I think the Mongolians also developed a drink from fermented horse milk which is now marketed in Japan under the name (don't laugh) Calpis - wonderful in this sort of weather poured over lots of ice. They (the Mongolians that is) didn't change their socks very often (or was it that they padded out their boots with wool?) and inadvertently discovered felt. Their flag was said to be un-burnable, which seems to be true as they were sometimes made from asbestos (the flags that is not the Mongolians).

I'll stop now - a mine of useless information brought to the boil by this heat.