History

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What are some good resources for learning about world history?

Scholars can visit Learner.org to explore 26 history units from the Bridging World History organization. This site is especially useful for teachers who are searching for curriculum ideas on word history. It includes a variety of instructional videos and an audio glossary.\nThe University of Illinois sponsors the World History Connected website, which provides information for teachers and students alike. The site offers research reports, history instruction methods and lessons on a variety of world history topics.\nThe Avalon Project is maintained by the Yale University School of Law. The coll..

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Why was King Tut so important?

Due to his short reign and the change of religion his father had made, Tut spent much of his reign repairing the damage and restoring the old religion. He was also tainted by the memory of his father's changes. He was also sickly and died at 19, further limiting his chances of having a long, important reign.\nHowever, the discovery of his tomb catapulted him into significance and importance in the modern day. Most of the tombs of pharaohs have been looted, so when King Tutankhamun's fully intact tomb was discovered, it was historically significant. His tomb was small, likely due to a..

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Why is Henry Hudson significant to American History?

Henry Hudson was an English explorer who made his first voyage in 1607. Initially, he had hoped to discover a trading route to Asia that was free of ice. During his life, he made a total of four voyages across the Atlantic in hopes of finding this passage, as well as a rumored "Northeastern Passage" through North America to the Pacific. During his attempts to locate this passage, he sailed up the large river that would later come to bear his name before turning around and sailing back into the large bay that would also one day bear his name.\nDuring Hudson's fourth and final voyage to Nor..

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What are some positives and negatives of Columbus' voyages?

The damage that Columbus' voyages caused to Native American populations came in several forms. To find riches in the "New World," Columbus' men committed acts of violence against the Native Americans, driving them off their land and taking their resources. Some Native Americans were forced into slavery. Thousands of others died from smallpox and other infections brought over by the European explorers. Since they had no prior exposure to the infectious agents that caused these diseases, Native Americans had no immunity and were thus highly susceptible.\nIn spite of the damage caused b..

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Who invented the nuclear reactor?

The 1938 work demonstrated for the first time that nuclear chain reactions were possible under laboratory conditions. Fermi received a Nobel Prize for this discovery, but Szilard went uncredited and did not. In 1942, Szilard performed the first controlled nuclear reaction. Fermi and Szilard worked together on the Manhattan Project and refined the process of creating nuclear reactions, alongside other colleagues. Because this first reactor used neutrons to produce nuclear fission, it is called a neutronic reactor in the patent rather than the more familiar term, nuclear reactor.

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What were U-boats in World War I?

U-boats relied on torpedoes as weaponry and were typically capable of traveling fully submerged for two hours. The Treaty of Versailles, which marked the end of World War I, prohibited Germany's possession of U-boats but did not prevent the country from researching U-boat technology, resulting in the more advanced U-boats that were used by Germany in World War II.

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What happened 80 years ago?

In 1934, Stalin started the Great Purge in Russia, Germany embraced the Nazi party and Hitler became aggressive toward the country’s Jewish population. Extreme political views arose with dictators surfacing in Europe, Asia and South America. The criminal careers of John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker ended. The Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in March 1934, and authorities charged Richard Hauptmann with his kidnapping and murder.\nIn entertainment, Donald Duck first appeared in a cartoon, and “It Happened One Night,” starring Claudette Colb..

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What were the names of Henry Hudson's ships?

Hudson embarked on his first recorded expedition aboard the Hopewell in 1607. He was tasked by the Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage. However, the Hopewell was unable to locate the shipping route due to an ice blockade. Hudson's second ship was the Half Moon, which was owned by the Dutch East India Company. It was during his exploration around Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay in 1609 that Hudson first sailed across the Hudson River. Hudson's last voyage was aboard the Discovery. The journey took him to the northern Labrador coast in 1610 where he traveled down the Hudson S..

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What year was the telephone invented?

Before the invention of the telephone, communications were sent in Morse code by telegraph. The telephone simplified the exchange of information by transmitting speech instead of a series of electrical impulses to be translated into words. Telephone use immediately began to expand across cities and countries and, after the first transcontinental call made by Alexander Graham Bell in 1915, telephones were used to connect people around the world.

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Why didn't the United States join the League of Nations?

The League of Nations was an American idea championed by President Woodrow Wilson during the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Versailles, the agreement that officially ended World War I. The organization's goal was the creation of an international body that would help preserve peace and punish those who started wars. However, many Americans were concerned. They especially feared the League's 10th Article. They believed that this article allowed the League of Nations to force the United States to commit its military and economic power in places that were not beneficial to the ..

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