History

Refine Search

What was a blacksmith in colonial times?

Blacksmiths used hammers, tongs, chisels, anvils, cutters and drills to shape charcoal iron, and they also heated and welded iron and steel on forges. They created farming tools, cooking hardware, nails, hinges and latches. By the 1830s, blacksmiths' tools were commercially sold in England and the colonies. Blacksmiths were instrumental in transportation by creating horseshoes for oxen and horses, and they also repaired vehicles. They created intricate ironwork for household decorative items. As far as weaponry, blacksmiths repaired guns for warships, made gun barrels and created knives a..

Continue Reading

What achievements are attributed to the Aztec civilization?

Many experts believe that the Aztec civilization was the first state to establish a system of universal compulsory education for both boys and girls. In contrast, compulsory education in the modern world did not begin until 1592 in the German Duchy of Pfalz-Zweibrücken. The Aztecs also played a game called ollama, which is the precursor of modern day soccer. In this game, teams vied to knock a small rubber ball through wall-mounted rings using only their hips, knees or elbows. Only the nobility played the game.\nAlthough the Olmec tribe invented chocolate from cocoa beans, the Aztecs drank it..

Continue Reading

What are the major industries in Nigeria?

Nigeria has long been a prime manufacturer of oil, but the emphasis on this manufacturing sector has lead to certain issues. Oil theft has become a problem in the country, where armed gangs steal large quantities of manufactured oil on a regular basis. Because of this, many major oil companies have sold their wells and begun investing in offshore drilling sites. This has actually led to the rise of new, domestic energy producers, subsequently diversifying the petroleum market in Nigeria.Cocoa has also become an important manufacturing industry in Nigeria, and the many jobs cocoa farming provid..

Continue Reading

Who made the first tractor?

Self-contained steam-powered tractors started to appear in 1868. In 1889, the Illinois-based Charter Gasoline Engine Company, under the guidance of Charles Carter, produced the first gasoline-powered tractors. While these machines ran, they were not robust enough for the demanding work of farming. In 1901, Charles W. Hart and Charles H. Parr produced a tougher engine, and in 1902 they started making the Hart-Parr tractor. Henry Ford started producing lightweight tractors in 1907 on his assembly lines, and only three years later, tractors began to proliferate throughout American agriculture.

Continue Reading

From where did the Titanic depart and where was it headed ?

The RMS Titanic was a British ocean liner constructed in 1912 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. When the Titanic sailed on her maiden voyage, most of its passengers thought it was unsinkable. When news broke out that the liner hit an iceberg, the people aboard continued dining and dancing. The Titanic remained afloat for 2 1/2 hours before sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Continue Reading

Who wrote the Articles of Confederation?

The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution written for the United States. The first draft was submitted in 1775. However, the final approval of Dickinson's revised draft was not given until in 1777. The Articles were submitted to the states, and all but one approved them by 1779. Maryland was the last state to approve the Articles in 1781, and they went into effect on March 1 of the same year.

Continue Reading

Why is Sir Francis Drake famous?

During Drake's voyage around the globe, he made numerous important discoveries. One of which was the California coast, where he stopped to restock his ship and do repairs. He spent time with the Native Americans there and claimed the land for Britain. From there, he traveled further west and around Africa, finally arriving back in Britain in 1580, where he was knighted and eventually became the mayor of Plymouth.

Continue Reading

What happened in the Our Lady of the Angels school fire of 1958?

Even though it had passed safety inspections a few weeks prior to the fire because of a grandfathering clause in the 1949 standards, the interior was made almost completely of wood, and the wood floors were repeatedly coated in flammable wax. There were no sprinklers, automatic fire alarms, detectors or alarms to contact the fire department. There was one fire escape that could not be reached because of the thick smoke and gas, and the only four fire extinguishers were mounted too high on the wall for even the adults to reach.\nThe fire burned for 15 to 30 minutes undetected until the heat sha..

Continue Reading

Who is credited with conceiving and designing the eniac?

What made ENIAC unique among other early computers is that it could be reprogrammed to perform different operations; contemporary devices were designed to perform only one program. It was funded by the Army to calculate ballistic trajectories for artillery shells, but World War II ended before it could perform once. Instead, its first calculations were used in top-secret evaluations of thermonuclear chain reactions. It was unveiled to the public in February of 1946.

Continue Reading

Why did the Wright brothers invent the airplane?

The Wright brothers developed a theory that was different from the ones other pilots had suggested at the time. They figured an airplane that flew by its wings would be a better machine than one where the pilot shifted its weight to control it. The Wright brothers began studying this concept and carried out various experiments using their own, hand-built devices, such as kites and gliders. These experiments took place in an area near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.\nThe first flight they took occurred on Dec. 17, 1900, but there were many previous experiments and changes in design that took place ..

Continue Reading
Showing 3181 to 3190 of 8554 (856 Pages)