The UnMuseum - Hindenburg E-mail        this page link to a friend Enter friend's e-mail: Requires        javascript This             print shows the Hindenburg in flames above Lakehurst             Naval Air Station on May 6th, 1937. (The             National Archives) The          Mystery of the Hindenburg Disaster It was the largest airship ever built; over eight-hundred          feet long from its nose to its massive tail fins. It was the          height of luxury travel and in the course of two seasons carried          over 2,656 people across the Atlantic between Germany to New          York and Rio de Janeiro. It was called the Hindenburg and the          space of 37 seconds this mighty zeppelin was destroyed in a          fire that killed a third of its crew and passengers and left          spectators crying in horror. What caused this catastrophe? Was it negligence,          sabotage, or as Hitler called it, "An act of God"? The          Dirigible The first successful dirigible (a balloon that          has engines to control its horizontal movement) was built in          France in 1852. Although other countries built these types of          airships, the Germans quickly became the most advanced builders          of this form of lighter-than-air technology. Count Ferdinand          von Zeppelin, a German businessman, built a fleet of experimental          dirigibles. The type of airships Zeppelin built were spindle-shaped          with a rigid internal steel structure (unlike the flexible bodied          blimps common today). Inside the craft were large bags filled          with gas that gave the ship its lift, as well as catwalks to          allow the crew to move back and forth inside the hull to service          the airship. Beneath the craft was a gondola which carried the          crew and passengers. By 1911 Zeppelin's airship LZ-10 (also          known as the Schwaben) was in passenger service and would go          onto make 218 flights carrying 1,553 passengers. Zeppelin became          so well-known for this type of dirigible that his name soon          became synonymous with that type of airship. Starting in 1914, the beginning of WWI, the Count's          zeppelins were used to drop bombs on cities in a number of European          countries. They made over fifty raids on London alone, dropping          nearly 200 tons of explosives. As the war progressed, however,          most of the German's zeppelin fleet was destroyed by British          guns or aircraft. The gas that gave them their lift, hydrogen,          was very flammable, and even a small bomb hitting a zeppelin          could reduce it to ashes in just a few minutes. The             LZ7, one of Count Zeppelin's early ships (also known as             the Deutschland), can be considered the first true             passenger aircraft. It first flew on October 19th, 1910. After the war Germany again began building large          airships. As part of war reparations the Germans built the ZR-3          Los Angeles for the U.S. Navy. In 1928 the Zeppelin Company          built what was the most successful passenger dirigible of all          time, the Graf Zeppelin. The Graf Zeppelin was a hundred feet longer than          any other airship ever built and stretched 776 feet from nose          to tail fins. It was designed as a passenger liner to compete          with the ocean liners crossing the Atlantic. With a maximum          speed of 80 miles per hour, it cut the time it took to make          the trip by more than two-thirds. The passenger c


Who famously wore a pink Chanel suit and matching pillbox hat?

The secrets of Jackie’s iconic pink Chanel suit | New York Post The secrets of Jackie’s iconic pink Chanel suit Comment(required) November 15, 2013 | 9:11pm President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy leave St. Stephen's Church in DC following morning mass on November 12, 1961. Bettmann/CORBIS Jacqueline Kennedy (center) with the Maharajah and Maharani of Jaipur at the White House on October 24, 1962. Courtesy of Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers Jacqueline Kennedy waves at the camera while visiting with her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill (right) in London on March 27, 1962. Bettmann/CORBIS Architect John Carl Warnecke explains a model of Lafayette Square to Jacqueline Kennedy on September 26, 1962. Bettmann/Corbis President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline arrive at Love Field in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. EPA Kennedy and Jacqueline greet the crowd. Art Rickerby/Getty Images Kennedy and Jacqueline greet the crowd. Art Rickerby/Getty Images Kennedy and Jacqueline make their way through the airport at Love Field. Art Rickerby/Getty Images JFK and first lady Jacqueline leave Love Field. AP VP Lyndon B. Johnson (from left), Jacqueline Kennedy and President John F. Kennedy have breakfast in Fort Worth, Texas on November 22, 1963. CORBIS Women model suits designed by Chanel, which many believe inspired Jackie Kennedy's iconic pink suit. Paul Schutzer/Getty Images President John F. Kennedy and wife Jacqueline leave the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast. EPA Jacqueline Kennedy rides alongside her husband in Dallas, Texas before he was assassinated. Bettmann/CORBIS Jacqueline Kennedy wears her bloodstained suit as she stands with brother-in-law Robert Kennedy as the body of President John F. Kennedy is placed in an ambulance. AP Jacqueline Kennedy bears witness as Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Keystone/Getty Images Coach Mike Woodson and Iman Shumpert barked at each other... 15 Jackie Kennedy's iconic pink suit November 15, 2013 Inside Zapruder family's complicated history with JFK film Talking about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, who had been riding ahead of the first couple in the fateful 1963 motorcade, recalled her most heart-rending memory of that day. The recollection is seared into the minds of generations of Americans who were not in Dallas five decades ago on Nov. 22, but, after watching the vivid color film footage of the shooting, felt as if they had been among the horrified bystanders in Dealey Plaza. “I [looked] over my shoulder and saw, in the president’s car, a bundle of pink, just like a drift of blossoms, lying on the back seat,” Lady Bird Johnson said at the time. President John F. Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy disembark from Air Force One at Love Field, Dallas.EPA/Cecil Stoughton That “drift of blossoms” was, of course, the diminutive figure of Jacqueline Kennedy — Jack’s 34-year-old wife, crouching for cover in the strawberry-colored Chanel suit, which became an emblem of the tragedy. “The outfit is a terrible talisman of American history and heartbreak,” says New York-based fashion expert Pamela Keogh, who writes about the iconic wool bouclé two-piece in her book “Jackie Style.” “But despite symbolizing a very sorrowful moment in our nation’s past, it also shows Jackie’s courage.” The grief-stricken First Lady famously insisted on wearing the blood-spattered suit during the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson aboard Air Force One before the flight back to Washington, DC. “Let them see what they have done,” she repeatedly said when asked if she wanted to change. Writing in her diary about the hastily arranged inauguration ceremony, Lady Bird Johnson noted: “Mrs. Kennedy’s dress was stained with blood. Women model suits designed by Chanel, which many believe inspired Jackie Kennedy’s iconic pink suit.Paul Schutzer//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images “Somehow that was one of the most poignant sights — that immaculate woman exquisitely dressed, and caked in blood.” Photographs of Jackie being met at Andrews Air Fo


What African country was invaded by Italy in 1935? | Reference.com What African country was invaded by Italy in 1935? A: Quick Answer Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 and later subjugated the country. Italy had previously tried to colonize the country in the 1890s, and Ethiopia was one of the few African states that maintained independence before the invasion. Full Answer Italian leader Benito Mussolini justified an invasion of Ethiopia because of a border dispute with Somalia, which was under the control of Italy, and he rejected all deals before invading the country. The Italian army was able to defeat the ill-equipped armies of Ethiopia and conquered the country in 1936. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was forced into exile, and Mussolini crowned Italian king Victor Emmanuel III as the new emperor of the African state. Mussolini also appointed General Pietro Badoglio, who was one of the generals in charge of the Ethiopian campaign, as viceroy.


Who was killed in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914?

Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated - Jun 28, 1914 - HISTORY.com Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated Publisher A+E Networks In an event that is widely acknowledged to have sparked the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on this day in 1914. The great Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck, the man most responsible for the unification of Germany in 1871, was quoted as saying at the end of his life that “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” It went as he predicted. The archduke traveled to Sarajevo in June 1914 to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Ottoman territories in the turbulent Balkan region that were annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908 to the indignation of Serbian nationalists, who believed they should become part of the newly independent and ambitious Serbian nation. The date scheduled for his visit, June 28, coincided with the anniversary of the First Battle of Kosovo in 1389, in which medieval Serbia was defeated by the Turks. Despite the fact that Serbia did not truly lose its independence until the Second Battle of Kosovo in 1448, June 28 was a day of great significance to Serbian nationalists, and one on which they could be expected to take exception to a demonstration of Austrian imperial strength in Bosnia. June 28 was also Franz Ferdinand’s wedding anniversary. His beloved wife, Sophie, a former lady-in-waiting, was denied royal status in Austria due to her birth as a poor Czech aristocrat, as were the couple’s children. In Bosnia, however, due to its limbo status as an annexed territory, Sophie could appear beside him at official proceedings. On June 28, 1914, then, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were touring Sarajevo in an open car, with surprisingly little security, when Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at their car; it rolled off the back of the vehicle and wounded an officer and some bystanders. Later that day, on the way to visit the injured officer, the archduke’s procession took a wrong turn at the junction of Appel quay and Franzjosefstrasse, where one of Cabrinovic’s cohorts, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, happened to be loitering. Seeing his opportunity, Princip fired into the car, shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. Princip then turned the gun on himself, but was prevented from shooting it by a bystander who threw himself upon the young assassin. A mob of angry onlookers attacked Princip, who fought back and was subsequently wrestled away by the police. Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie lay fatally wounded in their limousine as it rushed to seek help; they both died within the hour. The assassination of Franz-Ferdinand and Sophie set off a rapid chain of events: Austria-Hungary, like many in countries around the world, blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slav nationalism once and for all. As Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention–which would likely involve Russia’s ally, France, and possibly Britain as well. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers collapsed. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun. Related Videos


What German kingdom was ruled by Ludwig II, builder of the famous Neuschwanstein castle?

