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How one goat herder started humanity's centuries-long coffee craze

The world's favorite drink has a rich, robust history.

history of coffee, coffee, coffee near me
Representative Image from Canva

Goats are the GOAT for discovering coffee.

Had a cup of coffee today? If yes, you are part of the world’s 4.83 billion coffee drinkers. That’s approximately 60% of our entire adult population.

Coffee is virtually everywhere, in various different forms. A dark roast americano at the press of a button at home. Fancy lattes at the nearest coffee shop, of which there are two more across the street. The cheap, diluted stuff from the gas station. The possibilities are endless.

Coffee is so commonplace now that it’s almost hard to fathom a time before it…a time when people had to either take a nap or surrender to being tired all day (those were the real dark times).

But just like every modern day convenience, coffee has an origin story. And a pretty interesting one at that.

As a video from Ted-Ed explains, coffee is said to have been discovered by a goat herder.

So sayeth the Ethiopian legend: A goat herder named Kaldi noticed that when members of his flock began to eat the berries off of a certain tree, they’d get bursts of energy. When Kaldi decided to try the berries himself, he too got a jolt.

Considering Ethiopia is where most agree that coffee originated, why not go with their legend? Coffee was being foraged here by the 1400s, but instead of roasting the beans, the leaves would be brewed just like tea. Or the berries would be combined with butter and salt for a quick energy snack. (I’ll stick to my chocolate covered espresso beans, thank you very much.)

Eventually the berries would be made into an “energizing elixir” and traded along the route to the Middle East. By the 1450s, coffee was already popular in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Yemen and Persia.

By this time, coffee was also used for ritual worship in Yemen, which brought about the new brewing methods of roasting and grinding the beans. Dark roast lovers…you can thank the Ottoman Empire.

There was even a period in the 1500s when authorities tried to ban coffee, for fear that it was too much of an intoxicating drug (which, scientifically speaking, isn’t too inaccurate). But eventually that concern was ruled out, and coffee houses began popping up all over the map, spreading to Istanbul, Damascus, and beyond.

Not only more coffee shops, but coffee bean farms. And this is where we got certain names for coffee drinks, like Mocha and Java.

By the 1650s, at the dawn of the Enlightenment Period, coffee shops were opened in Europe. This had an especially powerful effect on London culture, as tavern-going was replaced by attending coffee houses, dubbed “penny universities.” For just one penny (the price of a cup of coffee), customers could not only get a burst of energy, but exposure to new ideas from academics, artists, and intellectuals.

Of course, new ways of thinking didn’t really sit well with King Charles II at the time. Fearing that it might become a threat to his throne, he attempted to “close coffee-houses altogether,” an order which he went back on two days before it would go into effect, as Brian Cowan writes in “The Social Life of Coffee: The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse.”

By 1906, when the world’s first commercial espresso machine and industrial roasting machine were introduced, we began getting our first coffee brands, which would slowly make their way into many homes around the globe. Only a few short years later, coffee breaks were introduced to a majority of workplaces. And here we are today, in a land where PSLs (pumpkin spice lattes, for the uninitiated) are an expected annual delight and you can take your cup of joe with a zillion different kinds of alternative milks. What a time to be alive.

Luckily, the ways of creating and consuming coffee continue to evolve in ways that are more ethical and sustainable. It’s no secret that, historically, slave labor was used to harvest the product, and Indigenous peoples have been displaced to secure more growing land. Today, there are certification efforts being made to right those wrongs, including livable wages and incorporating different farming techniques like agroforestry. There’s certainly more progress to be made here, but progress is being made nonetheless.

There you have it, folks. Next time you’re enjoying a nice cuppa joe, savor all the history that goes into every single sip.

Watch the full video below:

Elya/Wikimedia Commons

Should you hang the toilet paper roll over or under?

Humans have debated things large and small over the millennia, from democracy to breastfeeding in public to how often people ought to wash their sheets. But perhaps the most silly-yet-surprisingly heated household debate is the one in which we argue over which way to hang the toilet paper roll.

