Did you know that the condom was invented in Renaissance Venice, then the European prostitution capital, to stop the spread of syphilis that the Conquistadores brought back with them from the New World?
My post today for the Houston Press on the Venetian origins of Mardi Gras.
Do Bianchi 
Let us not forget that Mardi Gras is only a prelude to Ash Wednesday.
Nice post, Jeremy.
P.S. A little note from someone who used to live in Milan: there, Carnival ends on Saturday and Lent stars on Sunday. This has to do with the calendario ambrosiano.