Ludwig II of Bavaria - The Eccentric Life and Castles of 'Mad King Ludwig' - Exploring Castles Linderhof Castle. Credit: Yilmaz Ovunc . His private palace of Linderhof was designed as a refuge for a reclusive king to hide away from the hubbub of his kingdom, deep within the Bavarian countryside. This tiny palace was designed for one person alone – it has only ten rooms, and four of these were for servants. Much of Linderhof is designed for a man who enjoyed his own company – the dining table only has enough space for one person to eat! Linderhof also has the distinction of having its own grotto – a little space filled with rocks, water-fountains and stalactites, delicately lit and designed as a space to host performances of Wagner. Herrenchiemsee Castle. Credit: Allie Caulfield. King Ludwig II of Bavaria also attempted to re-create the grandeur of the Palace of Versailles within his backyard. The palace of Herrenchiemsee was built upon an island floating in Germany’s largest inland lake – a perfect little spot to assure the eccentric King’s privacy. The entire spot was designed to emulate the sharp-lined majesty of Versailles, and elaborate French paintings were hung in its finished, furnished rooms. Of course, the most famous of Ludwig’s castles – and, indeed, probably the most famous and emblematic castle in the world – was the magnificent Neuschwanstein Castle . Designed as the ultimate cliff-top refuge – and a huge theatre for Wagner – this masterpiece was again unfinished at the time of Ludwig’s death. As Fantasy Castles go, the sheer size and scale of Neuschwanstein is breathtaking. Credit: Jeff Wilcox, CC BY 2.0. King Ludwig II of Bavaria’s Fall From Power and the Diagnosis of ‘Madness’ Brooch of King Ludwig Unfortunately, Mad King Ludwig’s interest in building spectacular castles quickly developed into an unhealthy preoccupation. Ludwig neglected his royal duties, instead becoming increasingly withdrawn and focusing all his energies on building progressively more impressive – and outlandish – designs. It’s misconception that Ludwig’s castle-building exploits bankrupted the state of Bavaria. Most of the vast debts that Ludwig racked-up were in his own name, and, by 1885, he’d accrued a phenomenal debt of some 14m marks – held against his own name and his family’s. Ludwig’s obsession with castles was pathological – and damaging to the state of Bavaria. He was wasting huge amounts of time – and money – dispatching his advisors to the four corners to the globe to uncover architectural details for his next masterpiece. He had become indifferent to state-business, and instead obsessed over his personal projects. He begged foreign governments for loans to further fund his endeavours, and was unable to rein in his excessive spending. As a result of all these problems, his government advisors began plotting. Ludwig II couldn’t be removed from his throne by constitutional means – but he could be forcibly withdrawn if it was decided that he was too ill to rule. The man was undoubtedly eccentric – but government advisors saw the best way to depose King Ludwig was for him to be diagnosed as clinically insane, and therefore incompetent. As a result – although he had no prior diagnosis of ‘madness’ – he was suddenly declared to be mentally insane by four separate, government-sanctioned psychiatrists, in 1886. Ludwig was immediately forced to resign from the throne – under duress – and was forced out of his lodgings within Neuschwanstein Castle, which was being constructed at that time. The Death of King Ludwig: Was it Murder? King Ludwig’s crypt Historians don’t know for sure how ‘Mad’ King Ludwig died. We do know that he died in 1886, and his body was found floating in Lake Starnberg – alongside the body of his psychiatrist, Dr Gudden. His death occurred just days after he was decreed to be ‘mad’, and was deposed from the throne. One of the official theories was that Ludwig had killed his psychiatrist (there were marks of struggle on Gudden’s body), and Ludwig had then either committed suicide, or drowned accidentally within t


What country was personally owned (and abused) by King Leopold of Belgium?

Belgian Congo - The Ultimate History Project A Poor Foundation for Stability Jessica Achberger Workers stand next to drying rubber, Belgian Congo. Often African nations are described as unstable.  There is a great deal of truth in this statement as almost all post-colonial African nations have experienced political violence and severe economic mismanagement during the mid and late twentieth century. Of all African nations, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has had an especially tumultuous post-colonial experience.  Formerly a Belgian colony, the DRC still faces violence in the eastern portion of the country as well as political, economic, and social instability throughout. There are many historical reasons for the DRC’s instability but Belgian colonial education policies are a key cause of this instability.  In 1884-1885, the Berlin West Africa Conference effectively divided up the African continent amongst the Great Powers of Europe. Attended by the colonial powers of Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium, among others, the Conference created artificial state boundaries as well as a colonial system that was in effect for the next sixty years. Among these territories, the Congo was a unique case. Granted to King Leopold II of Belgium, the Congo was a “personal” concession for the King, rather than a colony.  The King, not the Belgian government, effectively owned and controlled the Congo.  Leopold administered the Congo in a notoriously brutal manner, using it to augment his own personal wealth.  The Congo’s wealth, which included its numerous rubber trees, was brutally extracted using what was basically slave labor.  This rubber was then exported to fuel the industrial growth of both nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe and America. King Leopold II of Belgium, as a Garter Knight. Despite his growing reliance on the wealth of the Congo, Leopold never visited this territory himself.  By 1908, the territory was so poorly managed that an international furor condemning Leopold had erupted.  That same year, in an attempt to stem this furor, the Congo was ceded to Belgium and placed under the control of the Belgian government, not its king. Belgium then administered the Congo as a colony until independence in 1960. Unlike other early twentieth-century colonial powers in Africa, Belgium did not directly oversee the education of the Congo’s indigenous population.  Rather, it turned the responsibility for education over to missionaries. In 1908, the Congo had 587 missionaries, mostly Catholic, who educated only 46,075 students, a very small fraction of the many residents.  This small number of students stemmed from many factors.  The number of missionaries was insufficient to educate a large population.  But the missionary’s educational agenda, which often undermined indigenous African culture and promoted colonial domination, also deterred many Africans from pursuing European educations. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the primary role of the Church, both in religion and education, was to promote colonialism.  Many Congolese villagers at first avoided the mission schools because they had a religious agenda that threatened to undermine their cultural values and beliefs. Map of Church Mission areas in the Belgian Congo, Hippolyte d'Ursel. Along with concerns about the type of education the Congolese should receive, the Church also believed that higher education should be reserved only for those entering the priesthood.  As a result, most students who did attend school in the Congo received only a basic primary education. This practice was reinforced by the Belgian colonial administration, which discouraged higher education for Africans.  It was only in 1954 that the first Congolese citizen was admitted to a university for purposes other than religious education. Belgian colonial education policy stood in stark contrast to the colonial educational policies of Britain and France. While government policies that discouraged the educational and vocational promotion of


What city did the Nazis siege for 872 days but never capture?

BBC ON THIS DAY | 27 | 1944: Leningrad siege ends after 900 days Search ON THIS DAY by date   About This Site | Text Only 1944: Leningrad siege ends after 900 days The Soviet Army has lifted the blockade of Leningrad that has been besieged since German forces cut the land link to the city on 8 July 1941. Soviet soldiers broke through the German line of defence at key points and recaptured hundreds of towns and villages in the region, according to a Russian communique issued by General Leonid Govorov, commander of the Leningrad front. It is believed that hundreds of thousands of Leningrad's population of 2.5 million have died of starvation, exposure, disease or enemy action since 1 September 1941. The German army reached Leningrad soon after invading Russia on 22 June 1941 but stopped short of taking Russia's second city after facing fierce resistance and decided instead on a blockade. We were all issued with arctic clothing, fur-lined coats, sea boots and so on, and a list of instructions on how to avoid frostbite. People's War memories » All land communication was cut off and the city subjected to air and artillery bombardment. The harshest winter in decades added to the suffering of Leningrad's starving inhabitants but this was partially eased when Lake Ladoga froze, opening a truck route to bring in food and fuel over the ice. All able-bodied citizens did their bit to defend the city by working in munitions factories, digging defences and serving in the front line. Now, one year after General Govorov managed to open a corridor into the besieged city, the blockade has been totally lifted. "A task of historical importance has been completed," said General Govorov. "The city of Leningrad has been completely freed of the enemy blockade and of the barbaric artillery shelling." He thanked the troops of the Leningrad front and the sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and praised the citizens of the city for their "heroic work and steel-like steadiness" in enduring the siege that lasted 872 days. A salute of 24 salvos from 324 guns was fired in Leningrad to mark the occasion. The Red Army is advancing further south-west from Leningrad and has taken back the important towns of Krasnogvardeisk, Volosovo and Tosno, according to the Russian High Command. It said its troops disabled or destroyed 82 German tanks and shot down 16 enemy aircraft yesterday. But in the fight to recapture the town of Pushkin, some 17th and 18th century buildings of the Imperial Summer Palace were seriously damaged.


What group, established after WWI, was a failed predecessor to the United Nations?

