Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9. GREEK FIRE
This was the secret weapon of the Byzantine Empire, used against enemy ships.
Greek Fire was a highly flammable, jelly-like substance, which was blasted through
bronze tubes mounted on the prows of Byzantine galleys, and could not be ex-
tinguished by water. It was first employed to repel an Arab fleet attacking Con-
stantinople in 673, and then successfully used in combat until the Empire's fall in
1453. To this day scientists are unsure of its exact formula but think that it probably
consisted of liquid petroleum, sulphur, naphtha and quicklime.
10. PAP SMEAR
Since 1943, cervical cancer has been detected using the Pap smear test, a gynaecolo-
gical procedure named after its inventor, the Athens-educated Greek-American doc-
tor, George Papanicolaou (1883-1962).
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