The mythical dragon as a reptile that can fly and breathe fire is astonishingly universal. Ancient stories of dragons are found in all corners of the earth. How did such an iconic yet mythical creature find its way into such diverse cultures?
According to history as it is written, the first dinosaur fossil was discovered in 1677. Actually, it was the first such find that was studied and illustrated, and naturalist Robert Plot didn't know what it was. The idea of dinosaurs didn't take root until the early 19th century. But we can be sure that dinosaur fossils were discovered by plenty of people long before any of that, even before written language. People just called them dragons.
Still, that doesn't explain all the features of a dragon, like the fire-breathing part. For that, we may have to consider what the earth was like when people looked to stories to explain the more mysterious and frightening parts of their lives. This TED-Ed lesson looks at some of those stories and how they may have contributed to our idea of dragons.
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http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/406796/january-24-2012/grim-colberty-tales-with-maurice-sendak-pt--1
There's also a part 2, and he also posted some additional material yesterday in Sendak's memory.