BBC - History -   World Wars: The League of Nations and the United Nations The League of Nations and the United Nations By Charles Townshend Last updated 2011-02-17 The imposition of a peaceful world order was a key objective for the League of Nations, established in the aftermath of World War One. How can its successor, the United Nations, react to the challenges of the 21st century? Charles Townshend assesses its chances. On this page Print this page The birth of the League ideal The League of Nations, born of the destruction and disillusionment arising from World War One, was the most ambitious attempt that had ever been made to construct a peaceful global order. It was rooted in a comprehensive liberal critique of the pre-war international system, which was widely believed to have been the cause of the carnage of 1914-18. The secret diplomacy of the old order would be replaced by...open discussion The idea of the League was to eliminate four fatal flaws of the old European states: in place of competing monarchical empires - of which the Hapsburg Empire was perhaps the most notorious - the principle of national self-determination would create a world of independent nation states, free of outside interference; the secret diplomacy of the old order would be replaced by the open discussion and resolution of disputes; the military alliance blocs would be replaced by a system of collective guarantees of security; and agreed disarmament would prevent the recurrence of the kind of arms race that had racked up international tensions in the pre-war decade. Before this, the closest approach to an international political structure had been the Congress System, in which the European great powers held occasional summit meetings to discuss issues they found urgent. (To his credit, the much-maligned Tsar Nicholas II of Russia had sponsored international efforts to ban 'inhumane' weapons such as expanding or exploding bullets; but these efforts were only partially successful.) The surviving victorious great powers at the end of the Great War - Britain and France - would have preferred to go no further than regularising the old Congress System. The spirit of the times, however, which was overbearingly personified in the president of the USA, Woodrow Wilson, pushed towards the creation of a more comprehensive global organisation, which would include all independent states, and in which even the smallest state would have a voice. Top The growth of a system President Wilson; America failed to ratify the League Covenant    © Unfortunately, Wilson's thinking about the way that self-determination would work in the real world, and about getting his idea for a 'community of power' off the ground, remained vague. Partly this was to avoid alarming US isolationist opinion, but in any case, when the League Covenant was agreed at the Paris peace conference in 1919, the US Senate refused to ratify it. How the League would have worked with American participation remains one of the great 'what ifs' of modern history. As it was, the direction of the system was left in the hands of states - primarily Britain and France - whose altruism was questionable and whose economic resources had been crippled by the war. There was a widespread belief...that the League's prestige was growing incrementally Yet the League of Nations did work surprisingly well, at least for a decade after the war. By December 1920, 48 states had signed the League Covenant, pledging to work together to eliminate aggression between countries. A series of disputes - between Germany and Poland over Upper Silesia, between Italy and Greece, and between Greece and Bulgaria - were resolved under its auspices. Though relatively minor, these were just the kind of incidents that had in the past triggered regional conflicts - and indeed World War One itself. There was a widespread belief, or hope, that the League's prestige was growing incrementally. Methods of investigating disputes, and helping to keep the peace, were regularised. Another crucial function was the establishment of Mandates


What industrialist became the world's first billionaire - thanks to his monopoly on the US oil industry?

John D. Rockefeller - The First American Billionaire John D. Rockefeller Founder of Standard Oil Company and America's First Billionaire American industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller (circa 1900).  (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) By Janet Ogle-Mater, Contributing Writer Updated July 30, 2016. Who Was John D. Rockefeller? John D. Rockefeller was an astute businessman who became America’s first billionaire in 1916. In 1870, Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company, which eventually became a domineering monopoly in the oil industry. Rockefeller’s leadership in Standard Oil brought him great wealth as well as controversy, as many opposed Rockefeller’s business practices. Standard Oil’s nearly complete monopoly of the industry was eventually brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, who ruled in 1911 that Rockefeller’s titanic trust should be dismantled. Though many disapproved of Rockefeller’s professional ethics, few could devalue his substantial philanthropic endeavors, which led to him donating $540 million (over $5 billion today) in his lifetime to humanitarian and charitable causes. Dates: July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937 Also Known As: John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. Rockefeller as a Young Boy John Davison Rockefeller was born July 8, 1839, in Richford, New York. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge He was the second child of six to the marriage of William “Big Bill” Rockefeller and Eliza (Davison) Rockefeller. William Rockefeller was a traveling salesman peddling his questionable wares across the country, and as such, was often absent from the home. John D. Rockefeller’s mother essentially raised the family on her own and managed their holdings, never knowing that her husband, under the name of Dr. William Levingston, had a second wife in New York. In 1853, “Big Bill” moved the Rockefeller family to Cleveland, Ohio , where Rockefeller attended Central High School. Rockefeller also joined the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church in Cleveland, where he would remain a long-time active member. It was under his mother’s tutelage that a young John learned the value of religious devotion and charitable giving; virtues that he practiced regularly throughout his life. In 1855, Rockefeller dropped out of high school to enter Folsom Mercantile College. After completing the business course in three months, 16-year-old Rockefeller secured a bookkeeping position with Hewitt & Tuttle, a commission merchant and produce shipper. Early Years in Business It didn’t take long for John D. Rockefeller to develop a reputation as an astute businessman: hardworking, thorough, precise, composed, and adverse to risk-taking. Meticulous in every detail, especially with finances (he even kept detailed ledgers of his personal expenditures from the time he was 16), Rockefeller was able to save $1000 in four years from his bookkeeping job. In 1859, Rockefeller added this money to a $1000 loan from his father in order to invest in his own commission merchant partnership with Maurice B. Clark , a former Folsom Mercantile College classmate. Another four years later, Rockefeller and Clark expanded into the regionally booming oil refinery business with a new partner, chemist Samuel Andrews , who had built a refinery but knew little about business and the transporting of goods. However, by 1865, the partners, which numbered five including Maurice Clark’s two brothers, were in disagreement about the management and direction of their business, so they agreed to sell the business to the highest bidder amongst them. The 25-year-old Rockefeller won it with a bid of $72,500 and, with Andrews as a partner, formed Rockefeller & Andrews. In short order, Rockefeller studied the nascent oil business in earnest and became savvy in its dealings. Rockefeller’s company started small but soon merged with O.H. Payne, a large Cleveland refinery owner, and then with others as well. With his company growing, Rockefeller brought his brother (William) and Andrews’ brother (John) into the company. In 1866, Rockefeller noted that 70% of refined oil


What was the Democratic Republic of the Congo called from 1971-1997?

Congo, Republic of the - definition of Congo, Republic of the by The Free Dictionary Congo, Republic of the - definition of Congo, Republic of the by The Free Dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Congo%2c+Republic+of+the Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Congo top: Democratic Republic of the Congo bottom: Republic of the Congo Con·go  (kŏng′gō) 1. Officially Democratic Republic of the Congo.Formerly (1971-1997) Za·ire (zī′îr, zä-îr′)and (1960-1971) Congoand (1908-1960) Belgian Congoand (1885-1908) Congo Free State. A country of central Africa astride the equator. Inhabited originally by Pygmy peoples and later by migrating Bantu and Nilotic groups, the region came under the control of Leopold II of Belgium in the late 1870s and was annexed outright in 1908. Full independence was achieved in 1960. Army general Mobutu Sese Seko took control of the country in 1965, ruling until his ouster by rebel forces in 1997. Kinshasa is the capital and the largest city. 2. Officially Republic of the Congo. A country of west-central Africa with a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. It was part of French Equatorial Africa before becoming independent in 1960. A Marxist state was established in 1970, but in the early 1990s Marxism was abandoned in favor of a multiparty system, and a new constitution was adopted. Brazzaville is the capital and the largest city. Congo (ˈkɒŋɡəʊ) n 1. (Placename) Democratic Republic of Congo a republic in S central Africa, with a narrow strip of land along the Congo estuary leading to the Atlantic in the west: Congo Free State established in 1885, with Leopold II of Belgium as absolute monarch; became the Belgian Congo colony in 1908; gained independence in 1960, followed by civil war and the secession of Katanga (until 1963); President Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965; declared a one-party state in 1978, and was overthrown by rebels in 1997. The country consists chiefly of the Congo basin, with large areas of dense tropical forest and marshes, and the Mitumba highlands reaching over 5000 m (16 000 ft) in the east. Official language: French. Religion: Christian majority, animist minority. Currency: Congolese franc. Capital: Kinshasa. Pop: 75 507 308 (2013 est). Area: 2 344 116 sq km (905 063 sq miles). Former names: Congo Free State (1885–1908), Belgian Congo (1908–60), Congo-Kinshasa (1960–71) or Zaïre (1971–97) 2. (Placename) Republic of Congo another name for Congo-Brazzaville 3. (Placename) the second longest river in Africa, rising as the Lualaba on the Katanga plateau in the Democratic Republic of Congo and flowing in a wide northerly curve to the Atlantic: forms the border between Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Length: about 4800 km (3000 miles). Area of basin: about 3 000 000 sq km (1 425 000 sq miles). Former Zaïrese name (1971–97): Zaïre 4. (Peoples) a variant spelling of Kongo 5. (Languages) a variant spelling of Kongo Con•go (ˈkɒŋ goʊ) n. 1. Republic of the, a republic in central Africa, W of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a former French territory; gained independence 1960. 2,716,814; 124,504 sq. mi. (322,463 sq. km). Cap.: Brazzaville. Formerly, French Congo , Middle Congo. 2. Democratic Republic of the, a republic in central Africa: a former Belgian colony; gained independence 1960. 50,481,305; 905,063 sq. mi. (2,344,113 sq. km). Cap.: Kinshasa. Formerly, Zaire, Belgian Congo, Congo Free State. 3. Also called Zaire. a river in central Africa, flowing in a great loop from SE Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Atlantic. ab. 3000 mi. (4800 km) long. Con`go•lese′ (-gəˈliz, -ˈlis) adj., n., pl. -lese. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:


What Italian adventurer wrote about his 24 year journey from Venice to China and back?

