History

Refine Search

What kinds of animals once lived on the prairies?

In the days when the prairies were at their peak, the abundant grasses and plant life varied greatly. The climate was drier in the western areas, where rainfall was less frequent. As a result, the animals that lived there learned to adapt by needing less water. Animals such as ground squirrels and shrews that lived on the prairie got most of their water from foods they ate. Many smaller animals, such as prairie dogs and mice, went below ground, digging numerous tunnels to keep cool and sleep during the heat of the day. Even plants learned to adapt to the hot weather, and they developed deep ro..

Continue Reading

What was Alexander Graham Bell famous for?

On Jan. 15, 1915, Bell made his first transcontinental call from New York to San Francisco. At the age of 12 while growing up on a farm, Bell made his first invention, a dehusking machine, with pedals and nailbrushes. Alexander dropped out of school in order to began his original experiments with voice and sounds. He found that if vowels could be produced electronically, so could consonants and articulate speech.

Continue Reading

What happened during the Reign of Terror?

The Reign of Terror officially ended with Robespierre's execution after he called for another purge in 1794, alienating his supporters and frightening his fellow Committee members. He intended for the Reign of Terror to prevent counter-revolution, abandoning the vows of liberty and equality that the Declaration of the Rights of Man had promised. The vast majority of people executed by the Committee and the Convention were ordinary people reported by informers to have uttered critical or derogatory remarks of the new government.\nThe Reign of Terror introduced the guillotine, which was use..

Continue Reading

Who were the Loyalists in the American Revolution?

It is estimated that up to 20 percent of colonists during the Revolution remained loyal to the crown, taking up arms to fight in the conflict against the revolutionaries. Many loyalists were poor farmers or shopowners, but there were elected officials who sided with the British. Slaves and Native Americans also were Loyalists because they had been promised freedom or better treatment by the British than at the hands of the American colonists.\nSome prominent Loyalists were Thomas Hutchinson, William Franklin and Thomas Copley. William Franklin was the son of Benjamin Franklin, estranged from h..

Continue Reading

Who invented the electric heater?

Chromel, which is made of four parts nickel and one part chromium, was 300 times hotter than other heating elements at the time of its discovery. For his discovery and invention, Marsh was termed the "Father of the electrical heating industry," according to Wikipedia. He worked with William Hoskins at a company of consulting chemists for several years while perfecting the alloy. The material was then patented in 1906.

Continue Reading

How did Benjamin Franklin change the world?

Benjamin Franklin is considered one of the founding fathers of the United States. He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and the first postmaster general of the United States. After serving as part of the five-man committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, Congress sent him to France to persuade the French to enter the Revolutionary War on the side of the Americans. The French alliance with the United States was crucial to America's victory. In 1787, at 81 years old, he was the oldest delegate to the Constitutional Convention.\nAs a publisher and writer, Frankli..

Continue Reading

What is the history of scarecrows?

Scarecrows tend to reflect an aspect of the culture that uses them. The Greeks carved and decorated their scarecrows to look like one of their deities, and the Germans built theirs to look like witches. Many scarecrows are meant to be frightening to humans as well as animals, reflecting fear based in superstition. According to Modern Farmer, the word "bogeyman" comes from what German farmers used to call their scarecrows.\nThe immigrant German farmers of the 1800s brought their scarecrow ideas to North America when European settlers were still mostly using live patrols, and the scarecrow conce..

Continue Reading

Why were cave paintings made?

Cave art dates back nearly 40,000 years. Initially, historians believed cave art originated in western Europe, but now see evidence of its emergence in Indonesia.Although artists may have created cave art for different purposes, the pictures remain nearly the same worldwide. Cave art features humans, gods and animals. Pictures showing animals may promote the sympathetic magic theory, which asserts that early humans drew hunting animals on cave walls to control or guide the actions of real animals. The systematic theory describes animals assuming certain sizes and positions in society, indicati..

Continue Reading

What are some facts about the Lumbee Native Americans?

Traditionally, many thought that the Lumbee descended from Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colony at Roanoke. However, most modern historians believe the Lumbee mostly descend from Siouan-speaking tribes that long lived in the area prior to European colonization and were decimated by European diseases and subsequent infighting.\nBy the 19th century the Lumbee lived in relative seclusion, following similar agricultural practices as local white settlers and attending Christian churches. However, changes to North Carolina's constitution in 1835 classified the Lumbee as "free persons of color,..

Continue Reading

Who were the Cossacks?

The history of the Cossack people started with their unification as an autonomous organization of warriors that only answered to the authority of the Russian Czar in the 15th century. During this point in their history, the Cossack population was made up of people of Slavic descent, although they accepted any worthy warrior into their ranks if the warrior converted to Christianity.\nA notable event in the history of the Cossack people was their role in the annexation of Siberia by the Russian Empire. A troop of 840 Cossacks under the leadership of Yermak Timofeyevich attacked a hostile Tartar ..

Continue Reading
Showing 991 to 1000 of 8554 (856 Pages)