This Day in History: Today is National Unicorn Day. Apparently there are people that really do believe in unicorns. Perhaps the reason we may have never seen one is that enticing one out of hiding requires a female virgin and there are too few nubile virgins in existence. The horn of a unicorn (an alicorn) is said to have healing powers and were often sold in pharmacies in the 1700's, though they were probably narwhal tusks. It is said that a unicorn can live for hundreds of years, and they are born with both male and female genitalia (which makes me think of frogs). A Unicorn ‘horn’ was once sold to the pope for big money in 1560. Legend has it that Genghis Khan’s encountered a unicorn which is said to have prevented the invasion of India. The story goes that the unicorn bowed to Khan, who took it as a sign that he should retreat. Marco Polo believed he encountered unicorns in his travels. He wrote, “They are very ugly brutes to look at. They are not at all such as we describe unicorns.” I'm going to say that he was probably looking at rhinoceroses.
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