Looking for fresh inspiration to spark romance? These 10 dating tips, harvested from the annals of history, offer quirky, clever, and sometimes downright daring strategies to up your love game. Whether you’re courting a new flame or rekindling an old spark, let the past be your guide.

10 Use A Fan For Subtle Flirting

Fans have fluttered through centuries, but it was the eighteenth‑century European ladies who turned them into covert communication tools. By mastering a secret ‘fan language’, women could send flirtatious signals without uttering a word, turning a simple accessory into a sophisticated love‑signal.

The repertoire was surprisingly extensive—over thirty distinct gestures. For instance, shielding one’s eyes behind an open fan whispered, “I love you,” while holding the fan in the left hand hinted at a desire to converse. Twirling the fan on the left side warned a suitor that onlookers were watching, making every flick a nuanced conversation.

9 Find A Partner At The Marriage Market

Herodotus recorded a Babylonian custom that guaranteed everyone—rich or poor, beautiful or plain—found a spouse. The community gathered at a bustling marriage market where men placed bids on prospective wives.

Initially, the most attractive women fetched the highest offers, pairing them with affluent suitors. As the auction progressed to women deemed less desirable—whether due to age, disability, or appearance—the dynamic flipped: the auctioneer paid participants to take these women as wives, and the lowest bid secured a match. The funds came from the surplus generated by the earlier sales, ensuring every woman walked away with a husband and a dowry.

The market welcomed outsiders, barred fathers from dictating matches, and required each bidder to have a guarantor. Moreover, every transaction carried a money‑back guarantee, safeguarding both parties if the union soured.

8 Share A Secret Language

When privacy was a luxury, clever couples devised covert ways to whisper sweet nothings. Thomas Edison, courting his second wife Mina Miller, turned to Morse code—a series of dots and dashes—to keep their affection hidden from disapproving parents.

Mina, only twenty, and Edison, thirty‑nine, were cautious about public displays. Edison taught her the telegraphic alphabet, and legend says he even proposed using the code, allowing a discreet, romantic confession that escaped prying eyes.

This technique illustrates how a simple, universally understood system can become an intimate bridge, letting lovers converse privately even in a crowded room.

7 Don’t Get Drunk In Front Of The In‑Laws

Winning over a future spouse’s family was once a matter of honor. The tale of Hippocleides of Attica warns us that a tipsy display can cost you a bride. In sixth‑century BC Sicyon, Cleisthenes organized a grand competition to find a husband for his daughter Agariste, inviting twelve of the era’s most eligible men.

After a series of athletic challenges, Hippocleides emerged as Cleisthenes’ favorite. Yet, at the celebratory banquet, he overindulged, performing a reckless handstand and kicking his legs to the music. The outraged host declared, “He danced away his wife,” and the honor passed to another suitor.

The moral? Keep composure in front of prospective in‑laws; a drunken mishap can swiftly dissolve even the most promising match.

6 Be Practical

Ancient Egyptians favored straightforward unions over elaborate rituals. When a woman moved her belongings from her parents’ home into a man’s house, the two were considered married—no grand ceremony required.

These unions often featured a prenuptial agreement between the husband and the bride’s father, outlining asset division should a split occur. Divorce was uncomplicated: possessions were divided, children stayed with the mother, and adultery invited severe penalties, sometimes even death.

Despite the pragmatism, romance still thrived. Vizier Ptahhotep’s “Maxims of Ptahhotep” urged husbands to love, feed, and clothe their wives, while early Egyptian inscriptions praised wives’ beauty, showing that practicality and affection coexisted.

5 Spend Some Quality Time Together

While many ancient societies relegated women to domestic duties, the Teutonic tribes defied that stereotype. Their women stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with men on battlefields, providing sustenance, tending wounds, and, when necessary, brandishing swords and axes.

Plutarch recounts a Roman legion encountering a Teutonic camp defended by fierce women, their resolve captured in the phrase “furor Teutonicus.” Their unwavering bravery earned them a reputation for shared ferocity, a cultural hallmark of the tribe.

