When was the Suez Canal opened?

When was the Suez Canal opened?

If you look at the map of the world, you will see that a narrow strip of land known as isthmus, separates the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea. This meant that ships sailing between Europe and Asia had to go all the way around Africa to reach their destination – a very long way indeed. Goods were also sometimes offloaded from ships and carried over the land between the Mediterranean and Red Sea, which was also very inconvenient and costly.

In the nineteenth century France made plans to dig a canal through the isthmus linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea. this scheme was the brainchild of a French engineer name Ferdinand de Lesseps. In 1860, work on the canal started but it was a difficult and costly project, that was carried out in the face of much opposition.

The triumphant opening of the Suez Canal was performed by French Empress Eugenie on 17th November 1869 in the Imperial yacht Aigle. This was the crowning glory of de Lessep’s achievement. The first ship to follow the yacht Aigle through the canal was the British P&O liner Delta.

The world, especially the French nation, considered the Suez Canal a symbol of the times. It was often compared as a gigantic achievement that rivaled the building of the Great Pyramid, yet benefiting all mankind by being freely open to the ships of all nations.

How did Japan attain the technological level of Europe and the United States?

How did Japan attain the technological level of Europe and the United States?

Japan had been ruled since 660 BC by a succession of Emperors who called themselves ‘Tenshi’ or ‘the sons of heaven’. Japan was completely isolated from the rest of the world. The Japanese were forbidden by the emperor from leaving the country, and foreign merchants were not allowed to conduct any business in Japan.

However, in 1854 Japan was forced to open its harbour to American trade for the Americans threatened to declare war on Japan otherwise. By 1858, the United States, Britain and France had established supply bases in Japan.

However, it was only during the rule of the Emperor Mutsuhito, also known as Meiji, that a program to modernize Japan was started in 1868. Machines and machine tools were imported from the west, and the diligence and determination of the Japanese took Japan to the industrial level of Europe and United States by the end of the nineteenth century.

Who was the founder of the Red Cross?

Who was the founder of the Red Cross?

The Red Cross was founded by a Swiss gentleman called Jean Henri Dunant. It is an international humanitarian movement formed to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for the human being, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.

Before the formation of the Red Cross, there were no organized and well-established Army nursing systems for casualties. Nor were there any safe and protected institutions to accommodate and treat those who were wounded on the battlefield. In 1862, Jean Henri Dunant was horrified by the scenes of wounded soldiers being left to die on the battlefield. He published a booklet urging people to set up voluntary societies that would help the sick and wounded in times of war.

As a result, an international conference was held in Geneva, in 1864 and 26 countries took part in it. This conference agreed that wounded soldiers should be respected, that military hospitals should be considered neutral, and that vehicles carrying a white flag with a red cross shout not be attacked. The agreement is known as the Geneva Convention, and the white flag with the red cross has come to be accepted world wide as a symbol of peace, compassion and ‘Charity in War’.

Why was the book “The Origin of Species” so important?

Why was the book “The Origin of Species” so important?

Have you heard of Charles Darwin? He was an English naturalist who wrote the book “Origin of the Species” in 1859. This book created history, as it attempted to explain the evolution of every species as a process of natural selection. According to Darwin, there is a constant survival for struggle in nature. Only the fittest of each species would survive and reproduce. The weak would die out. His conclusion was that ‘every species adapted over millions of years to survive in an ever changing environment’.

Darwin based his theory on the observations he made during a long voyage that he undertook on board a naval survey ship. His theory raised a storm of controversy as it traced the evolution of humans to an ape-like ancestor who exited millions of years ago. This seemed to deny that man was created by God, as is preached in the Bible. Nevertheless Darwin’s theory gradually gained acceptance, and remains an all time classic to this day.

Why was the first independence movement in India called ‘The Sepoy Revolt’?

Why was the first independence movement in India called ‘The Sepoy Revolt’?

The Indian Mutiny of 1857 was a rebellion against British rule by a large part of the Bengal Army in India. It is also called the Sepoy Revolt because Indian troops in the British-controlled Army were called sepoys. The mutiny, which was confined to the north, was the most serious threat to British rule in India in the 19th century.

The Sepoy Revolt was an explosion of festering social wounds. There was simmering resentment against the British and matters came to a head when Indian troops were issued cartridges coated in cow and grease. Hindus consider the cow to be holy and Muslims consider pigs to be unclean. The troops refused to handle the cartridges, and the Sepoy Revolt was the result.

Thousands of Indian soldiers revolted. They proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as the emperor of India. the revolt was finally quelled in 1858…yet it proved to the forerunner of the Independence Movement in India.

Why was Florence Nightingale so famous?

Why was Florence Nightingale so famous?

Have you heard about Florence Nightingale, who was also called ‘The lady with the lamp’? She became a leg end for her compassion and kindness as she nursed wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. Even in the dead of night, she would move amongst the wounded and dying, holding aloft her lamp, comforting all those who were suffering.

Florence Nightingale was born in Italy on 12 May 1820 and was named Florence after the city where she was born. When grown up, she made visits to the homes of the sick in the local villages, and began to investigate hospitals and nursing.

In March 1854, Britain, France and Turkey declared war on Russia. On 4 November 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived at the Barrack Hospital in Scutari, a suburbon the Asian side of Constantinople, with 38 nurses. They devoted themselves to reorganizing the hospital.

When she finally returned to England, Florence Nightingale had become so famous that she was able to raise the money to start a training school for nurses.

Florence Nightingale’s greatest achievement was to make nursing a respectable profession and to set new standards to skill, good behaviour and discipline in nursing.

Why was the ‘California Gold Rush’, so called?

Why was the ‘California Gold Rush’, so called?

The state of California became a part of the United States in 1848. However, it came into the limelight only on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by a carpenter named John Marshall, at a place called Sutter’s Mill. Soon more nuggets were found nearby. By 1849, news of the gold strike reached the East Coast… and the Gold Rush began!

These early gold-seekers, called “forty-niners”, traveled to California by sailing ship and in covered wagons across the continent, often facing substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly-arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush also attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet of tents to be a boomtown and roads. Its harbour became known as the Golden Gate.

In 1850, most of the easily accessible gold had been collected and attention turned to the fold from more difficult locations. Americans began to drive out foreigners to get at the most accessible gold that remained.

The Gold Rush stimulated economies around the world. It transformed California from a sleepy, little-known backwater to the centre of the global imagination and the destination of the hundreds of thousands of people.

Why is the book ‘The Communist Manifesto’ so famous?

Why is the book ‘The Communist Manifesto’ so famous?

The Communist Manifesto was first published on February 21, 1848, and is one of the world’s most influential political documents. It was written by communist theorists Frederich Engels and Karl Marx. However, Engels himself has said that the Manifesto was ‘essentially Marx’s work’ and that ‘the basic though… belongs solely and exclusively to Marx’

The manifesto suggested a course of action for a working class revolution in Europe to overthrow the ruling class. Its goal was to eventually bring about a classless society. The Communist Manifesto was to become of the most widely read and discussed documents in the 20th century