The "over or under" question has plagued marriages and casual acquaintances alike for over 100 years, with both sides convinced they have the soundest reasoning for putting their toilet paper loose end out or loose end under. Some people feel so strongly about right vs. wrong TP hanging that they will even flip the roll over when they go to the bathroom in the homes of strangers.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not merely an inconsequential preference. According to health experts and the man who invented the toilet paper roll, there is actually a "correct" way to hang toilet paper.

What is the correct way to hang a roll of toilet paper?

First, let's be clear about what we're even talking about here with a visual. In the image below, left is "over" and right is "under."

toilet paper, bathrooms, over or under, toilet roll, bathroom etiquetteToilet paper hung "over" (left) and "under" (right)Elya/Wikimedia Commons


So which one is the right way? According to health experts, "over" is the way to go.

"One key to maintaining a hygienic washroom is minimising contact between people and surfaces," Dr. Christian Moro, associate professor of health sciences and medicine at Bond University on Australia's Gold Coast, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "Depending on the type of roll holder, [hanging the toilet paper "over"] often lowers the chance that a user will touch the wall behind when fishing for paper, leaving germs behind on that surface which can be spread to the next user."

Picture it: Grabbing the end of the toilet paper when it's hung "over" means you only touch the part of the toilet paper you're going to use. When it's "under," you sometimes have to fish for it or scrape your fingers on the wall in order to grab the loose end. In addition to whatever might be on people's hands already, think about all the people who wipe twice, potentially transferring fresh fecal matter or other bacteria to the wall on the second pass, which then get picked up by other people who inadvertently touch that wall when trying to grab their TP.

Theoretically, we all should have become better hand washers during the pandemic, scrubbing with soap for the full 20 seconds it takes to remove bacteria. But I wouldn't be willing to bet on it.

toilet paper, empty toilet paper roll, batthroom, bathroom etiquette, over or underEmpty toilet paper roll.via Canva/Photos

And touching any surface in a bathroom is pretty nasty, according to a study from the University of Colorado. As Inc. reported: "Using a high-tech genetic sequencing tool, researchers identified 19 groups of bacteria on the doors, floors, faucet handles, soap dispensers, and toilets of 12 public restrooms in Colorado — six men’s restrooms and six women’s restrooms. Many of the bacteria strains identified could be transmitted by touching contaminated surfaces."

Bacteria means things like e.coli, which is a common source of food poisoning and one of the most common bacteria found on bathroom surfaces in the study. If you've ever had a bout of food poisoning, I'm sure you'll agree that a toilet paper roll hanging preference isn't worth risking it.

But sanitary health concerns aren't the only argument for the "over" camp. After all, the original patent for the toilet paper roll, issued in 1891, clearly shows the TP in the "over" position. Thank you for the clarity right from the get go, Mr. Wheeler.

toilet paper, bathrooms, over or under, toilet roll, bathroom etiquetteThe toilet paper roll was patented by Seth Wheeler in 1891.Public Domain


In Wheeler's patent, the perforated toilet paper hangs on a roll in the "over" position. In the words of the patent, the sheets of TP are “partially separated, having their points of attachment arranged in a novel manner, whereby each sheet will easily separate from the series as it is drawn from the roll, there being no litter occasioned, and any waste of paper is thereby prevented.”

Now, before the "under" folks come running with their pitchforks, there are some understandable exceptions to the "over" rule. Namely: cats and kids.

If you have a furry friend or a tiny toddler who likes to unroll the toilet paper roll, "over" makes it super fun for them, while "under" stops them in their tracks. For many people, cats and kids are the primary motivator of their TP hanging habits.

That doesn't change the fact that "over" is actually the "correct" way to hang toilet paper according to health science and the inventor's intention, of course, but "under" is certainly preferable to having a pile of TP on the floor.

Now go forth, do that with information as you will, and try to make peace with your over vs. under rivals.

This article originally appeared last year.

Canva, Wikipedia

A man shows off his dapper vest. Theo Von performs stand up.

Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III has come a long way from Louisiana, where he emancipated himself from his parents at just 14. While shedding parental supervision, he also shed most of his name, so you might only know him as Theo Von.