11 Things You May Not Know About Marco Polo - History Lists History Lists Explore the life of the legendary traveler Marco Polo as told by musician and artist Jeffrey Lewis. Share this: 11 Things You May Not Know About Marco Polo Author 11 Things You May Not Know About Marco Polo URL Google In 1271, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo set off with his father and uncle on a legendary trek across Asia. Over the course of his 24-year journey, Polo would become one of the first Europeans to chronicle the cities, cultures and technology of the Far East. Discover 11 fascinating facts about the life of one of history’s greatest explorers. Marco Polo’s famous travelogue was penned in prison. Marco Polo is remembered thanks to a colorful and popular narrative about his eastward voyage, known simply as “The Travels of Marco Polo.” Ironically, this record of Polo’s freewheeling years as an explorer was written while he languished behind bars. In 1298, three years after he returned from his journey, Polo was captured after leading a Venetian galley into battle against the rival Italian city-state of Genoa. While in prison he encountered Rustichello of Pisa, a fellow captive who was known as a talented writer of romances. Eager to document his years as a traveler, Polo dictated his life story to Rustichello, who acted as a kind of ghostwriter. By the time of their release in 1299, the two men had completed the book that would make Marco Polo a household name. Marco Polo was not the first European to travel to Asia. Marco Polo may be the most storied Far East traveler, but he certainly was not the first. The Franciscan monk Giovanni da Pian del Carpini reached China in the 1240s—over 20 years before Polo left Europe—and gained an audience with the Great Kahn of the Mongol empire. Other Catholic emissaries would later follow, including William of Rubruck, who traveled east in the 1250s on a quest to convert the Mongols to Christianity. These early missionaries were largely inspired by the myth of Prester John, a legendary king who was believed to rule over a Christian empire in the East. Polo would later mention the fictional monarch in his book, and even described him as having fought a great battle against the Mongol ruler Genghis Kahn. Marco Polo barely knew his father and uncle when they began their expedition. A few months before Marco Polo was born in 1254, his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo left Italy on a trading excursion to Asia. The brothers returned to Venice in 1269, and it was only then that 15-year-old Marco finally met Niccolo, the father he never knew he had. Although he was essentially a stranger to the elder Polos, Marco joined them when they left on their more extensive second trip in 1271. While they originally planned only a brief stay in the Far East, the three men would eventually travel Asia together for more than 20 years. Marco Polo spent much of his journey as an envoy for the Mongol ruler Kublai Kahn. The Polos were merchants who dealt in rare items like silk, gems and spices, but their extensive travels were more than just a trading mission. Marco, Maffeo and Niccolo were also employed as emissaries for the Mongol emperor Kublai Kahn, whom the elder Polos had met and befriended on an earlier journey east. Young Marco would forge an especially strong bond with the Great Kahn, who later dispatched him to China and Southeast Asia as a tax collector and special messenger. Kublai Kahn’s trust and protection allowed the Polos to move freely within the borders of the Mongol Empire. Marco was even provided with a “paiza”—a gold tablet that authorized him to make use of a vast network of imperial horses and lodgings. Thanks to this official passport, the Polos traveled through Asia not merely as wandering merchants, but as honored guests of the Great Kahn himself. Marco Polo mistook some of the animals he saw for mythical creatures. After his return from Asia, Marco Polo thoroughly documented his encounters with unfamiliar animals such as elephants, monkeys and crocodiles. He described the latter, for instance, as gi


What crime was Al Capone convicted of in 1931?

The Trial of Al Capone (1931): An Account Wilson filed the letter away.  A year later, the letter became the trial's most contentious piece of evidence. Wilson, not a person easily intimidated, continued to identify witnesses and amass incriminating evidence.  One of the last and most important witnesses to be discovered was Fred Reis, the named payee on numerous large cashier checks that Treasury assumed found their way into Capone's coffers.  Reis decided to talk after having four solitary days to think about it in a cockroach-infested jail in Danville, Illinois.  He admitted, first to agents and then in testimony before a Chicago grand jury, that his boss was Capone, and that the checks represented Capone's net profits at his Cicero gambling hall.  With Reis's statement, prosecutors decided they had enough evidence to go before a grand jury.  (After completing his grand jury testimony, Reis was shipped off to South America for safekeeping until trial.) On March 13, two days before the statute of limitations would have run, the grand jury indicted Al Capone for evading federal income taxes in 1924.  Two months later, the grand jury added counts for the years 1925 to 1929. Over the three months that followed, Capone's attorneys met frequently with U. S. Attorney George E. Q. Johnson to discuss a possible plea bargain.  With witnesses to try to keep alive and with thorny legal questions concerning the charges, Johnson was willing to listen, hoping to get a two-and-a-half year sentence out of the negotiations.  With an agreement for the two-and-a-half year sentence apparently in place, Al Capone appeared on June 18, 1931 before Federal Judge James H. Wilkerson and entered a plea of guilty.  Wilkerson adjourned court until July 30 to consider the plea.  On the day before his expected sentencing, Capone told reporters, "I've been made an issue and I'm not complaining, but why don't they go after all those bankers who took the savings of thousands of poor people and lost them in bank failures?"  The next day, Judge Wilkerson surprised nearly everyone.  Addressing Capone in his pea-green suit, Wilkerson announced, "The parties to a criminal case may not stipulate as to the judgment to be entered."  There would be no plea bargain.  There would be a trial.  Wilkerson continued: "It is time for somebody to impress upon the defendant that it is utterly impossible to bargain with a Federal Court." The Trial Federal Judge James H. Wilkerson About two weeks before the scheduled start of the Capone trial, informant Eddie O'Hare notified Wilson that Capone's organization had a complete list of prospective jurors and was already "passing out $1,000 bills," promising political jobs, giving away tickets to prize fights, and "using muscle too."  Skeptical of O'Hare's claim at first, Wilson quickly came around when O'Hare produced the names and addresses of ten jurors, names 30 to 39 on the jury list.  Concerned that thousands of hours of work was about to go down the drain because of a fixed jury, Wilson and U. S. Attorney Johnson related O'Hare's story to Judge Wilkerson in his chambers.  Wilkerson told the men that he hadn't yet received his jury list for the Capone trial, but when he did he would call them.  When the names on Wilkerson's list turned out to match exactly with the names on O'Hare's list, the judge met once again with Wilson and prosecutors.  The judge seemed curiously unconcerned.  "Bring your case into court as planned, gentlemen," he told the government's attorneys.  "Leave the rest to me." The Trial of Alphonse Capone opened on the morning of October 5, 1931 at the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago.  Capone, accompanied by his bodyguard, smiled at jurors as he strolled into court in his mustard-colored suit.  Judge Wilkerson took his seat at the bench and looked out over the packed courtroom.  He called the bailiff to the bench.  "Judge Edwards has another trial commencing today," he told the bailiff.  "Go to his courtroom and bring me his entire panel of jurors; take my entire panel to Judge Edwards." After a ju


"The words ""tsar"" and ""kaiser"" are derived from what Latin word?"

Meaning of Kaiser Kaiser Kaiser is a German boy name. The meaning of the name is `Leader` Where is it used? The name Kaiser is mainly used In German.How do they say it elsewhere? Caesar ( In Ancient Roman and In English) See also In Italian: Cesare In French, Spanish and In Portuguese: César In French: Cesaire The name Kaiser doesn`t appear In the US top 1000 most com... Kaiser [Burmese singer] Kaiser (ကိုင်ဇာ, kàiɴzà; also Kaizar; born 18 February 1961) is a Burmese singer-songwriter who was most popular in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. The ethnic Rakhine singer was arguably the most successful male singer in Myanmar in the early 1980s. His nonthreatening rockabilly songs were popular with the yo... Kaiser [surname] Kaiser is a surname derived from the German imperial title Kaiser (emperor). The title `Kaiser` is in turn derived from the title Caesar, which again is a derivation from the personal name of a branch of the gens (clan) Julia, to which belonged Gaius Julius Caesar, the forebear of the first Roman imperial family. The further etymo... Kaiser [crater] Kaiser Crater is a crater in the Noachis quadrangle of Mars, located at 46.6° S and 340.9° W. It is 207 km wide and was named after Frederik Kaiser, a Dutch astronomer (1808–1872). File:Kaiser crater p111.jpg|Viking Orbiter image of Kaiser Image:Kaiser Crater.jpg|Detail of south wall of Kaiser Crater, daytime infrared, imaged b... Kaiser [horse] Kaiser is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby in 1979. He was trained by Neville Atkins and ridden in the 1979 Derby by Alwin Tweedie. Like Ruling Lad, who won the race the following year, Kaiser was a son of Ruling, who himself was a son of Bold Ruler. His Derby winning time, 2:29.42, was at the time the second-f... Kaiser [lunar crater] The rim of this crater is heavily worn from impact erosion, and the features have been generally softened and rounded. Parts of the southern inner wall has become incised, and the elongated satellite crater Kaiser A lies across the eastern rim. The interior floor of Kaiser is relatively featureless, being marked only by a few... Kaiser [card game] Kaiser, or three-spot, is a trick-taking card game popular in the prairie provinces in Canada, especially Saskatchewan and parts of its neighbouring provinces. It is played with four players in two partnerships with a 32-card deck. ==Origins== The origins of this game are a mystery and there seems to be no historical record (spo...


What Mexican general redistributed land to the poor and raided the U.S.?

BRIA 25 4 Land Liberty and the Mexican Revolution - Constitutional Rights Foundation BRIA 25 4 Land Liberty and the Mexican Revolution CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION Bill of Rights in Action SUMMER 2010 (Volume 25, No. 4) The Watergate Scandal  |  Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism  |   Land, Liberty, and the Mexican Revolution    Land, Liberty, and the Mexican Revolution For more than 100 years after winning independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico suffered a stream of political calamities. These included civil wars, dictatorships, assassinations, foreign invasions, and a long bloody revolution. Following the Mexican Revolution, President Lazaro Cardenez in 1934 ushered in a new era of stable government. Between 1821 and 1857, Mexico had about 50 different national governments as conservatives and liberals fought for control of the country. The conservatives were mainly wealthy owners of large agricultural and livestock estates called haciendas, which controlled much of Mexico’s land. Most of the liberals belonged to the business-oriented middle class. Both conservatives and liberals focused on protecting their property and other economic interests. Neither had much concern for the suffering of rural peasants, factory workers, miners, and other common people who made up the vast majority of Mexico’s population. After a brutal civil war from 1858 to 1861, the liberals defeated the conservatives and elected Benito Juarez as president. The French, however, soon invaded and occupied Mexico to assure payment of the huge foreign debt it owed. France set up a monarchy in Mexico under a Catholic archduke, Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. He gained enthusiastic support from conservatives and Mexican Catholic Church leaders. When France withdrew its troops in 1866, however, liberal fighters under Juarez defeated Maximilian and his conservative allies and executed him by firing squad. Juarez resumed his presidency, and Mexicans elected him two more times. He wanted to run for a fourth term but died suddenly. His secretary of foreign relations, Sebastian Lerdo, won election as president in 1872. By this time, liberals had grown wary of presidents holding office for more than one term because they could become corrupt and too powerful. In addition, those in power usually rigged the elections in their favor. When President Lerdo announced his intention to run for a second term, many liberals objected. Among them was General Porfirio Diaz, a national hero who had fought against the French. In 1876, Diaz denounced Lerdo and seized the presidency by force. He ruled Mexico either directly or through a puppet president for the next 35 years. The Diaz Dictatorship Once in command of the government, Diaz concentrated power in his hands. He put his friends and relatives into key national, state, and local government offices. This angered the poor and middle-class liberals alike who valued local self-rule. One of Diaz’s main goals was to modernize Mexico’s economy. He granted tax breaks and other economic privileges to foreign investors, which Mexican business owners resented. Diaz changed the law so that non-citizens who bought Mexican land could own the resources beneath the surface such as silver, copper, and oil. He also contracted with American companies to construct a railroad system. The railroad lines reached into most regions of the country, providing easier access to Mexico’s ports. Suddenly, Mexico’s minerals, beef cattle, cash crops like sugar and cotton, and other products for export became more profitable. Some Mexican peasants farmed their own small plots of land. More commonly, they worked on village land that they traditionally owned as a group. Mexican peasants grew crops and grazed their livestock for food. But under the new Diaz economy, large hacienda owners, called hacendados, wanted more land to increase profits from their cash-crop and beef-cattle exports. Encouraged by Diaz, the hacendados used methods, including bribery and violence, to take land from many nearby peasants and villages. The loss of their land forced m


From which empire did Greece gain its independece, in 1830?

War of Greek Independence | Britannica.com War of Greek Independence revolution War of Greek Independence, (1821–32), rebellion of Greeks within the Ottoman Empire , a struggle which resulted in the establishment of an independent kingdom of Greece . The rebellion originated in the activities of the Philikí Etaireía (“Friendly Brotherhood”), a patriotic conspiracy founded in Odessa (now in Ukraine) in 1814. By that time the desire for some form of independence was common among Greeks of all classes, whose Hellenism, or sense of Greek nationality, had long been fostered by the Greek Orthodox Church , by the survival of the Greek language , and by the administrative arrangements of the Ottoman Empire. Their economic progress and the impact of Western revolutionary ideas further intensified their Hellenism. The revolt began in March 1821 when Alexandros Ypsilantis , the leader of the Etairists, crossed the Prut River into Turkish-held Moldavia with a small force of troops. Ypsilantis was soon defeated by the Turks, but, in the meantime, on March 25, 1821 (the traditional date of Greek independence), sporadic revolts against Turkish rule had broken out in the Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), in Greece north of the Gulf of Corinth (Korinthiakós), and on several islands. Within a year the rebels had gained control of the Peloponnese, and in January 1822 they declared the independence of Greece. The Turks attempted three times (1822–24) to invade the Peloponnese but were unable to retrieve the area. Greece: Revolt in the Peloponnese Internal rivalries, however, prevented the Greeks from extending their control and from firmly consolidating their position in the Peloponnese. In 1823 civil war broke out between the guerrilla leader Theódoros Kolokotrónis and Geórgios Kountouriótis, who was head of the government that had been formed in January 1822 but that was forced to flee to the island of Hydra (Ýdra) in December 1822. After a second civil war (1824), Kountouriótis was firmly established as leader, but his government and the entire revolution were gravely threatened by the arrival of Egyptian forces, led by Ibrāhīm Pasha , which had been sent to aid the Turks (1825). With the support of Egyptian sea power, the Ottoman forces successfully invaded the Peloponnese; they furthermore captured Missolonghi in April 1826, the town of Athens (Athína) in August 1826, and the Athenian acropolis in June 1827. Similar Topics


What volcano destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum?

Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History By Mary Bagley, Live Science Contributor | June 29, 2016 07:31pm ET MORE Credit: Klagyi | Shutterstock Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano on mainland Europe. It is best known because of the eruption in A.D. 79 that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Mount Vesuvius is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to the large population of the city of Naples and the surrounding towns on the slopes nearby. The volcano is classed as a complex stratovolcano because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic flows. Vesuvius and other Italian volcanoes, such as Campi Flegrei and Stromboli, are part of the Campanian volcanic arc. The Campanian arc sits on a tectonic boundary where the African plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate . Under Vesuvius, scientists have detected a tear in the African plate. This “slab window” allows heat from the Earth’s mantle layer to melt the rock of the African plate building up pressure that causes violent explosive eruptions. In the past, Mount Vesuvius has had a roughly 20-year eruption cycle, but the last serious eruption was in 1944 . Vesuvius and Pompeii Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii in A.D. 79. Because the city was buried so quickly by volcanic ash, the site is a well-preserved snapshot of life in a Roman city. We even have a detailed account of the disaster recorded by Pliny the Younger, who interviewed survivors and recorded events in a letter to his friend Tacitus. [ Related: Pompeii 'Wall Posts' Reveal Ancient Social Networks ] Ruins at Herculaneum Credit: deepblue-photographer Shutterstock Pompeii was slowly recovering from a major earthquake that rocked the city in February of A.D. 62. The shallow quake, originating beneath Mount Vesuvius, had caused major damage to the springs and piping that provided the city’s water. Reconstruction was being carried out on several temples and public buildings. Seneca, a historian, recorded that the quakes lasted for several days and also heavily damaged the town of Herculaneum and did minor damage to the city of Naples before subsiding. The major quake was followed by several minor shakes throughout the following years. [ Image Gallery: Pompeii's Toilets ] Because seismic activity was so common in the area, citizens paid little attention in early August of 79 when several quakes shook the earth beneath Herculaneum and Pompeii. People were unprepared for the explosion that took place shortly after noon on the 24th of August. Pliny, watching from the town of Misenum, approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Pompeii, described the massive debris cloud. “It resembled a (Mediterranean) pine more than any other tree. Like a very high tree the cloud went high and expanded in different branches…. sometimes white, sometimes dark and stained by the sustained sand and ashes.” In Pompeii, ash blocked the sun by 1 p.m. and the people tried to clear heavy ash from rooftops as it fell at a rate of about 6 inches (15 centimeters) an hour. [ Image Gallery: Preserved Pompeii — Photos Reveal City in Ash ] Bodies preserved in ash at Pompeii. Credit: Alessandro Colle Shutterstock Shortly after midnight, a wall of volcanic mud engulfed the town of Herculaneum, obliterating the town as its citizens fled toward Pompeii. About 6:30 a.m. on the following morning, a glowing cloud of volcanic gases and debris rolled down Vesuvius’ slopes and enveloped the city of Pompeii. Most victims died instantly as the superheated air burned their lungs and contracted their muscles, leaving the bodies in a semi-curled position to be quickly buried in ash and thus preserved in detail for hundreds of years. Far away in Misenum, Pliny the Younger and his mother joined other refugees escaping the earthquakes rocking their city. They observed, “…the sea retreating as if pushed by the earthquakes.” This was probably caused by a tsunami at the climax of the eruption, which give


"What Greek genius said ""Eureka"" in the bathtub and is said to have invented a death ray?"