Tragically, after their defeat at Aquae Sextiae in 102 BC, many Teutonic women chose death over slavery, pleading to become sacred servants of Vesta before committing mass suicide—a testament to their devotion and unity with their warriors.

4 Try Love In A Bottle

When conventional courtship fails, some turned to chemistry. Across cultures, love potions—crafted from herbs, roots, and sometimes questionable ingredients—promised heightened desire or even guaranteed affection.

Medieval scholar Albertus Magnus described a concoction of periwinkle, leeks, and earthworms, powdered and sprinkled over a meal to strengthen marital love, warning that the same mix would kill fish if poured into a pond.

Other traditions favored marigolds, wild columbine, or the toxic jimsonweed of Indian folklore. While many ingredients lacked scientific backing, placebo effects often delivered the desired boost, making these brews a fascinating footnote in romantic history.

3 Write Your Feelings Down

Not everyone can speak eloquently in person, but the Vikings proved that ink could convey passion. Their sagas and poems celebrate love that endures beyond death, as seen in Njal’s Saga, where Njal’s wife chooses to die beside him, honoring their marital oath.

Saxo Grammaticus, in the Gesta Danorum, records Hagbaror’s haunting verses before his execution, expressing a yearning for eternal reunion with his wife: “Let the encircling bonds grip my throat… the final anguish shall bring pleasure, for our love shall be renewed.”

Yet, such poetic devotion carried risk. Writing lewd verses about an unmarried girl could tarnish her honor, provoking violent retribution from her family. In extreme cases, the offended kin might kill the poet to protect the woman’s reputation.

2 Exchange Gifts

Gifts have long been the language of affection. Across ages, societies instituted bride price, bridewealth, or dowry systems, where the groom or bride’s family transferred wealth to cement alliances.

During the Renaissance in Italy, lovers exchanged ornate belts, girdles, and pendants adorned with fertility symbols. These tokens—often sensual in design—served both as declarations of desire and as tangible reminders of a bond, bridging the gap between commerce and romance.

Beyond material value, such gestures fostered intimacy, allowing partners to showcase thoughtfulness and creativity, reinforcing the emotional connection that underpins lasting relationships.

1 Dissect A Woman To Learn Her Anatomy

Honore de Balzac, the 19th‑century French novelist, ventured into the macabre with his treatise “The Physiology of Marriage.” He argued that marriage resembled a science, insisting that a prospective husband should dissect at least one woman to study her anatomy before tying the knot.

Balzac believed men possessed a finite reserve of energy, which they should channel into work, while women needed to be kept busy to avoid succumbing to caprice. He even warned against offering women plain water, recommending instead a light infusion of Burgundy wine to keep them content.

Ironically, Balzac himself married late—at fifty—twenty years after penning his controversial guide, and he passed away merely five months later, leaving his eccentric advice as a curious footnote in marital literature.

Having a healthy mind, body and spirit is a cornerstone of a joyful existence, and the 10 tips improve your overall vitality. Below you’ll find a lively, yet thorough, guide to boosting your health and wellbeing.

1 Take Proper Sleep

Getting enough shut‑eye is essential for keeping your body in tip‑top shape. Research shows that sufficient sleep positively influences mood, cognition, and overall health. Skimping on sleep is linked to a host of issues, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Sleep acts as the body’s natural reset button, allowing tissues to repair and the brain to process emotions. Adequate rest also strengthens immune memory and improves memory consolidation.

2 Eat A Balanced Diet

A well‑rounded diet is vital for maintaining a healthy weight, keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check, and lowering the risk of heart disease, type‑2 diabetes, and other chronic conditions. It also lifts mood and fuels energy levels.

Key foods include fish, nuts, fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Reducing sodium and added sugars further supports cardiovascular health.