Just five years later, Theo became a cast member on MTV's Road Rules and subsequently appeared on four seasons of MTV's The Challenge. If you watched those shows, you'll know Theo never shies away from a funny quip, a weird take, something controversial bordering on dumb, or just plain awkward absurdity.

Theo Von,  comedian, fashion, UFC, gifTheo Von turns aroundGiphy Sport GIF by UFC

But through his now many years as a stand-up comic, content creator, and podcaster, he always asks interesting questions of his guests… and of himself. In an article for NOLA, he claimed his evolution of thought was born from having had the "frame of reference of a poor person."

Just recently, he took a stand on an extremely controversial topic: vests. That's right...that clothing item that used to be reserved only for tuxedo purposes or Diane Keaton. Brace yourselves: Theo is PRO-VESTS.

He breaks it down on his podcast. "Now I love a vest," he exclaims. "A vest is the only piece of clothing that you can look sharp and catch a football at the same time. Comfortably, okay?" He pauses for a split second as if to say, let THAT sink in. "If you wanna hug somebody and feel a little bit more of the hug than usual—THAT'S a vest."

He continues, "If you've been drinking all day or doing drugs or whatever and you don't know if you're supposed to go to a wedding or a rave, hmm, what am I gonna wear? A snorkel? No! A vest. And that's just a snorkel for your torso, baby. That f-ing vest."

Need more proof that a vest is the best? "If you're not sure if you're gonna be doing magic later on tonight," he says as he mimes doing magic, "Vest."

magic, magician, vest, clothing, theo vonKrendl magician doing a card trick in Virginia. www.flickr.com

"The crazy thing about vests is… they remember your body shape. Not a lot of different pieces of clothing remember your body like a vest does."

He compares it to protection during intimate moments, claiming that a vest remembers your contours. "A vest knows if you're a man or a woman. A vest knows. You want to have a gender reveal party? Tie a vest up around that womb. A vest knows. A vest knows a lot more than we think it does."

Theo himself dares his Instagram followers to "name a better clothing." After many puns, including what good "inVESTment" vests are, no one in the nearly 1,500 comments can beat it.

Interestingly, Reddit has claimed the "vest" has made a comeback, as recently as last year. On the subreddit r/femalefashion advice, one person asks, "I want to buy a vest, but I really don't know if it's just for now. I know vests have come and gone through the years, but I just recently started getting into fashion."

This shockingly receives over 100 comments, with one responding, "Oh, it’s definitely trendy. It’s a big part of the 20-year fashion cycle — right now the early 00s are trendy again. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn't enjoy the trend! There’s no such thing as timeless fashion, and you should wear things that you like."

vest, dancing, clothing, cheesy, christmasA woman dances wearing a Christmas vest.Giphy

Another Redditor offers this wise cautionary advice: "Vests can be a hard piece to pull off. The popular ones right now are an easy entry point, which is cool for folks wanting to experiment with their style. But I only see these types of vests being classic staples for a small amount of folk. So the vests everyone is wearing are trends, but not the article of clothing itself."

And this person really opposes the idea: "Girl, trendy. They were hot in the mid-late 90s and we wore them then for a few years and then haven’t seen them since. You’ll wear it a few times before the trend evolves (brocade floral vests instead of oatmeal blah linen vests?) and then after that it will be gone completely for another 20–30 years. Timeless is a myth."

Theo would probably answer that with, "You know what's not a myth? Vests."


Mel Robbins making a TED Talk.

Towards the end of The Beatles’ illustrious but brief career, Paul McCartney wrote “Let it Be,” a song about finding peace by letting events take their natural course. It was a sentiment that seemed to mirror the feeling of resignation the band had with its imminent demise.

The bittersweet song has had an appeal that has lasted generations, and that may be because it reflects an essential psychological concept: the locus of control. “It’s about understanding where our influence ends and accepting that some things are beyond our control,” Jennifer Chappell Marsh, a marriage and family therapist, told The Huffington Post. “We can’t control others, so instead, we should focus on our own actions and responses.”