Fact or Fiction?: Archimedes Coined the Term "Eureka!" in the Bath - Scientific American Scientific American Fact or Fiction?: Archimedes Coined the Term "Eureka!" in the Bath The famed mathematician made many important scientific contributions. Was this exclamation really one of them? By David Biello on December 8, 2006 Credit: COURTESY OF CHRIS RORRES Advertisement | Report Ad Let's begin with the story: the local tyrant contracts the ancient Greek polymath Archimedes to detect fraud in the manufacture of a golden crown. Said tyrant, name of Hiero, suspects his goldsmith of leaving out some measure of gold and replacing it with silver in a wreath dedicated to the gods. Archimedes accepts the challenge and, during a subsequent trip to the public baths, realizes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced--making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume. Because gold weighs more than silver, he reasons that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier to reach the same weight as one composed only of gold; therefore it would displace more water than its pure gold counterpart. Realizing he has hit upon a solution, the young Greek math whiz leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying "Eureka! Eureka!" Or, translated: "I've found it! I've found it!" Several millennia later, the scientific world is replete with the exclamation, and many people have received inspiration in the shower. The mathematical conjectures of Henri Poincar¿, Einstein's theory of relativity, Newton getting dinged on the head with an apple and discovering gravity--all have been described as eureka moments. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a prose poem to science by that title and the prospectors of California's gold rush were so fond of the phrase that it crept into that state's motto. Even the American Association for the Advancement of Science calls its breaking scientific news site EurekAlert. Too bad, then, that Archimedes probably never uttered the phrase in that way. First and foremost, Archimedes himself never wrote about this episode, although he spent plenty of time detailing the laws of buoyancy and the lever (prompting him to reputedly pronounce: "Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth"), calculating the ratio of circles we know as pi, and starting along the path to the integral calculus that would not be invented for another 2,000 years, among other mathematical, engineering and physical feats. The oldest authority for the naked-Archimedes eureka story is Vitruvius, a Roman writer, who included the tale in his introduction to his ninth book of architecture some time in the first century B.C. Because this was nearly 200 years after the event is presumed to have taken place, the story may have been improved in the telling. "Vitruvius may have gotten it wrong," says Chris Rorres, a mathematician at the University of Pennsylvania and a self-described Archimedes "groupie." "The volumetric method works in theory so it sounds right but when you actually try it you find that the real world gets in the way." In fact, Rorres is one of a long line of scientists, including Galileo, who have read the account and thought "That can't be right." As Galileo showed in his tract La Bilancetta, or "The Little Balance," a scientist of Archimedes' stature could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale, something far more common in the ancient world than a very precise pycnometer, which is used to measure displacement. (The surface tension of water can render the volume of a light object like a wreath unmeasurable.) "There may be some truth to it," Rorres adds. "Archimedes did measure the volume of things but the eureka moment was maybe due to his original discovery [concerning buoyance], not to sitting in the bathtub and then running through the streets of Syracuse naked." Much like Newton's apple, the exclamation persists because of the enduring power of the story: a golden crown, a life in the balance, a naked mathematician. Archimedes was a font of both mathem


Who is the father of the modern country of Turkey?

Turkey - History History Turkey Table of Contents TURKEY IS A NEW COUNTRY in an old land. The modern Turkish     state--beginning with the creation of the Republic of Turkey in the     years immediately after World War I--drew on a national consciousness     that had developed only in the late nineteenth century. But the history     of nomadic Turkish tribes can be traced with certainty to the sixth     century A.D., when they wandered the steppes of central Asia. Asia     Minor, which the Turks invaded in the eleventh century, has a recorded     history that dates back to the Hittites, who flourished there in the     second millennium B.C. Archaeological evidence of far older cultures has     been found in the region, however. The term Turkey , although sometimes used to signify the     Ottoman Empire, was not assigned to a specific political entity or     geographic area until the republic was founded in 1923. The conquering     Turks called Asia Minor, the large peninsular territory they had wrested     from the Byzantine Empire, by its Greek name, Anatol� (sunrise;     figuratively, the East), or Anatolia. The term Anatolia is also     used when events described affected both that region and Turkish Thrace     ("Turkey-in-Europe") because of the two areas' closely linked     political, social, and cultural development. Anatolia is a bridge connecting the Middle East and Europe, and it     shares in the history of both those parts of the world. Despite the     diversity of its peoples and their cultures, and the constantly shifting     borders of its ethnic map, Anatolia has a history characterized by     remarkable continuity. Wave after wave of conquerors and settlers have     imposed their language and other unique features of their culture on it,     but they also have invariably assimilated the customs of the peoples who     preceded them. The history of Turkey encompasses, first, the history of Anatolia     before the coming of the Turks and of the civilizations--Hittite,     Thracian, Hellenistic, and Byzantine--of which the Turkish nation is the     heir by assimilation or example. Second, it includes the history of the     Turkish peoples, including the Seljuks, who brought Islam and the     Turkish language to Anatolia. Third, it is the history of the Ottoman     Empire, a vast, cosmopolitan, pan-Islamic state that developed from a     small Turkish amirate in Anatolia and that for centuries was a world     power. Finally, Turkey's history is that of the republic established in 1923     under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), called Atat�rk--the "Father Turk." The creation of the new republic in the     heartland of the old Islamic empire was achieved in the face of internal     traditionalist opposition and foreign intervention. Atat�rk's goal was     to build on the ruins of Ottoman Turkey a new country and society     patterned directly on Western Europe. He equated Westernization with the     introduction of technology, the modernization of administration, and the     evolution of democratic institutions. The Turkish horsemen who stormed into Anatolia in the eleventh     century were called gazis (warriors of the faith), but they     followed their tribal leaders to win booty and to take land as well as     to spread Islam. The Ottoman Empire, built on the conquests of the gazis , was Islamic but not specifically Turkish. Engendered in reaction to     this Ottoman universalism, early Turkish nationalism was often     pan-Turanian, envisioning a common destiny for all Turkic-speaking     peoples. By contrast, Atat�rk narrowed the focus of his nationalism to     the Turks of Turkey. Under his influence, twentieth-century Turkish     historiography bypassed the Islamic Ottoman period to link the Turkish     nation with ancient Anatolia in such a way that the Hittites, for     instance, were recognized as


What favorite of Queen Elizabeth tried to colonize Virginia and popularized smoking?

walter raleigh : definition of walter raleigh and synonyms of walter raleigh (English) Sir Walter Raleigh ( / ˈ r ɔː l i / , / ˈ r æ l i / , or / ˈ r ɑː l i / ; [1] ca. 1554 – 29 October 1618) was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England. Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon , the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. Little is known for certain of his early life, though he spent some time in Ireland, in Killua Castle , Clonmellon , County Westmeath , taking part in the suppression of rebellions and participating in the Siege of Smerwick . Later he became a landlord of properties confiscated from the native Irish. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I , and was knighted in 1585. He was involved in the early English colonisation of Virginia under a royal patent . In 1591 he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton , one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting , without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London . After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne , Dorset . In 1594 Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of " El Dorado ". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for allegedly being involved in the Main Plot against King James I , who was not favourably disposed toward him. In 1616 he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. This was unsuccessful and men under his command ransacked a Spanish outpost. He returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, was arrested and executed in 1618. Contents   John Everett Millais , The Boyhood of Raleigh (1871) Little is known about Raleigh's birth. Some historians believe Raleigh was born on January 22, 1552, although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography currently favours a date of 1554. [2] He grew up in the house of Hayes Barton, [3] a farmhouse in the village of East Budleigh , not far from Budleigh Salterton , in Devon, England . He was the youngest of five sons born to Catherine Champernowne in two successive marriages. His half brothers, John Gilbert, Humphrey Gilbert , Adrian Gilbert, and full brother Carew Raleigh were also prominent during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Catherine Champernowne was a niece of Kat Ashley , Elizabeth's governess, who introduced the young men at court. [4] Raleigh's family was strongly Protestant in religious orientation and had a number of near-escapes during the reign of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England . In the most notable of these, Raleigh's father had to hide in a tower to avoid execution. As a result, during his childhood, Raleigh developed a hatred of Roman Catholicism and proved himself quick to express it after the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England came to the throne in 1558. In 1568 or 1572, Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford but does not seem to have taken up residence. In 1575, he was registered at the Middle Temple . At his trial in 1603, he stated that he had never studied law. His life between these two dates is uncertain but in his History of the World Raleigh claimed to be an eye-witness at the Battle of Moncontour (3 October 1569) in France. [5] In 1575 or 1576 Raleigh returned to England. [6]   Ireland Between 1579 and 1583, Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions . He was present at the siege of Smerwick . Upon the seizure and distribution of land following the attainders arising from the rebellion, Raleigh received 40,000 acres (160 km2), including the coastal walled towns of Youghal and Lismore . This made him one of the principal landowners in Munster , but he enjoyed limited success in inducing English tenants to settle on his estates .   Sir Walter Raleigh's Seal of Office During his seventeen years as an Irish landlord, frequently domiciling at Killua Castle


What was the primary language of the Byzantine Empire?

Byzantine Empire - Ancient History - HISTORY.com Byzantine Empire A+E Networks Introduction The origins of the great civilization known as the Byzantine Empire can be traced to 330 A.D., when the Roman emperor Constantine I dedicated a “new Rome” on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium. Though the western half of the Roman Empire crumbled and fell in 476, the eastern half survived for 1,000 more years, spawning a rich tradition of art, literature and learning and serving as a military buffer between the states of Europe and the threat of invasion from Asia. The Byzantine Empire finally fell in 1453, after an Ottoman army stormed Constantinople during the reign of Constantine XI. Google A New Rome The term “Byzantine” derives from Byzantium, an ancient Greek colony founded by a man named Byzas. Located on the European side of the Bosporus (the strait linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean), the site of Byzantium was ideally located to serve as a transit and trade point between Europe and Asia Minor. In 330 A.D., Roman Emperor Constantine I chose Byzantium as the site of a new Roman capital, Constantinople. Five years earlier, at the Council of Nicaea, Constantine had established Christianity (once an obscure Jewish sect) as Rome’s official religion. The citizens of Constantinople and the rest of the Eastern Roman Empire identified strongly as Romans and Christians, though many of them spoke Greek and not Latin. Did You Know? One of the most extraordinary aspects of the Byzantine Empire was its longevity: It was the only organized state west of China to survive without interruption from ancient times until the beginning of the modern age. Though Constantine ruled over a unified Roman Empire, this unity proved illusory after his death in 337. In 364, Emperor Valentinian I again divided the empire into western and eastern sections, putting himself in power in the west and his brother Valens in the east. The fate of the two regions diverged greatly over the next several centuries. In the west, constant attacks from German invaders such as the Visigoths broke the struggling empire down piece by piece until Italy was the only territory left under Roman control. In 476, the barbarian Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus , and Rome had fallen. Survival of the Byzantine Empire The eastern half of the Roman Empire proved less vulnerable to external attack, thanks in part to its geographic location. With Constantinople located on a strait, it was extremely difficult to breach the capital’s defenses; in addition, the eastern empire had a much shorter common frontier with Europe. It also benefited greatly from a stronger administrative center and internal political stability, as well as great wealth compared with other states of the early medieval period. The eastern emperors were able to exert more control over the empire’s economic resources and more effectively muster sufficient manpower to combat invasion. As a result of these advantages, the Eastern Roman Empire–variously known as the Byzantine Empire or Byzantium–was able to survive for centuries after the fall of Rome. Though Byzantium was ruled by Roman law and Roman political institutions, and its official language was Latin, Greek was also widely spoken, and students received education in Greek history, literature and culture. In terms of religion, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 officially established the division of the Christian world into five patriarchates, each ruled by a patriarch: Rome (where the patriarch would later call himself pope), Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. The Byzantine emperor was the patriarch of Constantinople, and the head of both church and state. (After the Islamic empire absorbed Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem in the seventh century, the Byzantine emperor would become the spiritual leader of most eastern Christians.) The Byzantine Empire Under Justinian Justinian I, who took power in 527 and would rule until his death in 565, was the first great ruler of the Byzantine Empire. During the


