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Saturday, April 12, 2008

When was Rome founded?


When was Rome founded?

Around 1000 BC, a wave of invaders crossed the Alps and occupied parts of Central and Southern Italy. Coming from the Indo-European stock, they were made up of four tribes – Samnites, Sabines, Umbrians and Latins.


The Latins settled in Central Italy in small villages that they built for themselves. By 753 BC, when forty such villages came being, they decided to build a city and chose a site on the banks of the River Tiber. While they were at this work, they faced constant threat from their neighbours, the Etruscans, who were settled on the north of the Tiber. The Latins realized that their enemies could cross the river at only one point and that the Palatine Hill overlooked this point. Hence, they chose that as the site for the new city that came to be known as Rome. Seven kings ruled Rome until it became a republic in 509 BC

Victory of the first woman at the Olympics


Victory of the first woman at the Olympics

In Ancient Greece, only freeborn male citizens could take part in the Olympic Games. Women were forbidden, on penalty of death, to even see the games. One woman the mother of Pisidours, did successfully defy the death penalty. She continued the training of her son after his father died. She attended the Games by disguising herself as a man. She was not recognized until she shouted with joy over her son’s victory. She was pardoned, and in time, women were allowed in the Games

How did dinosaurs become extinct?


How did dinosaurs become extinct?

Paleontologists believe that dinosaurs became extinct over 65 million years ago. But no one is sure how these great creatures vanished.


One theory explains the extinction of dinosaurs by saying hat an asteroid 10 km wide struck the earth. As it struck this asteroid sent dust and steam into the atmosphere, causing huge forest fires and tidal waves. It probably eliminated all sunlight, for at least six months. Without sunlight and plant life even the gigantic dinosaurs were unable to survive.


Other scientist believe that climate change caused the extinction of dinosaurs. According to them, sudden cold temperatures destroyed the plants that herbivorous dinosaurs ate, causing them to die of starvation, which in turn affected the meat eaters.


Another theory says that it was a series of volcanic eruptions that caused such mass destruction. When volcanoes erupt, they send huge clouds of dust, sulfuric acid and poisonous gases into the air. Dinosaurs could never have survived such a hostile, environment!


It has been suggested that disease was the killer of the dinosaurs. With the passage of time, more land bridges started to appear on Earth. Oceans dried up, and dinosaurs were able to walk across new landmasses. As they searched for food, they came into contact with other dinosaurs. The dinosaurs may have carried diseases that they were immune to, but which infected and destroyed new dinosaurs to the area.

How were the earliest Olympic Games held?


How were the earliest Olympic Games held?

The modern Olympics were revived in 1896. But they were originally held more than 2500 years before that. The original games were held in the ancient city of Olympia in Greece. They took place once in every five years during the first full moon after the summer solstice. Olympia was situated at the foot of the Kronos where the holy grove or the altis soon became surrounded with temples. Near the altis was the stadium in which nearly 45, 000 spectators could watch the events. During the festival month of the Games, a truce of peace was in force all throughout Greece. Accordingly, no one going as spectator or competitor was allowed to carry arms

Friday, April 11, 2008

Why are the Phoenician voyages important?


Why are the Phoenician voyages important?

The Phoenicians who lived along the Mediterranean coast, around 1200 BC were the greatest seamen of ancient times in outlook. They wee ahead of their times in outlook. They built ships and sailed across the Mediterranean and through the Straits of Gibraltar. They navigated their ships, looking at the Pole star for guidance and the position of dawn and sunset. The continent of Europe probably gets its name from the Phoenician word for ‘sunset’, Ereb

Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi

The code of Hammurabi is a collection of laws and edicts of the renowned Babylonian King Hammurabi. It is the earliest known, complete legal code. In 1901, a team of French archaeologists at Susa, Iraq, unearthed a copy of the code, engraved in a block of black diorite. Nearly 8 feet in height, the block was broken in three pieces. It was restored, and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Where was the greatest city of the Ancient World?


Where was the greatest city of the Ancient World?
Babylon, meaning the ‘Gate of God’ was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. It was situated in Mesopotamia, a fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates River, 90 kms south of Baghdad, Iraq.


Hammurabi was the most famous of Babylon’s kings. He is believed to have ascended the throne in 1792 BC. During the reigns of Hammurabi and his son Samsu-iluna, Babylonian civilization reached the heights of its cultural development and political power. The world’s first standing Army was raised by Hammurabi. Rival cities were attacked and conquered, one by one. In time, he became master of the whole Mesopotamia. The laws codified by Hammurabi have won great fame

Thursday, April 10, 2008

When did people first work with iron?



The Iron Age began at the time of Hittites, a fierce nation of Aryans. They extended their boundaries in all directions, and proved, practically quite unconquerable. This was because they had a major advantage on their side – they had strong weapons made of iron, which was infinitely superior to the ‘softer’ bronze.