This idea of giving up control (or the illusion of it) when it does us no good was perfectly distilled into two words that everyone can understand: "Let Them." This is officially known as the “Let Them” theory. Podcast host, author, motivational speaker and former lawyer Mel Robbins explained this theory perfectly in a vial Instagram video posted in May 2023.

“I just heard about this thing called the ‘Let Them Theory,’ I freaking love this,” Robbins starts the video.

“If your friends are not inviting you out to brunch this weekend, let them. If the person that you're really attracted to is not interested in a commitment, let them. If your kids do not want to get up and go to that thing with you this week, let them.” Robbins says in the clip. “So much time and energy is wasted on forcing other people to match our expectations.”

“If they’re not showing up how you want them to show up, do not try to force them to change; let them be themselves because they are revealing who they are to you. Just let them – and then you get to choose what you do next,” she continued.

The phrase is a great one to keep in your mental health tool kit because it’s a reminder that, for the most part, we can’t control other people. And if we can, is it worth wasting the emotional energy? Especially when we can allow people to behave as they wish and then we can react to them however we choose?

@melrobbins

Stop wasting energy on trying to get other people to meet YOUR expectations. Instead, try using the “Let Them Theory.” 💥 Listen now on the #melrobbinspodcast!! “The “Let Them Theory”: A Life Changing Mindset Hack That 15 Million People Can’t Stop Talking About” 🔗 in bio #melrobbins #letthemtheory #letgo #lettinggo #podcast #podcastepisode

How you respond to their behavior can significantly impact how they treat you in the future.

It’s also incredibly freeing to relieve yourself of the responsibility of changing people or feeling responsible for their actions. As the old Polish proverb goes, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

“Yes! It’s much like a concept propelled by the book ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k.’ Save your energy and set your boundaries accordingly. It’s realizing that we only have “control” over ourselves and it’s so freeing,” one viewer wrote.

“Let It Be” brought Paul McCartney solace as he dealt with losing his band in a very public breakup. The same state of mind can help all of us, whether it’s dealing with parents living in the past, friends who change and you don’t feel like you know them anymore, or someone who cuts you off in traffic because they’re in a huge rush to go who knows where.

The moment someone gets on your nerves and you feel a jolt of anxiety run up your back, take a big breath and say, “Let them.”

let them theory, let it be, paul mccartney, the beatles, exhalethe beatles wave GIFGiphy

This article originally appeared last year.

A graduate, a teacher, and woman reading a book.

Why are some people mentally sharp as they reach their late 80s, while others begin to have “senior moments” in their 60s and have a sharp mental decline thereafter? A recent study published in Psychological Science has found that the key component to remaining mentally sharp into advanced age is having a sense of purpose.

The study was led by Dr. Gabrielle Pfund of Auburn University and colleagues from Rush University and Washington University in St. Louis. “I have been interested in the construct of sense of purpose since early in my graduate school experience,” Pfund said, according to PsyPost. “As I continued throughout graduate school, I came across more and more research that highlighted the predictive power of purpose, particularly for healthy aging. Like many, I’ve personally experienced the pain of losing a loved one to dementia.”

Why is it so important to have a sense of purpose?

peacher, minister, man with bible, choir, churchA man holding a Bible.via Canva/Photos

Pfund and her team learned the importance of purpose after conducting a study on 1,702 people, 65 years old and older, and asking them about their mental sharpness and levels of well-being for up to 10 years.

“This study focuses on the reciprocal relationship between cognitive function with three domains of well-being: (1) sense of purpose (the extent to which one feels they have personally meaningful goals and activities), (2) eudaimonic well-being (one’s sense of autonomy, personal growth, purpose, and connection to others), and (3) life satisfaction (one’s sense of contentment with their life),” Pfund explained.

The study found that people with a sense of purpose were likely to keep their mental sharpness, and when people experience cognitive decline, it has a greater effect on their sense of purpose than on general life satisfaction. “I expected the findings to be stronger for sense of purpose than life satisfaction, and that ended up being the case,” Pfund said.

What is a sense of purpose?

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Pfund’s study should make many consider whether they have a sense of purpose, especially as they get older and risk cognitive decline. But what type of purpose should we consider?

