The history of erotic depictions includes representations of sexual acts that have been created by nearly every civilisation, ancient and modern. Early cultures often associated the sexual act with supernatural forces and thus their religion is intertwined with their depictions. In Asian countries such as India, Japan and China, representations of sex and erotic art have specific meanings within the native religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto and Taoism. The Greeks and Romans produced much art and decoration of an erotic nature also stemming from their religious and cultural beliefs which was especially influential on the west. In more recent times, erotic depictions have gone from being a luxury item to a propaganda tool and then an every day commodity and livelihood for some. As the technology of communication has changed, each new technique, such as printing, photography, motion pictures and computers, has been adapted to display and disseminate these depictions.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_erotic_depictions

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1853: Russian battleships led by Pavel Nakhimov destroyed an Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Sinop, precipitating the Crimean War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War)

1936: The Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, England, was destroyed by fire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace)

1939: The Winter War broke out as the Soviet Red Army invaded Finland and quickly advanced to the Mannerheim Line. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War)

1962: Burmese diplomat U Thant became the Secretary-General of the United Nations, after serving as Acting Secretary-General following the death of Dag Hammarskjöld in September of that year. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Thant)

2005: John Sentamu was enthroned as Archbishop of York, becoming the first member of an ethnic minority to serve as an archbishop in the Church of England. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sentamu)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is an admirable work, and I studied it intently. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more. -- Winston Churchill (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill)