History

Refine Search

Why was the Great Pyramid of Giza built?

The orientation of the Great Pyramid of Giza is nearly perfectly north by design. Its construction required approximately 2.3 million stone blocks, with each weighing between 2.5 to 15 tons. As of 2014, researchers suggest that to complete the pyramid, the workers needed to place a stone block every 150 seconds.\nThe interior of the pyramid features three different burial chambers, one of which is built into the bedrock underneath the pyramid. The second chamber is located above ground level and was incorrectly identified as a queen's burial chamber by early researchers and explorers. The..

Continue Reading

Who are the main characters in the Mahabharata?

Vyasa is a character that is seen throughout the whole epic. He is the narrator and father to the king Dhritarashtra. In the story, the Dhritarashtra's family is in a war against the king's nephews (sons of his deceased brother Pandu) for control of the kingdom. These two groups battle on intellectual and physical levels. The battle between the two sides of the family comes to a climax with Krishna coming to the warriors and sharing the knowledge that the ultimate battle isn't about material things, but cosmic and spiritual matters.The story takes 18 books to come to completion...

Continue Reading

Who was Dr. Ben Carson?

Benjamin Carson was born in Detroit in 1951, the firstborn son to Sonya and Robert Carson. His parents divorced during his childhood, leaving his mother to raise Carson and his younger brother alone. Carson aspired to a career in medicine, and though he had difficulty in school and struggled with violence and anger issues, he eventually overcame these obstacles and earned a scholarship to Yale University, where he studied psychology.\nAfter his graduation from Yale, Carson pursued neurosurgery at the University of Michigan. In 1977, after completing his medical degree, he relocated to Baltimor..

Continue Reading

How was Woodrow Wilson's 14th point incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles?

At the time of World War I, Germany occupied a portion of France called Alsace-Lorraine and held colonies in Africa and Asia. The 14 points called for decolonization and upheld the principal of self-determination.\nSince Germany was recognized as a main aggressor in the war, it was given harsh war reparations to pay. The League of Nations, an international council where delegates from all countries could come together to diplomatically resolve world problems, was the forerunner to the United Nations.

Continue Reading

What was the Progressive Movement?

One of the main aims of Progressivism was to increase public participation in the political process. Part of this was to introduce the direct presidential primary, which enabled the public to select candidates for election. "Initiative" was also introduced, allowing proposed laws to be placed on a ballot following the collection of enough signatures by petition.Importantly, the public were given the power to "recall" or remove elected officials from office by petition and vote.Prohibition of alcohol was supported by Protestant groups, who supported only those candidates for office who did not ..

Continue Reading

What types of government were there in New England colonies?

The royal colonies, such as New Hampshire, were ruled directly by officials sent from England. Effectively, a royal colony was viewed as good as an actual piece of British land in England. While the colonists elected their own legislature, the governor held the power over taxation.\nCharter colonies included Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. These colonies were self-governed and owned all of the rights to their contracts. This means that they were not ruled by any higher officials other than those that they themselves elected.\nBy 1763, the final year of the Seven Years' War, ..

Continue Reading

What was Ancient Egyptian daily life like for slaves?

Slaves who were employed to do menial jobs, such as domestic service for royal families, fared better than those slaves sent to work in quarries, gold mines or copper mines, where some died. Slaves were frequently used as field hands or given to temples.\nThe majority of slaves in Ancient Egypt were acquired through conquest in war. Some were sold into slavery because they could not repay their debts. Children of slaves automatically became slaves as well.

Continue Reading

Who invented the resistor?

Boykin was born in Dallas, Texas, and graduated in 1941 from Fisk College. He began working at Majestic Radio and TV Corporation and then at P.J. Nilsen Research Laboratories. Soon, Boykin created a business called Boykin-Fruth Incorporated.All of Boykin's work was created on his own time by himself. Boykin's wire precision resistor was used in television sets and radios. He also created a device that could handle extreme temperature and pressure changes yet was more reliable and cheaper than similar devices on the market. IBM purchased his device for its computers and the United Sta..

Continue Reading

What is the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom?

According to the Virginia Historical Society, the statute became a forerunner to what would become the Constitution's religious rights amendment. Specifically, the document stated that all individuals in the state had a right to religious freedom and it denounced the rule of the English church. The protections covered members of the Jewish faith as well as both Protestant and Catholic Christians. President Jefferson had the statute put on his epitaph along with two of his other accomplishments.

Continue Reading

When was Morse code invented?

The Morse code associated letters that were used often, such as "A," with a simple code. Letters that were less common, such as "Q," were designated a more complex code. The first telegraph message was sent by Samuel Morse in 1844 from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. The first trans-Atlantic telegraph line between the United States and Europe was laid by 1866.

Continue Reading
Showing 3211 to 3220 of 8554 (856 Pages)