1. The word "witch" comes from an ancient Old English word for a sorcerer. The word originates from the Old English term wicca (masculine) or wicce (feminine), which stems from the Proto-Germanic root *wik- (meaning "to bend, turn, or conjure"). It originally described a person who practiced ritual magic or spiritual healing!

2. Historical "witches" were often skilled community botanists and herbalists. Before modern medicine existed, village herbal healers used botanical knowledge to brew remedies. They harvested plants like willow bark, which contains salicin (the chemical precursor to modern aspirin), to treat fever and inflammation!

3. Pointy witch hats may have evolved from the cone hats worn by medieval alewives. In medieval Europe, women who brewed beer at home were called alewives. To stand out in crowded open-air market squares, they wore tall, cone-shaped felt hats so customers could easily spot where fresh yeast-fermented ale was being sold!

4. The green-skinned witch look was created by Technicolor movie makeup artists. Witches in early folklore were depicted as ordinary-looking humans! The iconic green skin was invented in 1939 for The Wizard of Oz, where makeup artist Jack Dawn used green copper carbonate-based greasepaint because it popped intensely under bright Technicolor film lights!

5. The idea of riding brooms originated from sweeping away bad luck in folklore. Besoms (traditional wooden brooms made of bundle-tied twigs) were household tools used for ritual cleansing. Before entering a home, people would sweep the air outside the doorstep to symbolically clear away negative energy and bad spirits!

6. Black cats were linked to witches because their night vision made them look magical. Black cats carry a genetic mutation called melanism, which produces extra dark pigment in their fur. Because their eyes contain a reflective layer of tissue called the tapetum lucidum, their eyes glow brightly in the dark, leading fearful medieval people to associate them with magic!

7. "Witch's milk" is a real biological term for newborn infant milk. In biology and medicine, witch's milk (neonatal galactorrhea) is a harmless, natural fluid secreted from the breasts of newborn human babies! It happens when maternal hormones like estrogen pass through the placenta right before birth, briefly stimulating the baby's milk glands.