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Random Facts about Shoes
ODD FACTS ABOUT SHOES
Grecian shoes were peculiar in reaching to the middle of the
legs. The present fashion of shoes was introduced into
England in 1633. In the ninth and tenth centuries the
greatest princes of Europe wore wooden shoes. Slippers were
in use before Shakespeare's time, and were originally made
"rights" and "lefts." Shoes among the Jews were made of
leather, linen, rush or wood; soldiers' shoes were sometimes
made of brass or iron. In the reign of William Rufus of
England, in the eleventh century, a great beau, "Robert, the
Horned," used shoes with sharp points, stuffed with tow, and
twisted like rams' horns.
The Romans made use of two kinds of
shoes--the solea, or sandal, which covered the sole of the
foot, and was worn at home and in company, and the calceus,
which covered the whole foot and was always worn with the
toga when a person went abroad. In the reign of Richard II.,
shoes were of such absurd length as to require to be
supported by being tied to the knees with chains, sometimes
of gold and silver. In 1463 the English parliament took the
matter in hand and passed an act forbidding shoes with
spikes more than two inches in length being worn and
manufactured.
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