3 Deal With Stress

Managing stress is a crucial component of overall wellbeing. When stressors strike, the body’s response can affect emotions, behavior, and physical health. Stress may be fleeting or chronic; if it starts to impair your mental or physical state, professional help is advisable.

Effective stress‑management strategies involve identifying stress triggers and developing coping skills, such as mindfulness, deep‑breathing, or time‑management techniques.

4 Exercise Daily

Adopting a regular workout routine benefits both body and mind. Physical activity triggers the release of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin—neurotransmitters that elevate mood.

Exercise also boosts energy, strengthens the immune system, improves sleep quality, and reduces the risk of chronic illnesses like type‑2 diabetes and heart disease.

5 Stay Away From Smoking And Alcohol

Avoiding cigarettes and excessive alcohol is fundamental for safeguarding health. Both habits raise the odds of premature death, lung cancer, heart disease, and a host of other serious conditions.

6 Be Social

Maintaining a vibrant social life can boost longevity and overall health. Positive relationships provide emotional support, reduce stress, and foster a sense of belonging.

7 Find And Practice New Hobbies

Exploring fresh hobbies is a fantastic way to enhance both physical and mental health. Not only does it inject fun into your routine, but it also opens doors to new social circles.

Whether you join a recreational sports league or pick up a creative craft, dedicating time to enjoyable activities can alleviate workplace stress and enrich your daily life.

8 Drink More Water

Staying well‑hydrated is a simple yet powerful way to support health and wellbeing. Proper hydration prevents fatigue, irritability, and keeps joints and skin supple.

Water also promotes efficient circulation, aids mental performance, and helps flush toxins while delivering nutrients to cells.

9 Stretch

Incorporating regular stretching improves range of motion, reduces aches, and boosts energy. It also helps prevent injuries by enhancing blood flow to muscles.

10 Walk It Out

Taking a daily walk is an easy, low‑impact way to lower stress, improve cardiovascular health, and lift mood. Walking also helps break the cycle of sedentary living.

What Is Health And Wellness?

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Wellness, on the other hand, refers to living a lifestyle that promotes good health.

Key determinants of health and wellness include personal characteristics, daily habits, and the surrounding environment. Understanding these differences helps you set realistic goals and create sustainable plans for a happier, healthier life.

Tips on health and wellness can guide you toward better nutrition, regular physical activity, and heightened emotional intelligence. Improving sleep quality—aiming for 7‑9 hours nightly—alongside staying hydrated and eating balanced meals are fundamental steps.

They say the human brain has a storage capacity that is in the range of 2.5 million gigabytes. That said, our memory can be rather selective. Fresh things are easily accessible. Over time, those memories, especially less significant ones, fade away. For instance, you can probably remember any of the conversations you had yesterday fairly well, even if not word for word. Now try to remember a conversation you had 10 years ago on this day. For most people, that’s an impossible task. If something was significant to you in an emotional way, it will probably be gone forever. But there are some things you can do if you want to improve your memory, and some of them are quite unexpected. Make sure to bookmark this one in case you forget about it.

10. Apple Juice Stimulates Neurotransmitters

They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but no one specified if you needed to eat the thing. Some research suggests you can juice it if you want and still get some remarkable benefits. In specific, apple juice has been shown in animal studies to help increase production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This is a key component in brain function and, in particular, memory. Patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s have shown that, when acetylcholine levels are increased, it lowers the rate of mental decline. 

The working theory based on the observations is that, if a person regularly drinks apple juice, they’ll be able to maintain proper functioning of their brain and memory, as well as potentially delay Alzheimer’s. Apples also contain antioxidants which are believed to help memory and cognition as well. 

A 2006 study involving a small group of patients aged 72 to 93 who had Alzheimer’s showed that drinking 4 oz of apple juice three times a week could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 75%.

9. Doodling Can Boost Memory By as Much as 30%

Good news if you’re one of those people who can’t resist doodling on paper when you have a pen and an idle moment to spare. The simple act of doodling can apparently help focus your mind and improve memory and even understand new concepts and ideas better. 

