History

Refine Search

Where was gunpowder invented?

The world's first recorded gunpowder accident took place in 1280 at an arsenal in Weiyang, Eastern China. After stocks of gunpowder caught fire, a large explosion killed more than 100 soldiers and scattered debris over a two mile radius.\nGunpowder technology did not reach Europe until the late 13th century, by which time the Chinese had already developed hand grenades, cannons and flame throwers.

Continue Reading

What is the history of the Black Panther Party?

The Black Panther Party based their work on four ideals: equality in education, housing, employment and civil rights. In 1967, the group protested a gun bill by marching into the California Legislature fully armed. That same year Newton was convicted of killing an Oakland police officer but never served time because the case was dismissed after two hung juries. In 1968, more engagements with the police ended in the death of Bobby Hutton, the party's treasurer.\nThe Black Panther's began to lose momentum in 1969 when the FBI began raiding groups and arresting or killing members, such ..

Continue Reading

Lord Baltimore established the Maryland colony in response to what?

King James I gave Sir George Calvert, his Secretary of State, a parcel of land in Newfoundland. However, the senior Calvert later asked James' son, King Charles I, for the title to the land located north of Virginia. According to the Maryland Historical Society, while Charles agreed, he did not sign over the land until Calvert died in 1632, giving it to his son Sir Cecil Calvert instead.\nAccording to the History Channel, Charles granted land east of the Potomac River to Cecil Calvert in exchange for a portion of any income derived from it. Cecil Calvert called it Maryland in honor of Hen..

Continue Reading

How did the Internet start?

The United States created DARPA to research means for countering the Soviet Union's Sputnik and other high-tech moves. Designed as a nationwide think tank for Department of Defense and university researchers to explore methods to counter Cold War initiatives, it quickly became apparent that one of the greatest hindrances was the lack of rapid communication and collaboration. Computers at the time were primitive, used primarily to compute rather than communicate. Leonard Kleinrock's packet-switching theories were implemented during the 1960s to ease computer communications, and Lawren..

Continue Reading

How did the light bulb change the world?

The implementation of light bulbs led to the need for a widespread electrical-distribution system, and the world's first large-scale power station was built at Niagara Falls in 1895. The power was distributed only locally at first, but some was also transmitted to nearby Buffalo, where it was used to power streetlights and streetcars. The transmission to Buffalo proved that long-distance power distribution was efficient, and this eventually led to a national system of large, interconnected power stations. The light bulb also had wide-reaching social and economic consequences. Interior lig..

Continue Reading

Who was the commander of the Confederate Army?

General Robert E. Lee was a lifetime military officer. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated second in his class. After refusing President Lincoln's offer to lead the Union Army, Lee joined the newly formed Confederate Army when Virginia seceded from the United States. He attempted to invade the North several times but was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1865, Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse to end the Civil War.

Continue Reading

When did James Hargreaves invent the Spinning Jenny?

Hargreaves previously built his career working on a hand loom. Some accounts say that his idea for the spinning jenny was inspired by an accident that occured when his daughter knocked over his spinning wheel. As Hargreaves watched the wheel spin, he realized it could be used to operate multiple spindles at once. The first spinning jenny spun eight coarse threads simultaneously, and gradual improvements in designed multiplied the machine's output to eighty threads. Since Hargreaves waited years to secure a patent, other manufacturers reproduced his invention in the intervening time and he..

Continue Reading

What is Archimedes' full name?

After learning all that he could from his teachers in Syracuse, Archimedes relocated to Egypt so that he could continue his studies in Alexandria. After leaving and returning to Syracuse, Archimedes went on to invent the sciences of hydro statics and mechanics. He pioneered the laws of pulleys and levers, which made it possible for people to move heavy objects using small forces. Archimedes also invented a tool called the Archimedean screw that was used to drain ships of rain water and is still used throughout the world today by developing countries as an irrigation tool.

Continue Reading

When were the Cuban revolts against Spanish rule?

Cuba had always been one of Spain's colonies, but the Cubans felt that Spain's inability to give them any self-governing power was unacceptable. This led to the formation of the Cuban Nationalists and the beginning of the Ten Years' War in 1868. Though it was ultimately unsuccessful, it did last 10 years and it fed the dissatisfaction with Spain of the Cuban people. In 1898, 20 years after the end of the Ten Years' War, the Cuban Nationalists attacked Spanish rule once again in the form of the Spanish-American War.The Spanish-American War quickly pulled in the United States..

Continue Reading

Who was the Italian artist who made the first study of flight in the 1480s?

One of Da Vinci's designs, the ornithopter, consisted of a plank on which a human could rest while manipulating massive wings resembling those of a bat. He also presented an idea for a helicopter-like vehicle that used a spiral turned manually by four people on a platform to rise into the air. Da Vinci never actually created either of these inventions, but the concepts behind them inspired later inventors who explored human flight. Da Vinci also investigated the physics of glider flight.

Continue Reading
Showing 2421 to 2430 of 8554 (856 Pages)