Name: 10 Everyday Objects With Shockingly Dark Histories
Uploaded: 2026-02-01T17:03:40.000Z
Duration: 14 min
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This has its previous life permanently imprinted on it.

And today, we're looking at 10 items you use every day without realizing their shady origins.

So how did treadmills evolve from this to this?

Few treats feel as innocent or indulgent as a chocolate bar.

But behind that crisp snap is a history that's anything but sweet.

If you can't imagine life without chocolate, you're lucky you weren't born before the 16th century.

Chocolate's rise in Europe was fueled by colonial exploitation.

Enslaved labor produced cocoa primarily for royals and other nobles.

While the wrappers have gotten shinier in the modern world, the problem hasn't gone away.

Today, much of the world's cocoa still comes from West Africa, where an estimated 1.5 million children work in hazardous conditions.

The fashionable drink was difficult and time consuming to produce on a large scale.

That involved using plantations and imported slave labor in the Caribbean and on islands off the coast of Africa.

Many are sadly trafficked or forced into labor.

Major companies have pledged reform for decades, but little has been done.

Chocolate is marketed as comfort, celebration, and love.

But its supply chain continues to expose one of the most bitter contradictions of modern consumer culture.

Children as young as four are brought to farms to become conditioned to such an environment as they grow.

But new rules are being introduced in Europe that aim to enforce stricter protection of human and children's rights as well as the environment.

And producers in countries like Ghana believe they could be affected.

High heels may be a modern fashion statement, but their origins trace back to the battlefield.

Heels helped Persian cavalrymen secure their feet in stirrups, improving balancing during combat.

European aristocrats and counter to the style in the 17th century.

And heels quickly became symbols of masculinity and status, worn proudly by men like King Louis xiv.

But what happens quite quickly is women start to emulate male fashion.

And part of that is they start wearing men's shoes.

The real big moment is when Louis XIV of France starts wearing heels.

Over time, though, men abandoned them, and heels were gradually rebranded for women.

What followed was a shift from utility to aesthetics.

Designs increasingly altered posture, limited mobility, and emphasized sexuality.

Today, heels are marketed as symbols of elegance and empowerment, even as they're linked to chronic pain and injury.

We looked at all the research on high heels, and they are not healthy.

There was increased risk of musculoskeletal conditions.

An object once tied to war and authority ultimately became a quiet tool of social Expectation and gendered control.

Many ancient civilizations didn't use soft pillows at all.

Instead, they slept on hard supports made of stone, wood, or porcelain.

Secondly, the pillow is made of clay and is from 13th century China.

These early pillows were used to protect posture or elaborate hairstyles.

Softer pillows eventually emerged, often tightly stuffed and elevated.

Their purpose was to keep sleepers away from insects.

But pillows also became notorious for trapping filth, parasites and disease, Especially in crowded cities and poorly ventilated spaces.

In places like 19th century opium dens, communal pillows were reused, endlessly spreading illness and infestation.

What we now associate with rest and relaxation was once a calculated defense against pests.

But at times, it was also a vector for discomfort and disease.

You'll probably think, well, maybe it's a box with a decorated lid.

It certainly doesn't look like any pillow that you know.

But hard pillows made of stone, wood or bronze were buried in Han dynasty tombs.

Beginning over 2,000 years ago, they were tomb furnishings, Status symbols for the dead.

About the seventh century, ceramic pillows became part of daily life.

Bikes are a symbol of freedom and independence.

But they began in an era of fear and social backlash.

They first surged in popularity during the late 19th century.

Critics warned they were physically dangerous and morally repugnant, especially for women.

What started out as a plaything for the nobility Was now mobilizing the masses, and

The first women who began riding bikes in the 1890s were very bold.

They had to adjust their clothing, as riding a bike with a floor length skirt would have been difficult.

It meant they enjoyed the same kind of freedoms as men.

They were independent, able to go out on trips and escape the control of their family or husband.

Doctors claimed cycling could cause everything from spinal damage to infertility.

Newspapers fretted about bicycle face, a supposed condition caused by improper exertion.

The bike is a turning point for women in the late 19th century and mobilizes the women's rights movement.

It was unladylike to have to ride a bicycle, and

that was, oh my, you might see someone's ankle, God forbid.

Even clothing became controversial as women adopted bloomers.

To the chagrin of social conservatives, Some cities even considered placing restrictions on female riders.

Manufacturers redesigned bicycles to reinforce proper posture and behavior.

What we now see as a simple means of transport was first treated as a Threat to the gendered social order.

You no longer were needing an escort Unless the person was riding a bicycle next to you.

Angeline allen attracts attention riding in tight blue pants.

So the women decided, what do I need a corset for?

I can't breathe and bike at the same time.

That really was the dawn of the women's revolution.

Denim Denim feels timeless and universal.

For well over a century, it's been a staple of western fashion.

But denim's history is inseparable from racial exploitation.

People don't necessarily think about how their blue jeans came to be blue.

Historically, that's because of the indigo dye.

Centuries ago, indigo was said to be worth its weight in gold.

The fabric traces back to cotton production, an industry built on slavery.

Long after this was abolished, denim remained tied to racist systems like sharecropping and convict leasing.

In these systems, black americans were still abused for profit.

In the late 19th century, denim workwear became standard issue for prisoners and laborers forced into brutal conditions.

They were the essential clothing of a hard day in the mines when Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss patented the idea to use a metal rivet to hold denim together.

Over time, denim moved from factories and fields into mainstream fashion.

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10 Everyday Objects With Shockingly Dark Histories

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