The Hittites had discovered the art of refining iron ore. They first heated the iron ore till it melted into a paste-like mass. Then, as it cooled, the beat it into shapes of weapons and implements.

Who were the Iberians?



The people who originally inhabited Europe was known as Iberians. This race of people who were short and dark, had spread to Europe from the Mediterranean. In course of time they were pushed back by the advancing Aryans. These tribes originally came from the region of the Danube and South Russia, and slowly spread Southwards to warmer climes. The tall and fair Aryans moved through Central and Southern Europe and into India, leaving many settlements in their way.


Who made the first astronomical observations?



Ancient people especially the Babylonians believed that the heavenly bodies had a great influence on the lives of people. They spent a lot of time studying the night sky with which they became familiar.


Based on the position of the stars, ancient Babylonians began to predict the future. Thus, astrology came into being. Priests, who were also diviners, used to observe the stars and performed religious rites toward off evil influences. To enable them to do this, observatories were built on the flat roofs of their temples.

Where was Mohenjo-daro?



Mohenjo-daro was the capital city of the civilization that flourished in the basin of the River Indus (Sindhu). Built around 2500 BC, it was fully planned and so advanced, that it is comparable to a modern developed country! It covered an area of about 10 sq kms and the population was over 50,000 – a large number for those days. The buildings were made from bricks, held together by mortar. The streets were well laid out in rectangular blocks. A sophisticated drainage and sewerage system existed beneath the streets and in many houses, proving the importance given to sanitation. All these lead us to the conclusion that it was a healthy and happy people that lived there

Which is one of the seven wonders of the world that still exists today?



The largest of the three pyramids of Giza in Egypt is the Great Pyramid that houses the mummy of Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops. It is considered to be the seven wonders of the world that still exists

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

How did the Egyptians build the pyramids?



The pyramids of Egypt, dating back to centuries have stood the test of time. These huge structures were built of limestone and granite. Blocks of stone weighing up to 15 tonnes were used. It is said that about a lakh of slaves laboured for 20 years to build the Great Pyramid that houses the mummy of Pharaoh Khufu. However, they worked only for three months in a year, when the Nile flooded its banks. Then the granite would be brought from Aswan, floated downstream to a specially built jetty at the site of the pyramid. The stones would then be dragged up big, long, sloping ramps and fitted into place.

Why is the invention of the wheel credited to Mesopotamia?



Mesopotamia is known as the cradle of civilization. It was here that settled life and agriculture first began. The Mesopotamians grew bumper crops of grains. The needed to trade this for other items like building stones and metals that they wanted. This trade was developed with the help of wheeled carts.


For a long time, the wheel remained crudely shaped, as it was made by stone tools. A better shape for the wheel came about after the development of metal tools

When were wheels invented?


The earliest known wheels were supposed to have been made between 3500 BC and 3000 BC in Mesopotamia, or what is now modern Iraq.


These wheels were of two kinds – the potter’s wheel and the cart wheel. The cart wheel was used for transportation. The potter’s wheel was the forerunner of pulleys, gear wheels, water wheels, clock work and other wheeled machinery that we use today

What is the phonetic alphabet?


What is the phonetic alphabet?

As far back as 35, 000 B.C. humans were painting and drawing pictures and symbols on rocks and caves. Much later, by about 3500 B.C, people seem to have hit upon the idea of developing a set of simple symbols or letters which represented the sounds in speech. They could be combined in different ways to make sentences. Such a system is called a phonetic alphabet. The first phonetic alphabet was the cuneiform alphabet developed by the ancient Sumerians.

When was bronze discovered?


When was bronze discovered?

The discovery of bronze is marked as a step forward in human progress. Tools and weapons made out of bronze have been discovered in the Egyptian pyramids of 2500 BC. But it has been proved that this metal was in use at least a thousand years earlier. Bronze is an alloy made of two or more metals being fused together. For many centuries, the early man had been using copper in its pure form. It is believed that it was by accident that copper and tin probably got fused together accidentally and man discovered the better and harder alloy called bronze. The first bronze objects were cast in open moulds. The shapes of the objects were chipped in flat stones, and the heated metal was poured into it and left to cool.

What is the Fertile Crescent?


What is the Fertile Crescent?

Humans first began to live in groups around 20, 000 BC. These groups were often nomadic, and lived in semi-permanent camps. They moved with the change of seasons and in search of food. Around 8000 BC, in the Middle East, people learned that they could control and domesticate the plants and animals that provided their food. The basics of farming and cattle-rearing began, and people started to settle down. This happened in the area around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, in what is today’s Iraq and Syria. This area, thus came to be known as the Fertile Crescent. It was situated in what was called Mesopotamia in ancient times. Mesopotamia is a Greek word meaning ‘the land between the rivers’. Here, people first built their permanent dwellings, and the first cities grew. By 6000 BC, the Fertile Crescent had also become the Cradle of Civilisation, where people organized themselves into societies and set up systems of government to rule themselves.