Curiosities

For early modern Europeans, the unicorn was not just a creature of legend but a matter of fact. Its horn, or “alicorn,” was believed to cure all ailments and protect against poison. In reality, these miraculous substances often came from narwhals from the Arctic seas, which caused quite the marketing challenge when the connection started to come to light...

This is the story of how an unassuming bird on a small island off the coast of Africa became entangled with the first truly global corporation and came to symbolise capitalist greed.