23rd October: Celery Day

Today was Celery day in the French Revolutionary Calendar, so here are 10 things you might not know about celery:

1. Celery seeds are very small - the size of a full stop in a 12pt font. You can grow an acre of celery from just an ounce of them.
2. Garlands made from celery leaves were found in Tutenkhamen’s tomb.
3. In Homer's Iliad, the horses of the Myrmidons graze on wild celery that grows in the marshes of Troy, and in Odyssey, there is mention of the meadows of violet and wild celery surrounding the cave of Calypso. Among the ancient Greeks, celery was said to have sprouted from the blood of Kadmilos, father of the Cabeiri.
4. Celery was first mentioned in English in 1664 by the diarist John Evelyn, who spelt it sellery.
5. Fans of Gillingham Football Club may be banned for life if they bring sticks of celery to a game. This is because, for some reason, fans had got into the habit of singing rude songs about celery and throwing it onto the pitch.
6. In ancient Rome, celery was considered an aphrodisiac. Modern science has found that celery contains androsterone, a pheromone released by men's sweat glands that attracts females. 18th century French courtesan Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, ate celery soup to make her less frigid and more attractive to the king. It is also said that she fed the king celery soup to fan the fires of his passion. Finally on this subject, Cassanova used to eat it, too. He thought it increased his stamina.
7. From classical times to the Middle Ages, celery was used as a medicinal plant to treat toothache, insomnia, gout, rheumatism, anxiety and arthritis.
8. The Fifth Doctor Who, played by Peter Davison, wore a stalk of celery on his lapel.
9. There is a celery museum in Portage, Michigan, called the Celery Flats Interpretive Center.
10. It's usually seen as a savoury food, but a recipe uncovered in Pompeii for a celery dessert suggested roasting chopped celery in an oven and serving it with honey and ground pepper.