Word: 1680s
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...such language the Lord Chief Justice of England's most renowned court of law, London's Old Bailey, ladled out a generous helping of what was known as British justice in the 1680s. It was shocking language from a judge, but few Britons were shocked. In the courts, as on the street, the times had a raw, cruel edge. Defendants stood trial in irons, professional witnesses under the court's protection glibly swore to false evidence, juries were bullied unmercifully...
...sailors considered the dodo a very stupid bird (doudo is Portuguese for stupid, foolish). It was larger than a turkey. It could not fly. Nor did it run when chased. Its flesh was nauseous. Man and the hogs he later imported to Mauritius exterminated the dodo in the 1680s. Not for two centuries did naturalists collect enough bones of the extinct bird to reconstruct its skeleton. There were no remnants of its flesh left after that lapse, and very few of its feathers. But enough pictures and written descriptions existed to satisfy bookish students of natural history...