Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for October 14, 2013
October 13, 2013
October 15, 2013
Transcript:
Tomatoes were believed to be poisonous in northern Europe and the United States until the 19th century. The tale of the Hemeroplanes moth caterpillar of South America looks like the head of a deadly viper! Joan of Navarre (1370-1437), Queen of England from 1403 214 13 was in prison for witchcraft in 1419.
More From Ripley's Believe It or Not
dr_dolittle_rwc almost 11 years ago
How do you KNOW she’s a witch!?!
green8019 almost 11 years ago
Gotta love the Church! They’re still at it centuries later………… :/
Linda1259 almost 11 years ago
For a time in history, people believed that the “apple” in the Garden of Eden was really a tomato!
ABADABA almost 11 years ago
Tomato and Potato both members of the Nightshade Family
Dkram almost 11 years ago
Now I just saw a TV show that claims that nobody ever thought that tomatoes were poisonous, they were just not liked..Eh, depends on who’s talking I guess..\\//_
loner34 almost 11 years ago
I now a lady who is allergic to tomatos, she has a VERY bad reaction if she eats even a very small amount.Something like that may have caused people to think they were poison.
Kerovan almost 11 years ago
They do. At the time they were thought to be poisonous, people called them Wolf Berries too.
John W Kennedy Premium Member almost 11 years ago
The Church had nothing to do with it; it was a political quarrel, in which she was accused of poisoning her stepson, King Henry V. The fact that she was only held prisoner (which, at that time, didn’t even count as a punishment) and was then released after four years indicates that those in power couldn’t have taken it very seriously. Someone must just have wanted her moved off the board for a while, and the poisoning/witchcraft charge was just a device.
As to tomatoes:A) Parts of the tomato plant are poisonous, but not the fruit.B) And some people understood that.C) But some people did not. My great-great-grandmother, who died sometime in the 1920s, refused to eat one all her life on the grounds that they were poisonous.
i_am_the_jam almost 11 years ago
It could have been anything.
And I think she was charged with witchcraft because she was more Protestant than Catholic.
tuslog64 almost 11 years ago
I’ve heard that a tomato plant can be grafted onto a jimson weed and create a poisonous tomato. true or false?(I’m not going to try it to find out!)One of the chemicals in a jimson weed is atropene -the antidote for nerve gas!
tigerchik32 almost 11 years ago
You barbarian! Killing a poor squirrel!
Stephen Gilberg almost 11 years ago
The tomato was once called “the wolf peach” by people who thought it deadly.
darkbolt almost 11 years ago
Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous because people ate off of lead plates, and the acid in the tomato juice dissolved the acid, giving everyone lead poisoning. Or so I’ve heard…
Kirby_Dots almost 11 years ago
I thought the reason people thought they were poisonous was due to the fact that they are part of the nightshade family.
dr_dolittle_rwc almost 11 years ago
And THEREFORE…..
BRI-NO-MITE!! Premium Member almost 11 years ago
The leaves of the tomato plant are poisonous.