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Why was the Northwest Ordinance important?

Prior to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Connecticut, New York, Georgia and other states were disputing their boundaries, each believing they could extend to or beyond the Mississippi River. By 1785, the states gave up on their claims, leaving the government with a large portion of land. Initially, the government tried to sell the land off, but it proved too expensive. Eventually, Congress sold it to the Ohio Company for less than 10 cents an acre.To prevent such problems arising in the future, the Northwest Ordinance was introduced. In addition to ensuring states in the Northwest had a set g..

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What does the Bayeux Tapestry show?

The tapestry is nearly 230 feet in length and is 20 inches tall. All in all, it contains around 50 scenes embroidered on linen using colored yarn. Historians believe that the tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo, who was a half brother of William, and that it was made in England during the 1070s.The tapestry was hidden for a time and rediscovered in 1729. The tapestry was mentioned in an inventory as far back as 1476, but not mentioned again in history until 1724. It was confiscated during the French Revolution and destined to be used for covering military wagons but was subsequently rescue..

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Did the cigarette lighter or match come first?

In 1836, Hungarian chemist Janos Irinyi improved the match by making it safer. Before the friction-based match was invented, there was a match that worked only with contact with bottled sulfuric acid. This was invented in 1805 by Frenchman Jean Chancel. As this wasn't a self-igniting match and required too many extra substances that weren't readily available, it isn't considered a true precursor to the present-day friction-match.

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What is a cuneiform chart?

Cuneiform, meaning "wedge" in Latin, is widely regarded as the first known writing in human civilization. The first instance of this writing was during the Uruk IV period of the Sumerian civilization around 4000 BC. The writing evolved from Sumerian to a host of other languages, including Akkadian, Elamite, Hittite, Hurrian and Urartian. Cuneiform writing eventually dwindled in the first century AD, with the last known inscription written around 75 AD. It wasn't until the 19th century that cuneiform was translated to modern languages.

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Did terrorists do a dry run on AirTran's cancelled flight 297 in November 2009?

An email by an alleged passenger of the November 17 flight began circulating that described the incident as involving other Muslims orchestrating the flight's cancellation and surmised that it must have been a prelude to a terrorist attack.\nAirTrans soon released a statement that refutes the details alleged in the email and claims its author was not even a passenger aboard the flight. They admit that 13 foreigners were questioned after a disturbance caused by a passenger using a cellphone, but the party was allowed to reboard after officials determined the incident to have originated fro..

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How many years was Nelson Mandela imprisoned?

Prisoner treatment at Robben Island Prison, which was a segregated facility intended only for black prisoners, was notoriously bad. Mandela was allowed only one visitor per year, could only write and receive a single letter every 6 months and was subjected to hard labor such as breaking rocks. However, despite these harsh conditions, Mandela's leadership instincts allowed him to gain some authority amongst the prison's staff and inmates. The skills he developed during his imprisonment are said to have helped shape his diplomatic talents.

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What were the personalities of Andrew Jackson?

He felt that anyone who crossed him was a personal enemy so he hated Bank of the United States President John C. Calhoun and Cherokee Indian chief John Ross. He is perhaps most remembered for sending the Cherokee people on the dangerous and cruel Trail of Tears walk.

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How many United States patents did Thomas Edison successfully obtain?

Edison's career as an inventor began in Newark, New Jersey, with his successful development of improved telegraph devices. It was his 1877 invention of the phonograph, however, that brought him to attention. The public reaction to displays of Edison's invention was unprecedented. The Washington Post described a display of the new device presented by Edison to Congress and the U.S. President in 1878 as a scene "that will live in history." Edison soon became a celebrity and gained the nickname "The Wizard of Menlo Park" after the section of Middlesex County, New Jersey where he had set..

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How do you find historical stock information?

Historical stock information is generally is based on daily, weekly or monthly closing prices. Users can also download this information to a spreadsheet for further review using Excel or other similar tools, though this function's availability depends on the source website.\nNasdaq.com's Historical Prices tool displays up to 10 years of historical price data for any stock listed on it. Users can choose to determine particular time periods within this data pool and can receive both price and trade volume data. By default, the Nasdaq search tool only displays a data table with an indiv..

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How did Mao Zedong win over peasants in China?

Mao Zedong believed that appealing to the farming peasants was the key to establishing communism in Asia. In the early 1920s, Mao started leaning more toward Leninist communism because he believed this school of thought appealed more to the poor farming peasants. In the Hunan Province, where peasants were forced to pay taxes years in advance, charged high rents, and required to pay exorbitant interest on debts to their landlords, Mao observed a number of peasant revolts. Mao was chased out of the province by the landlord army, but once back in Canton, he wrote articles supporting the peasant a..

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