Haile Selassie of Ethiopia Dies at 83 Haile Selassie of Ethiopia Dies at 83 By ALDEN WHITMAN Haile Selassie, the last emperor in the 3,000-year-old Ethiopian monarchy, who ruled for half a century before he was deposed by military coup last September, died yesterday in a small apartment in his former palace. He was 83 years old. His death was played down by the military rulers who succeeded him in Addis Ababa, who announced it in a normally scheduled radio newscast there at 7 A.M. They said that he had been found dead in his bed by a servant, and that the cause of death was probably related to the effects of a prostate operation Haile Selassie underwent two months ago. The broadcast said that the once-revered "Lion of Judah's" only surviving daughter, Princess Tenagne-Work, visited the former Emperor Tuesday at his request, after he had determined that his health was rapidly deteriorating. But in London, Crown Prince Afsa Wossen Haile Selassie, who has been living abroad since the leftist government in Ethiopia formally declared an end to the monarchy last March, said his father had been in "excellent health." In a written statement issued in London, it was said that "the Crown Prince demands that independent doctors and the International Red Cross be allowed to carry out an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death of Ethiopia's and Africa's father." Official sources said that burial of the former Emperor would be "in the strictest privacy." According to Ethiopian custom, burial must take place within 24 hours after death. As a symbol of regal power, His Imperial Majesty the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Haile Selassie I, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia, had ruled his ancient realm as a medieval autocrat. Seized in a military coup after almost a year of festering discontent with his regime, Haile Selassie, who was accustomed to Rolls-Royces, was hustled from his spacious palace to an army officer's bungalow in the back seat of a blue Volkswagen. The final confrontation between the aged and frail Emperor and the young and robust army men was like a scene from a Verdi opera. Haile Selassie scolded and insulted the officers as insolent, and they, with mounting ire, decided on the spot to take him to a military camp rather than to another palace. And on the way, he was jeered by crowds yelling: "Thief!  Thief!" Haile Selassie's troubles began in 1973 with disquiet in the countryside and in the peasant-based army over Government attempts to hush up a drought that eventually took 100,000 lives in two northern provinces. The unrest was compounded in February, 1974, when mutinies broke out in the military over low pay; and a secessionist guerrilla war in Eritrea complicated the Emperor's problems. In the spring and summer, after riots in Addis Ababa, the capital, his absolute power was gradually circumscribed. Lost Touch With Subjects Ironically, Haile Selassie initiated the changes that led to his downfall--the military training program that exposed Ethiopian officers to representative institutions in the United States, and Haile Selassie I University, where students learned to think about political economy. The Emperor, however, could not seem to adapt to new concepts, and he lost touch with his subjects in recent years, showing more affection for his pet cheetahs and dogs, diplomats said, than for his human entourage. In the working out of Haile Selassie's cautious reforms, a thin layer of technocrats and intellectuals was created, a group that perceived the country far differently from the tradition-bound Emperor. The reform process, moreover, created a dependency on the United States, which equipped the army and which drew Ethiopia into the periphery of superpower politics. This came about because of the country's strategic position on the Red Sea. The Soviet Union, likewise alert to geopolitics, equipped the military forces of Somalia, which also lies on the Red Sea and abuts Ethiopia on the southeast. For years the two countries quarreled over their border, adding


And what religious movement views Haile Selassie as the Second Coming of Jesus?

The Rastafarian Movement | World Views | Haile Selassie | Culture and Rastafarians' Way of Life The Rastafarian Movement   The Rastafarian movement is a religion or ideology that started out in Jamaica in the 1930s. It developed among the poor people in Jamaica who were oppressed and felt bad. Its followers worship Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, whom they think of as the second coming of Jesus Christ on Earth. The name comes from Ras, which is like the title Prince, and Tafari, his name at birth. Rastas regard Haile Selassie as a God, not only because he was king of Ethiopia, the only country to be free of foreign influence, but he was also a leader who was widely accepted by the governments of Europe. When Selassie was crowned emperor in 1930, Jamaicans soon started worshipping him.   The Rastafarian movement is against western society and looks towards Africa as the centre of mankind. Many Rastas, as they are called, do not think of their movement as a religion but as a way of life. Today the Rastafarian movement has about one million followers all over the world. In Jamaica about 5 % of the population are Rastafarians. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia   World Views of Rastafarians   Rastafarians worship a single god, called Jah, who lives inside the human being. They claim that Haile Selassie will lead Rastafarians into their paradise, called Zion. When the emperor died in 1975 many Rastafarians did not believe it and thought it was a hoax. But for most believers he still remains their god and king. Rastas view western society as Babylon, an entirely corrupt part of the world. They also think that Africa is a central part of the world, a place where paradise will be created. Rastafarians despise white people who are aggressive and have enslaved Blacks over the centuries. They believe that Blacks are the chosen people of God.   Culture and Ways of Life Rastafarians have no real place to go and worship because they believe God lives in them anyway. They do not believe in an afterlife but think they will eventually live in Africa . Few Rastas are believed to be immortal, a situation which they call everliving. Rastafarians believe in smoking cannabis, a sacrament that cleans the mind, brings them pleasure and closer to their god Jah. This has led to conflicts between Rastas and governments in many countries, where growing and smoking marijuana is illegal. Rastas, however, claim that it is part of the African culture. Most Rastas are vegetarians, or vegans. They eat raw food, mostly fruit and vegetables. They avoid eating meat and drinking alcohol, coffee and milk. Rastafarians consider their food as I-tal , which means pure and clean. Wearing dreadlocks is strongly associated with the Rastafarian way of life. They view it as something spiritual because the Bible forbids cutting your hair. Dreadlocks also symbolize a lion’s mane. The animal represents strength and power. Green, gold and red are important colors in the Rastafarian movement. They are the colors of the Ethiopian flag and show loyalty to King Haile Selassie. Red is a symbol of the blood of the blacks who were killed throughout history, green represents Ethiopia’s beauty and vegetation and gold symbolizes the richness of Ethiopia.   Rastafarian with dreadlocks - Photo by Jonathan Stephens,  JRS Film Website     Music Early Rastafarian music began with hymns and drumming. They used their own texts as the lyrics of their hymns. Reggae is a music genre that developed in Jamaica in the 1960s. It is closely associated with the names of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and others. These musicians spread Rastafarianism throughout the world. It was Bob Marley, who wanted to make people aware of Rastafarianism through his lyrics. He spoke out against discrimination and the inequality towards Blacks.   Marcus Garvey Marcus Garvey is thought to be a prophet of the Rastafarian movement. He is often seen as a second John the Baptist. In the early 20th century he promoted Black nationalism and claimed that all blacks should get together and help throw the imperialists out of


In what city was Abraham Zapruder living on November 22, 1963?

The Weirdness of Assassination Tourism — X Marks the Spot in Dallas The Weirdness of Assassination Tourism — X Marks the Spot in Dallas Posted Jul 10, 2013 5:56 PM Save for later DALLAS — This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a somber marker in American history and an awkward time for the city he was killed in. There are Xs that quite literally mark the spots on Elm Street in Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was hit by the bullets that mortally wounded him. The fact that Elm Street is still used as a thoroughfare makes for strange passage as one walks past or drives on the fatal path. This X marks the spot where Kennedy was shot on Nov. 22, 1963. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call) The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza — site of the former Texas School Book Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald set up his sniper nest — is doing bustling business with its exhibits of Kennedy artifacts and films, as well as a "living history" series of lectures and events about the assassination and Kennedy's legacy. Perhaps the museum's most interesting multimedia effort is its Dealey Plaza Cam , which provides a live shot on the Web of Oswald's view. There is no end to other guided tours, professional and not-so-professional, of the area, including the grassy knoll and the spot where Abraham Zapruder shot his immortal film of the day's events. The spot at Dealey Plaza that Abraham Zapruder stood on Nov. 22, 1963. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call) The fact that the area looks so normal belies its weird, somber vibe and the horrific nature of the events that unfolded there.


Henry VIII suffered a leg injury participating in what sport?

