Crazy Things People Used To Celebrate

The past was a whole other time for people, and while some of these old customs might seem funny, they're actually really, really crazy and weird. Bustle put together a list of things that people used to celebrate... and I don't even know why.

• Shivaree was how someone would celebrate a new couple's wedding and marriage if they didn't approve of it. On the couple's wedding night, those celebrating would stand outside and bang pots and pans, scream and be a general nuisance trying to disrupt the couple from sleeping or consummating their marriage.
• Testing a bride's virginity in medieval Europe because when a king or prince was promised a virgin, they wanted to make sure they got what they were promised. So they would historically hang the bed sheets outside of the window and if they were bloodstained than she was a virgin and they would celebrate, if they were not than the prince or king had been deceived and there would be trouble.
• The birth of a son was once considered especially important in order to continue the lineage of a family. Wives would be in agony during their pregnancies hoping they would bear a son for their husband. Celebrations would erupt if a son was had, but trouble would fall over the wife if she bore a daughter instead.

These sexist standards from history have (mostly) be done away with. Traditions like these are crazy, silly, and it's weird to think that any of these things ever happened at all. Be thankful that you weren't born in medieval Europe!

(via Bustle)