . . Therefore, the expression 'losing face.'

Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in 'straight laced'. . Wore a tightly tied lace.

Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the 'Ace of Spades.'  To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't 'playing with a full deck.'

Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the people considered important. Since there were no telephones, TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs, and bars.  They were told to 'go sip some ale' and listen to people's conversations and political concerns.. Many assistants were dispatched at different times.  'You go sip here' and 'You go sip there.' The two words 'go sip' were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and, thus we have the term 'gossip.'

At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming.  She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in 'quarts,' hence the term 'minding your'P's and Q's '

One more and betting you didn't know this!

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls.  It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon.  However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?  The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen.  Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.  There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round indentations.

However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled.

Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey.  Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.' (All this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you.)
**
**

Thank you for that

i really like them.. wish people would come up with more interesting history facts..they ought to teach that at school..then everyone would be aces at history!!

I know the last one is right.

And from the same era came the expression '3 square meals'. This is because ships dinner plates were square to help prevent them sliding off the table or racks. They were also cheaper to make. This then became a gaurantee when signing on for a voyage, that you would get three square meals a day.

The bath thing is (slightly) misleading to today's sanitary-minded populace.  A bath was a full-body immersion.... and in older times, heating a full bath was a major production.... you had the entire family lined up and cauldrons of water were heated. 
On the other hand, washing by means of smaller containers of water and a wash-rag were the common route to use (or dunking in the local stream/river).  Ever see the movie "Witness" with Harrison Ford as a detective hiding out in Amish country?  There's a scene with washing that is quite clear on how it works.

Why was the metal plate called a 'monkey' in the first place?

Probably a bastardisation of a french word or words.

Quote - Probably a bastardisation of a french word or words.

What...'minky'?

HTFWIK ?

no... minkey is Cluseau's pronunciation of 'monkey'...;) I think that refererence 'bemmed' out...;)

I knew you meant that.... 

There was a BBC program showing how the Romans designed their water systems, absolutely bloody amazing!!
these long aqueducts only dropped one inch over a mile, one inch!!, they had to be that precise, and they could do that back then!!

then when the water came to Pompei, it filled a small pool/reservoir, and it had 3 outlets, the one with deepest outlet was the main outlet for public fountains/drinkwater and road cleaning, so it always flowed in priority due to having a deeper channel, another went to public baths and last to private mansions which was the first to be shut or dry up when water was low.

the water went down a steep hill, it's force would thus be so fierce it could break a man's arm
so, they came up with a way to over come that
every so often on the street, there's be a 10' square brick tower going up 20+ feet, on top would be a bronze water cistern
so, the high pressure water would rocket up pipes on the tower,and go into the cistern, thus losing force as it climbed
the water would then flow out of the cistern into fountains around the tower, so folk could get water, and then overflowed into the roads, which would thus be swept clean by the water which ran all the time. 

Roman engineering was bloody awesome! :)
old video I did with Bryce andmodel I made, showing how a ballista worked:
http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/movies/ballista_light.avi

Not sure if it was one owned by the Ermine Street Guard or if it was made for the program but I'm sure I saw some of the Time Team blokes ratcheting up one of those.  Probably either Phil or Tony.

I've seen them a couple of times on Time Team, but don't think I saw that one, alas!
I taped and kept a video of "What the Romans did for Us", which showed details of the workings of ballistas etc.
Very interesting stuff! :)

PS
I love history ;)

Check out snopes, most if not all of these (which seem to turn up on eevery forum I belong to at some point) have been debunked there.