To test the potential usefulness of a doodle, participants in one experiment were forced to sit and be bored. They were given a boring test then moved to another room with nothing in it to hold their attention. They had to listen to a pre-recorded, monotone phone message about people being invited to a party and write down the names of people who were coming while ignoring those who were not coming.

One group had to only focus on the long, boring message. The other was allowed to use a pencil to fill in little holes and boxes on the paper, a very basic kind of doodling. The doodlers were better able to remember the necessary names and, in a surprise memory test after the fact, their results were 30% better than the non-doodlers. 

8. Weight Loss, Including Surgical Weight Loss, Can Improve Memory

Weight issues are something of a modern plague among humans. In 2021, about 45% of people polled across 30 countries said they were actively trying to lose weight. There are a lot of reasons people may want to do so ranging from wanting to look better, to feel better, and to help deal with serious medical issues like heart disease or diabetes which can be exacerbated by weight problems. And if you’re in the same boat as so many others, here’s another reason to consider shedding a few pounds. Losing weight has been shown to help improve memory.

Kent State University conducted a study of 150 overweight people. It’s known that being overweight is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s so the study wanted to see if reversing the condition would have any effects on memory. Of the study participants, some underwent gastric bypass surgery while others did not. Within 12 weeks, those who had undergone the surgery actually showed significant improvement.

Researchers at Harvard have also researched into the links between the kinds of bad cholesterol from saturated fats and trans fats. They’ve concluded it’s not just your heart but your brain that suffers when bad cholesterol builds up. Diets high in fat and cholesterol seem to contribute to the creation of beta-amyloid plaques, which are found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. 

Women in the study who ate diets high in saturated fats and butter scored worse on memory tests than those who ate very little. Plaque from these diets seems to build up in brain tissue and deprive your brain of oxygen, thus causing poor performance on things like memory tests. 

7. Laughing Releases Hormones That Improve Short Term Memory

There’s an old saying that laughter is the best medicine which has probably been of little to no help to most people suffering from fatal illnesses. That said, there is evidence that laughter does have some benefits to your mental health, including improving your short-term memory.

Humor, and in particular laughter, has been shown to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In one small study, participants had to sit still and do nothing for 20 minutes, or watch a self-selected comedy video. After 20 minutes, a test was administered to both groups to assess short-term memory including delayed recall, learning ability and visual recognition. Cortisol levels in saliva were measured throughout.

Members in the human group showed improved results in all three areas. Salivary cortisol was considerably less, as well. The conclusion was that laughter, and humor, have a noticeable effect, at least in the short term, on memory and recall.

6. Taking Naps Can Boost Cognitive Function

If you ever find yourself feeling a little draggy in the afternoon and think maybe a quick nap will get you back on track, science has your back. There’s evidence that nap time isn’t just a nice way to get refreshed, it can also improve your memory and other cognitive functions. All it takes is 30 to 90 minutes per day, or even less in some cases.

A 2009 study showed that people who memorized a list of words and then took a nap, even just a six-minute nap, were better at recalling the words later than those who didn’t nap. Those who take longer 30 to 90 minute naps don’t just have better word recall, they’re also better at figure drawing. 

One thing worth remembering is that longer naps actually become detrimental to your cognitive function rather than beneficial. At some point you’ll start experiencing the opposite results if you nap for too long, so keep them brief and to the point. 

5. Riding a Motorcycle Improves Cognition

Many of the grandmothers of the world will assure you that there’s no good reason to ride a motorcycle, and it’s terribly dangerous and irresponsible. But if you are a fan of the open road and the wind in your hair (under your helmet), then good news. Riding a motorcycle actually seems to have a beneficial effect on various aspects of cognition. 

Research into men who had stopped riding motorcycles for over a decade. Half the group started riding again every day while the other half kept driving cars or bicycles. After two months, the motorcycle group showed higher marks in cognitive function and their results on simple memory tests increased by 50% over their pre-riding results. Those who weren’t riding were actually a little worse after the two months.