“Sense of purpose can be understood as the extent to which one feels that they have personally meaningful goals and directions guiding them through life,” Pfund said on The Mental Wellbeing Podcast. “So rather than saying ‘I have a purpose in life’ or ‘I do not,’ it's ‘how purposeful do I feel? ‘How high is my sense of purpose?’”

How do I find my life’s purpose?

woman raising hand, seminar, class, purpose, questionA woman raising her hand.via Canva/Photos

Pfund believes that a top-down approach, which involves thinking of our purpose and organizing our day-to-day lives around it, can be overwhelming. Instead, she recommends a bottom-down approach that starts with examining our daily interactions.

“Think about as you're going throughout your day, where are the moments that you feel purposeful? That short-term momentary experience of purpose. If you feel purposeful when you're spending time with your friends or when you're learning new information, reading a good book, making podcasts,” she told Indi, the show's host. “If you're able to identify moments where you feel purposeful, then, over time, maybe you can use those moments to find similarities and what all of these experiences have and start to figure out … what your purpose in life may be.”

@mirandafaye/TikTok

“Proof men need more platonic love in their lives."

What started out as a silly phone prank has turned into an incredibly wholesome TikTok trend—which some are saying might help heal male loneliness.

On May 16, a woman named Miranda filmed her husband calling a few of his buddies just to wish them goodnight. As you can probably expect, the dudes were quite stunned.

“Why? Are you thinking of me for real?” one says, flabbergasted. “God damn I love you too […] I don’t know what to say; you caught me off guard.”

“Uhhhhh…excuse me? Sweet dreams?” asked another, in shock.

The clip quickly went mega viral, racking up three million views. But more importantly, viewers agreed that it actually filled a very real need.

“Proof men need more platonic love in their lives,” wrote one person

Another added, “This is gonna heal the male loneliness epidemic.”

Pretty soon, the trend caught on, with all kinds of guys calling their bros to wish them a good night. Sure, it’s funny to watch—the “WTF?” reactions are pretty priceless—but also undeniably sweet in its own way.

@beefingwiththeblacks Should he post the other ones..? 😬😅😂 @Juss_inTimeHD🦎⏰ @Josh Mukendi @callmeCollins.h.d.c IB: @Sammy D #couplescomedy #friends #homeboy #goodnight #sleeptight #bedtime #sweetdreams ♬ original sound - Mr&MrsBlack


@sydsacks I’ve been cracking up at this trend so I made Peter call his besties to say goodnight 🤪 #goodnight #besties ♬ original sound - syd


@wendyxjason Goodnight trend had me balling - proud of our friends ❤️😭 #goodnighttrend #goodnightprank#fypシ ♬ original sound - WendyxJason

Even celebrities have hopped on board. Boxer Jake Paul filmed himself wishing a goodnight to streamer Adin Ross. Meanwhile, Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil called up his NFL teammates Jayden Daniels and Sam Hartman, who called him “bonkers.”

@selianacarvalho At least they were all concerned 😭 #nfl #commanders #httc #funny ♬ original sound - Seli

With each new video, new comments supporting the trend came rolling in as well.

“NORMALIZE THIS TYPE OF MALE BEHAVIOR.””

“My favorite trend.”

“I’m convinced this trend is gonna save someone’s life when they’re at their lowest.”

And perhaps this theory isn’t so far off. After all, men in the US, especially those under 35, have been ranked as the loneliest demographic in the entire world, according to a recent Gallup poll. This is due to a variety of societal factors, including both the expectation for men to be strong and independent (i.e. misunderstood stoicism), as well as the encouragement for men to focus on money and success rather than building close friendships.

Add to that an increasingly more digital world, which has led many men to seek belonging in, as psychotherapist Justin Yong put it in his interview with Fortune Well, “toxic digital occupiers like gaming and porn.” This "manosphere," as many call it, might give a “short term dopamine hit,” but ultimately “replaces real intimacy and acts as a barrier to being vulnerable to how they might be feeling,” he explained.

So, call it a frivolous viral trend, but it could also be a sign to give your homie a call tonight. It could help build much needed human connection, or, at the very least, it’ll give you a good laugh.