Blood, Wine, Poison, and Weddings, The History of The Color Red

0:01 Welcome to Strange History, when we talk about the weird, the wonderful, and sometimes mundane history of the world. Today, we're going to add a little color to the podcast and talk about the color red. Colors have different meanings, and red is no exception. Did you know that red is the first color that humans perceive after black and white. It's the color that baby see first before any other, and the first that those suffering from temporary color blindness after a brain injury can start to see again.

0:32 Red's dominance is even reflected in how colors are defined. Although different societies develop their names for colors at different times and in different ways, almost all of them named them in the same order. Red is the color of our blood and our hearts, and has symbolized love and fidelity and cultures across the world for centuries. Some even consider wearing red jewelry and accessories as one way to get ahead in the romance game. Red is also a prominent color found at weddings, from Roman times when brides wore red shawls to warrant love and fidelity, to China today, where red still brings good luck at weddings.

1:08 Chinese brides wear red wedding dresses are carried to their weddings on red letters, walk on a red carpet down the aisle, and are kissed under a red veil. The couple also receives red eggs as gifts upon the birth of their first child. Red is symbolic of the blood of Christ and has played an important role in Christianity. In Christian iconography, cardinals wear red robes, and the color is predominant in public worshiped garments and textiles. Adopting the color was also away for kings in the Middle Ages to show their god given right to rule.

1:41 Red became the color of regal, majesty and power. Charlemagne wore red shoes at his coronation as a visible symbol of his authority, as did Louis the fourteenth in his official portraits. In Chinese philosophy, red is one of the colors associated with the five elements of the world. Red for fire, yellow for earth, white for metal, black for water, and green for wood. The fire element, which is red, is linked to dynanism, leadership, confidence, aggression, and hypersensitivity. When Chinese emperors asked their personal fortune tellers to choose a color that would bring the most prosperity and good fortune to their rain.

2:16 Red was the answer in the zoo, hand zing song and ming dynasties. It was the royal color par excellence and was featured heavily in royal ceremonies.

2:31 When the Spaniards landed in Mexico in fifteen hundreds, they discovered textiles dyed vivid red. In Europe, the substance used to make red dye produced a weaker, browner hue. The Aztec secret was cocaneal, a small bug that was scraped off cactuses, dried, and then crushed. The Spaniards soon set up an extensive trading system to export cocaneal to Europe, where it became a red hot commodity. The Romans liked to decorate the walls of their villas and brightly colored frescoes. However, having the latest look in interior decor came at a price, as the pigment they used for the bright red was vermilion and was derived from the mineral cinnabar, a common ore of highly toxic mercury.

3:15 The miners, who were usually slaves or prisoners, who extracted cinnabar from the southern Spanish minds for Roman consumption were essentially given death sentences for their work. Scientists have found evidence that over forty thousand years ago, Stone Age hunters and gatherers ground up red clay to make body paint. Another use was for protection in the afterlife. In the Paleiptic period, people buried their dead with red powder in order to ward off evil spirits. One of the oldest forms of red comes from clay given the red hue by the mineral hematite.

3:50 In fact, evidence has been found that people in the Late Stone Age were grinding red ochre to paint their bodies. Red, along with white and black, was one of the only colors used by artist in the Paleithic Age because it was easily obtained by nature. The prehistoric Cave paintings and Ultimirah Spain, which date between fifteen thousand and sixteen five hundred BC. Wow, that's a long time ago our early examples of paintings with red oaker ochre. Red was also prominent in ancient China, with early examples of black and red pottery dating between five thousand and three thousand BC.

4:29 Traces of red oker were even found on a painter's palette inside the tomb of King tut in Egypt. Let's talk a little bit about cinnabar. This red range is in hues from brilliant scarlet to a deep black, and is named after the mineral from which it's made. This mercuric sulfide is highly toxic, but has been used since the time of the Egyptians. The brilliant color was favored by ancient Romans, who used it extensively in decorated Examples can be seen in the Wall of Pompeii. In fact, cinnabar was so prized in Roman times it costs more than Egyptian blue and red ochre from Africa.

5:10 From the twelfth century. Cinnabar was also used extensively in carved Chinese lacquerware, and ancient times or million pigments were made from cinnabar. This shouldn't be confused with the later paints, which are also called vermillion. They're at least twenty three shades of red crayons, and there are approximately forty different shades of the color red. The color red is considered to be the rarest hair color, with only one to two percent of the whole world's population having a special gene that causes it.

5:39 The color red occurs in the rarest in terms of natural hair thanks to the genetic mutation referred to as MC one R. This recessive gene can only be attained through genetics. However, due to this genetic mutation, those with naturally red hair are more prone to attaining sunburns, skin cancer, and other things because their bodies do not naturally develop vitamin D. Redheads are also considered to be more prone to pain and may need more anaesthesia compared to other people with darker or blonde hair.

6:12 The red fox is considered to be the largest among the family of true foxes. Red wine is considered to be the most popular variant of wine in the world. Among the variants of red wine, Cabernet Sauvognon is considered to be the most popular type in the world. Cabernet is made with full bodied red grapes that are heavily planted in the Bordeaux region of the country of France and are best known for its full, rich flavors that include a hint of woodsy and herbal flavors. The last fact about the color red is little red riding hood is one of the most popular children's tales in European countries.

6:46 The tale of Little Red riding Hood follows a young girl who was pursued by a wolf on a way to visit her grandmother. Originating from the early tenth century, this classic story has been made into various versions in many different countries of time. The most well known version of this children's tale was written by Charles Pearl, which teaches children that they should not speak with strangers and avoid trouble and danger. If you enjoyed this podcast, please describe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever else you get your podcasts.

7:17 This podcast was produced by Dead Time Productions and The rain Child of Amy Domestica. Thank you Spreaker for being such a great podcast. As by Ya