The jousting accident that turned Henry VIII into a tyrant | The Independent The jousting accident that turned Henry VIII into a tyrant Medical study uncovers turning point in king's life. Michael McCarthy reports Friday 17 April 2009 23:00 BST Click to follow The jousting accident that turned Henry VIII into a tyrant 1/13 13/13 © royal armouries Henry VIII became the tyrannical monster remembered by history because of a personality change following a serious jousting accident, according to a new historical documentary. After the accident – just before he became estranged from the second of his six wives, Anne Boleyn – the king, once sporty and generous, became cruel, vicious and paranoid, his subjects began talking about him in a new way, and the turnover of his wives speeded up. The accident occurred at a tournament at Greenwich Palace on 24 January 1536 when 44-year-old Henry, in full armour, was thrown from his horse, itself armoured, which then fell on top of him. He was unconscious for two hours and was thought at first to have been fatally injured. But, although he recovered, the incident, which ended his jousting career, aggravated serious leg problems which plagued him for the rest of his life, and may well have caused an undetected brain injury which profoundly affected his personality, according to the History Channel documentary Inside the Body of Henry VIII. The programme focuses on the king's medical problems which grew worse in his later years, especially his ulcerated legs and his obesity: measurements of his armour show that, between his 20s and his 50s, the 6ft 1in monarch's waist grew from 32in to 52in, his chest expanded from 39in to 53in, and, by the time of his death in 1547 at the age of 56, he is likely to have weighed 28 stone. Robert Hutchinson, a biographer of Henry; Catherine Hood, a doctor; and the historian Lucy Worsley, who is chief curator of Britain's Historic Royal Palaces, offer a picture of a sovereign eventually overwhelmed by health problems by the time of his death. His doctors recorded that he had badly ulcerated legs, was unable to walk, his eyesight was fading, and he was plagued by paranoia and melancholy. However, Henry had started out with excellent health as a young man, being universally admired for his manly physique. An ambassador at the Tudor court reported: "His Majesty is the most handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on. Above the usual height with an extremely fine calf to his leg and a round face so very beautiful it would become a pretty woman." He may have had a bout of smallpox at the age of 23, but the experts speculate that his real medical problems began at the age of 30 when he appears to have contracted malaria, which is thought to have returned throughout his life. They were intensified by two factors: open sores on his legs and sporting injuries. The sores – varicose ulcers, which began on his left leg when he was 36, and later affected his right – may have been caused by the restrictive garters he wore to show off his calves. They never healed, and increasingly restricted his mobility. Henry also suffered various injuries because of his well-known love of sports – he excelled at pursuits such as archery, wrestling and real tennis, and, playing the latter game he seriously injured his foot. But it was jousting – two armoured horsemen charging at each other with wooden lances in "the lists" – which proved the most dangerous. His first serious accident occurred in 1524 when he failed to lower the visor on his helmet and was hit by his opponent's lance just above the right eye, after which he constantly suffered from migraines. Jousting nearly killed him 12 years later. The fall at Greenwich left him "speechless" for two hours, and Anne Boleyn, the woman for whom he had divorced his original queen, Katherine of Aragon, was told that he would die – the shock of which news, she said, caused her to miscarry the child she was expecting. The miscarried baby was male, and it was immediately after this that Henry told Anne they would clearly never have male child


What empire, based in Cusco, once controlled much of the Andes?

Inka, an introduction | Inka (article) | Khan Academy Inka, an introduction Email A huge empire From their capital, Cuzco, in the central Peruvian Andes, the Inca created a huge empire reaching over 2,400 miles along the length of the Andes. The supreme head of state was the king, considered a living god ruling by divine right and the royal family controlled important areas of government such as the army. The empire’s economy was based on taxed labour. People contributed part of their labour to the state and the state-controlled religion. People farmed and herded animals, worked in mines and produced specialized goods such as clothing and pottery. The surplus was stored in numerous warehouses (tambos) for use by the army and state laborers. Miniature gold llama figurine, Peru, Inca, c. 1500 C.E., 6.3 x 1 cm © Trustees of the British Museum Miniature gold llama figurine,  c. 1500 C.E., Inca, gold, 6.3 x 1 cm, Peru © Trustees of the British Museum Inca colonists were settled in newly conquered territories as a way of managing subject peoples and spreading Inca language and customs. Local lords were enlisted into the system of government to maintain order in their provinces, rebellious communities were resettled in the Inca heartland. Inca engineers and laborers built a network of thousands of miles of roads and bridges to connect the empire. They constructed administrative centers, storehouses and military bases. A system of runners carrying information recorded on knotted strings called quipus also linked the capital to the regions. Cuzco: the center of the Inca world The capital of Cuzco was the center of the Inca world. Radiating from the central plaza the four main Inca roads led to the four corners of the empire. A sacred city of temples, royal palaces and residences for housing carefully-preserved bodies of dead rulers, early histories say the Inca likened Cuzco to the body of a puma (wild mountain cat), a symbol of Inca royalty. The most sacred building in Cuzco was the Coricancha, a temple devoted to the sun, the main Inca deity. Its stone walls were covered in sheets of gold to reflect the sun’s light. From this temple a system of  sight-lines (ceques) radiated outwards dividing the surrounding landscape like slices of a pie. Over 300 shrines were situated at sacred places along these lines and there formed part of a sophisticated agricultural calendar. Two carved stone vessels This massive circular ritual vessel or cocha is sculpted from a single block of black volcanic basalt from the imperial capital Cusco. This is one of a small number of surviving vessels of this size that were probably housed in the Coricancha—the Temple of the Sun—or adjacent sacred buildings. It was probably used as a receptacle for liquid offerings, perhaps simple to hold water and create a still, reflective surface regarded as an eye seeing into the underworld. Stone ritual vessel with snake motifs, Peru, late 15th century, Inca Colonial, basalt, 15 x 40 cm © Trustees of the British Museum Stone ritual vessel with snake motifs, late 15th century, Inca Colonial, basalt, 15 x 40 cm, Peru © Trustees of the British Museum The tightly nestled concentric coils of the snake’s body mimics moving water. Ten serpent heads are symmetrically arranged around the vessel rim in a pattern resembling the ceque system which was used by the Incas to organize space in Cusco and the land beyond. Inca carved stone vessel, basalt, Inca Colonial 18 x 50 x 67 cm © Trustees of the British Museum Inca carved stone vessel, late 15th century, basalt, 18 x 50 x 67 cm,  Inca Colonial, Cuzco© Trustees of the British Museum Inca ritual vessels of a similar size are usually carved with spiraling serpents and the example above is no different. But this piece is unique as it is the only known example which is inscribed with figurative scenes. It is thought that these were applied in the early colonial period. Inca carved stone vessel, late 15th century, Inca Colonial, basalt, 18 x 50 x 67 cm © Trustees of the British Museum Solar disk flanked by two figures (detail), Inc


What country imported an estimated four million slaves before finally banning slavery in 1888?

Slavery S Slavery Slavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation (such as wages ). Evidence of slavery predates written records, and has existed to varying extents, forms and periods in almost all cultures and continents . In some societies, slavery existed as a legal institution or socio-economic system, but today it is formally outlawed in nearly all countries and condemned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nevertheless, the practice continues in various forms around the world. The English word slave derives - through Old French and Medieval Latin - from the medieval word for Slavic people of Central and Eastern Europe, who were the last ethnic group to be captured and enslaved in Central Europe. For thousands of years, according to Adam Smith and Auguste Comte , a slave was principally defined as a captive or prisoner of war. History of slavery and the slave trade Slavery is rare among Hunter gatherer populations, as slavery depends on a system of social stratification. Slavery also requires economic surpluses and a high population density to be viable. Due to these factors, the practice of slavery would have only proliferated after the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic revolution about 11,000 years ago. The earliest records of slavery can be traced to the Code of Hammurabi (ca. 1760 BC), and the Bible refers to it as an established institution. Slavery was known to occur in civilizations as old as Sumer , as well as almost every other ancient civilization, including Ancient Egypt, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria , Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and the Islamic Caliphate. Such institutions were a mixture of debt-slavery, punishment for crime, the enslavement of prisoners of war , child abandonment, and the birth of slave children to slaves. Records of slavery in Ancient Greece go as far back as Mycenaean Greece. Two-fifths (some authorities say four-fifths) of the population of Classical Athens were slaves. Greeks philosophers such as Aristotle accepted the theory of natural slavery, that is, that some men are slaves by nature. As the Roman Republic expanded outward, entire populations were enslaved, thus creating an ample supply from all over Europe and the Mediterranean. Greeks, Illyrians, Berbers, Germans, Britons, Thracians, Gauls, Jews, Arabs, and many more were slaves used not only for labour, but also for amusement (e.g. gladiators and sex slaves). This oppression by an elite minority eventually led to slave revolts (see Roman Servile Wars); the Third Servile War led by Spartacus being the most famous and severe. By the late Republican era, slavery had become a vital economic pillar in the wealth of Rome, as well as a very significant part of Roman society. It is estimated that over 25% of the population of Ancient Rome was enslaved. According to some scholars, slaves represented 35% or more of Italy 's population. In the city of Rome alone, under the Roman Empire, there were about 400,000 slaves. During the millennium from the emergence of the Roman Empire to its eventual decline, at least 100 million people were captured or sold as slaves throughout the Mediterranean and its hinterlands. The early medieval slave trade was mainly confined to the South and East: the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world were the destinations, pagan Central and Eastern Europe , along with the Caucasus and Tartary , were important sources. Viking , Arab , Greek and Jewish merchants (known as Radhanites) were all involved in the slave trade during the Early Middle Ages. Medieval Spain and Portugal were the scene of almost constant warfare between Muslims and Christians. Periodic raiding expeditions were sent from Al-Andalus to ravage the Iberian Christian kingdoms, bringing back booty and slaves. In raid against Lisbon , Portugal in 1189, for example, the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur took 3,