this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
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History Memes

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Ah, now you can finally smoke safely! (infosec.pub)
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[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 136 points 1 day ago (23 children)

I am once again reminding the world that the ancient Romans warned not to buy slaves from asbestos mines because of the health issues they had.

We have known for a very long time that asbestos was bad and we keep using it to this day.

At least we aren't using it to make easy clean tablecloths and napkins that only need to be thrown in a fire to clean...

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 11 points 1 day ago (4 children)

What did the Romans use asbestos for?

[–] protist@mander.xyz 23 points 1 day ago

I found this:

Both the Greeks and the Romans employed asbestos as wicking material for their oil lamps. In fact, the very word “asbestos” comes from a Greek word meaning “inextinguishable.” In a world where lamplight extended work hours, a lamp wick made from chrysotile asbestos would burn almost indefinitely. In addition to lamp wicks, the Greeks and Romans used the long fibers of the serpentine form of asbestos in weaving textiles.

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