The speculation is that the heightened alertness required for riding a motorcycle engages more of your brain and thus has an improved effect overall. 

4. Chewing Gum

It used to be an insult back in the day to tell someone they’d have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. You don’t hear that so often anymore and maybe that’s a good thing because apparently chewing gum is actually doing you some good. Chewing gum has been linked with information retention and improved memory.

In one study, students cramming for a test were split into groups where one chewed gum during their study session and the other did not. Those who chewed gum performed better and also reported feeling more alert for the exam. This may be due in part to the act of chewing gum increasing overall blood flow as, mild though it may be, it’s still physical activity. It increases blood flow to the brain and can make you feel more alert. That alertness from gum chewing has been shown in more than one study. It’s also been shown to reduce stress which can help with focus. The exact reasons are still speculative.

Another test on adults split participants into three groups. One chewed gum, one mimicked chewing gum and one did nothing. They were given memory and attention tests and the gum chewers scored 24% higher on immediate word recall and 36% higher on delayed word recall. Whatever the scientific reason, the results seem to keep indicating that gum will help improve your memory.

3. Pink Noise During Sleep Helps Improve Waking Memory

Many people like to have some white noise playing in the background when they sleep. A machine that plays nature sounds, or just a fan running. But some research suggests you want to do away with the white noise and get yourself some pink noise.

Pink noise, like white noise, is still relatively random. However, it has equal energy at every octave which means it includes high frequency and low frequency sounds that makes it more natural and soothing than white noise. Listening to pink noise can help improve your sleep and your waking memory as well.

In a test to determine if participants would have better recall of a memory test they took before sleep. Pink noise, which essentially sounds like rushing water, was played at regular intervals during the night on one night and not on another. After a night of pink noise enhanced sleep, participants performed three times better on memory tests than on nights without it. 

2. Sex Can Improve Memory

It’s always good when something you like turns out to be good for you, so raise a glass to the research that suggests having sex can actually improve your memory, at least if you’re old enough. 

Research has shown that sexual activity in adults aged 50 to 89 has noticeable benefits for their memory and cognitive abilities. Interestingly enough, there was actually an observed difference between how this affects both men and women as well. Men and women of the right age who were sexually active were tested on both word recall and number sequencing. Men showed increases in both areas while women seemed to receive no benefit to number sequencing. 

In animal studies, rats that were allowed to have sex every day for two weeks showed more neuron growth than those that had only had sex once in that time. 

A later study of women aged 18-29 showed that those who had more regular sexual intercourse had improved their ability to recall abstract words. However, there was no improvement in other areas such as the ability to recall faces.

1. Controlling Fire May Have Improved Memory in Our Ancient Ancestors

Think of how cool it must have been when one of our ancient ancestors first realized they could make fire. Not just by accident but by performing the same task again and again to ensure they could always have fire when they wanted it. No doubt that guy was super popular until everyone else figured it out.

Fire was mastered even before homo sapiens were strutting around, and homo erectus was likely using it not just to cook but to scare away predators and make inhospitable locations more tolerable so they could expand their territory. 

Cooking food, both meat and vegetables, would allow for changes such as smaller jaw size, smaller gut, and other digestive differences between us and our distant ancestors. Also, the nutrition received altered us as well which improved social and intellectual abilities. 

Fire offered artificial light so that our day didn’t have to end with the sun. Instead of sleeping for 12 or more hours a day, our ancestors could stay awake in their caves and spend more time doing literally anything. Thus began a progression of cognitive growth including problem solving skills and long-term memory. It’s also believed fire would have allowed for more consistent REM sleep because these ancient ancestors wouldn’t have to fear predators nearly as much with fire as a protector. In REM sleep, the brain is able to process memories, develop, build, and retain skills and essentially learn from what we’ve done. All of that can potentially be linked to fire. Arguably, fire allowed us to have memory period.