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What are some facts about Incan society?

At the top of Inca society was the king, Sapa Inca, and the high priest, followed by anyone who was related to the king by blood. These people commonly enjoyed the most favored social and civic positions. The next caste in the hierarchy was the Inca-by-privilege, usually Quechua-speaking residents of Cuzco, who often were given governorship over people in the periphery of the empire. After them was a sizable class of administrators and then the artisans or crafts-persons. At the bottom of Inca society were the common farm laborers. While the staple food of Inca society was maize, farmers also ..

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Why did the Sumerians record the positions of the stars and planets?

Sumerian astronomy was also used to determine the seasons, letting farmers know about the most auspicious times for planting and harvesting. They closely observed solar and lunar eclipses. Their accurate predictions of these events were ascribed to magic by the common people.\nThe Sumerians and other Mesopotamian peoples also practiced numerology. They used a special numbering system to divide the dome of the sky into sectors. Their sexagesimal, or base 60, numerical system developed into the arc measurement system that is still used today.

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What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplish?

The Civil War was a defining point in United States history for freedom. Although slavery was abolished and black men were seen as free, discrimination still was widespread. Legislation wasn't put in place to stop discrimination until John F. Kennedy created the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was able to get it passed by Congress.

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Who founded Montana?

Notable individuals who contributed to the settling of Montana include Manuel Lisa, who built the first fur fort in 1807, and Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, who established St. Mary's Mission in 1841. The U.S. obtained western Montana from Great Britain in the Oregon Treaty of 1846. Montana became the 41st state in 1889.

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Who are some noteworthy American Presidents?

Thomas Jefferson, who served from 1801 until 1809, oversaw the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from the French. This purchase immediately greatly increased the size of the country and prompted the American migration west. He also worked to keep the country out of the European war between France and Great Britain, striving to keep the country's neutrality.\nFranklin D. Roosevelt served a record four terms in office from 1933 through 1945 and guided the country through the Great Depression and World War II. His New Deal policies helped aid the country's economic struggles during th..

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Who invented the iPod?

The iPod was launched by Apple in October of 2001. The design of the device itself was based on a design made by a company called PortalPlayer. The initial design had already resulted in a prototype device which operated using an internal operating system. Building the foundation of the user interface of the first iPod was also contracted to a company called Pixo. This base interface was then used as a development by Jonathan Ive, then senior VP of design, and Tim Wasko, who was an interface engineer.\nThe basic concept of the iPod was based on an idea that was created and patented in 1979 by ..

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What hardships were faced by pioneers on the Oregon Trail?

The Oregon Trail began in Missouri and became a popular route for people looking to emigrate from the eastern United States to the west, ending in Oregon City, Oregon. For most settlers, the trip took about 5 months. It was not a single route but rather a series of wagon trails used by emigrants from 1841 to 1869, and the route is marked with hundreds of graves from those people who died along the trip.The number of deaths of pioneers crossing the 2,000 miles of the Oregon Trail in wagon trains is estimated at roughly 20,000. Ninety percent were caused by diseases, such as small pox, flu and m..

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Where did Cleopatra live?

Cleopatra was not gone long from her home before she joined forces with Julius Caesar and overthrew her brother, Ptolemy XIII. Caesar put her on the throne with her younger brother as co-regents. She left Egypt again for a time to visit Caesar in Rome where she lingered for several years before returning to Alexandria. After Caesar's death, her son by him became her co-regent and cemented her hold on the throne. Egypt grew very prosperous under her rule despite many natural disaster, like floods, that threatened her people.

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Why did the U.S. become involved in the Vietnam War?

At first, the United States assisted France with its colonial war in Indochina as a result of their alliance in World War II. Later, President Dwight Eisenhower and then President John F. Kennedy were convinced that strengthening and supporting South Vietnam was a means of preventing communism from overrunning Asia. Kennedy in particular used the domino theory as justification, which posited that communist victory in one country would cause other countries to weaken and fall. Although reluctant to commit ground troops, by 1962, Kennedy had authorized around 9,000 U.S. military advisers in Sout..

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Why was the South's strategy called the King Cotton diplomacy?

Great Britain declared its neutrality with regards to the U.S. Civil War in May 1861. In response to this declaration, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and southern leaders declared an informal cotton embargo on Britain. King Cotton diplomacy started when planters burned 2.5 million bales of cotton to create a cotton shortage. Southern plantations exported more than three million bales of cotton to Europe in 1860, so burning the bales cut more than 80 percent of those exports.\nTensions between northern and southern states escalated for years ahead of the war. English companies, however, ..

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