Tag: general history
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The First Cities
Thursday July 12 2007 was a seminal day (apparently). On that day the a United Nations report, that coincided with World Population Day, revealed that for the first time in history, more people were now living in cities than rural areas. But how did this come about ? In this artice we look at the key argricultural and technological developements needed for this to happen.
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The Railway – Not just for Choo Choos
If you thought that the railway was invented along with the steam locomotive then you’d be wrong. Railways existed long before steam, long before even the birth of Christ.
Read MoreThe Origin of Writing
Writing – The invention that enabled science and knowledge to flourish. However it seems that is wasn’t invented for prose or love poems or literature but for the more mundane and prosaic task of taxation and bookkeeping.
Read MoreSark – A Potted History
In this article we have a whirlwind look at the history of one of the most enigmatic of the Channel Islands, Sark.
Read MoreThe Invention of Money – A Short History
From prostitution to dealing on the stock exchange, trading has been around for tens of thousands of years. But when did mankind move from a barter system to exchanging goods for bits of metal and paper ?
Read MoreWhat drove the great migrations of the first millennium AD?
A curious thing occurred between 400-800 AD. In Europe and the far east, particularly China, a serious of mass population movements and incursions occurred. What historians are debating today is what caused these massive migrations.
Read MoreWhy do the Brits drink so much tea ?
Tea certainly isn’t native to the British Isles so how did this come about? It certainly is an interesting story involving a Portuguese princess who was a tea addict, smuggling and even revolution.
Read MoreThe Humble Potato – a History
The potato’s story begins about 8,000 years ago near Lake Titicaca, in South America. In this article we look at how it became the one of most popular foodstuff in the world today.
Read MoreHow the Ancient Romans built the Railways of the World
How on earth can Ancient Romans have built our modern railway system ? We take a side-ways look at this claim.
Read MoreThe Magi – a new revelation ?
An ancient document found in the Vatican archives has cast new light on the story of the Nativity and the Three Wise Men. The document called “The Revelation of the Magi” is an 8th century copy of an earlier one dated to the 2nd or 3rd century AD
Read MoreJazz – A Short History
Did you know that jazz was born in the US? Did you know that the drum set was invented by jazz musicians? Did you know that the word “cool” and “hip” were originally jazz terms?
Read MoreThe Printing Press – Taking the written word to the masses
Ideas that changed the World : The invention of printing & the printing press like many innovations evolved over time but there was one seminal moment when the printing press exploded on the scene and changed society forever.
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Some more historical myths debunked
Every nation has its favourite tales from the past, but how accurate are they? A lot of what we ‘know’ to be historically true can sometimes turn out to be no more than a : Who perpetuated historical myth. We look at a few here. Who really was the 1st US President? Did Mediaeval people really think the Earth was flat ?
Read MoreNursery Rhymes – Origin & History II
Behind every nursery rhyme is a history and story that’s every bit intriguing as the rhyme itself.
Read MoreHow was the order of our alphabet determined?
Is there any particular reason why A comes before B or that Z is the last letter of the alphabet? We delve here into the origins of this and the system of writing.
Read MoreWhen there were two Guernseys
There was a time when Guernsey consisted of 2 separate islands. It was military expendiency that drove the effort to re-unite the 2 parts of ‘Sarnia’ again.
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Some Historical Myths Debunked
Every nation has its favourite tales from the past, but how accurate are they? A lot of what we ‘know’ to be historically true can sometimes turn out to be no more than a perpetuated historical myth. We look at a few here. Did King Harold really die from an arrow in the eye? Did Slaves built the great pyramids in Eqypt ?
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