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Why did World War I begin in August 1914?

The crisis was prone to escalate due to the great powers increasing military strength and dividing into the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente during the years prior to World War I. Once Germany issued a blank check to Austria-Hungary on July 5, 1914, the first step in escalating the crisis was taken. By the end of July, Berlin was in the best position to deescalate but failed to do so.

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What are some fun ways to teach kids about Ancient Mesopotamia?

Depending on the age and skill level of your class, teaching about Ancient Mesopotamia usually involves some combination of geography, culture, the development of writing, and Hammurabi's Code. Online resources can be a fun and effective way to inform students about the geography and culture of an empire that is disconnected from the schema of most students. MrDowling.com, for example, provides maps, videos, photographs and drawings that can provide students with imagery that they may not be able to conjure up in their imaginations or even with static textbook images.\nFor some aspects of..

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What happened to Wladyslaw Szpilman's family?

Before the war, Szpilman was Polish Radio’s official pianist. But because they were Jewish, Szpilman and his father, mother, two sisters and brother were forced to leave their home and live in the ghetto. To keep his family alive, Szpilman chose to play the piano at Café Nowaczesna, which was frequented by Nazis and their sympathizers. Szpilman worked hard to keep his family safe when the large-scale deportations began in 1942. He saw members of his extended family as well as friends sent off to concentration camps, but through his bravery was able to keep his immediate family together for ..

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Who are some famous European explorers?

Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, and he acted as both an explorer and a raider under the authority of Queen Elizabeth I. In his early years, Drake's activities as a pirate and illegal slave trader sparked conflict with the Spanish crown, and he later commanded troops against the Spanish in battles by land and sea. During his travels, he explored the western coast of North America and claimed California for Queen Elizabeth. Drake died in Panama from dysentery while planning a plundering expedition of Spanish holdings.\nChristopher Columbus is known fo..

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What forms of transportation did the Iroquois Indians employ?

The Iroquois made canoes by hollowing out logs from birch bark. They shaped the bark over a cedar frame and sewed it together using a bone awl and tree roots. They then sealed the canoe with tree pitch they cooked with charcoal to darken. After contact with the Europeans, the Iroquois developed sleds with bent ash runners. These sleds made collecting firewood and maple sap easier when there was snow.\nThe Iroquois lived along the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. They built longhouses that housed 18 to 20 people each. Because they used human power to move their belongings, they limited..

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What four border states remained loyal to the Union?

Between the election and inauguration of President Lincoln, seven states seceded from the rest of the country. After the attack on Fort Sumter, four more states seceded. President Lincoln was determined to keep the aforementioned border states from leaving too, and he tried to sway them by making the war about the preservation of the nation rather than the abolishing of slavery. Although these states did not secede, some volunteers from these states did work to aid the cause of the Confederacy.

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What is one of the hallmarks of the Jacksonian era?

President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830. This piece of legislation authorized the president to negotiate with the eastern tribes concerning their relocation to lands west of the Mississippi River. Although the removal was meant to be voluntary, the affected tribes, which included the Cherokee, Seminole and Choctaw, faced intense pressure to agree to the removal.\nIf the tribes stayed on their ancestral lands, the law required them to become citizens of the state in which their lands were located. This meant that they would be subject to the laws of that state, and the ..

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What was the outcome of the Haitian Revolution?

Haiti was originally a French colony called St. Domingue, and its economy depended heavily on sugar, coffee and slave labor. The slaves, inspired by the French Revolution, fought for their independence from France. They defeated the French under the leadership of former slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines, resulting in the creation of a new Haitian nation that was just the second former colony in the Americas to free itself from European rulers. It also became the world's first black republic.\nOther outcomes of the Haitian Revolution included a greater emphasis on human rights. The slave fight..

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Who invented the horse saddle?

By around 700 B.C., Assyrian warriors in the Middle East created saddles with more elaborate designs with girth-like straps. Around 500 B.C., Siberian nomads had improved upon the design and made saddles from leather, hair, felt and gold, and some of them were cushioned and outfitted with leather stirrups. In 200 B.C., Asian horseman created a saddle that kept the weight of the rider off the horse's vertebrae for the animal's comfort and to keep the animal in service longer.

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Who discovered nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy as a viable technology has its origin with Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard. Szilard first articulated the concept of the atomic chain reaction in 1933, according to Wikipedia. Along with Enrico Fermi, Szilard would eventually acquire a patent for the first nuclear reactor. In 1939, along with Albert Einstein, he co-authored a letter to President Roosevelt that eventually inspired the Manhattan Project.

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