history
The history of technology and technology throughout history; human innovation from the first stone tool to the iPhone and beyond.
The strangest summer in recorded history
It is now April 10, 1815, and the day will soon be gone. The rumble of the eruption of Mount Tambora on an island off the coast of Indonesia can now be heard more than 2,000 kilometers away. Plumes of sulfurous fumes and ash shot thousands of meters into the sky, creating a dark storm cloud of spray and lightning. The eruption was the largest on record, but the impact was just beginning. Tambora rose into the air and spread across the globe, blocking the sun for an entire year. The dark and cold weather of 1816 had a devastating effect on agriculture, and famine spread across the northern hemisphere. As countries battle the pandemic, artists are hailing this seemingly apocalyptic era. It was a year without a summer—one of the darkest periods in human history.
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01
Ancient Rome
- [Narrator] The story of ancient Rome is a story of evolution, and the world's ability to adapt and survive for over 1,000 years. Rome began as a small village on the Tiber River in central Italy. Over the next few centuries, the country grew into an empire stretching from the North Pacific to the Persian Gulf. During this transition, Rome demonstrated political, military, and cultural power that became a great power and helped shape the Western world. The history of ancient Rome can be divided into three main periods: the imperial period, the republican period, and the imperial period. During the Imperial period, Rome was a monarchy, ruled by seven kings. According to legend, the first king of Rome was a man named Romulus. He and his twin brother Remus are said to have founded Rome in 753 BC. In 509 BC, Rome adopted a republican form of government, in which the country was governed by two annual representatives, known as orators and later orators. One of them was the famous general and diplomat Julius Caesar. Next is the Imperial period. It was marked by the rise of the Roman Empire and famous leaders such as Octavian, the first Roman emperor, who came to the throne in peacetime, and Nero, who was made the some scholars are the most corrupt emperors of Rome. Rome's importance and pride in its soldiers was essential to the development of its world, a need that was evident from the beginning of the Empire when Rome was a small village. Despite this, Rome conquered its neighboring countries. In the end, this rapid growth reached the Roman rule in the Italian peninsula and the entire Mediterranean, where they conquered Greece, Egypt and Carthage. Later Rome helped the military conquer territories as far as England and Iraq. The sheer size and growing population required advances in Roman technology. Aqueducts were built, increasing people's access to water, helping to improve public health and paving the way for the famous Roman baths. A 50,000 mile road system was also built. Although originally designed for the military, it facilitated the movement of people and ideas throughout the empire. The spread of ideas and increased contact with different cultures allowed other aspects of Roman culture to develop. The key to Rome's success and longevity was the empire's acceptance of the cultures of the regions it conquered. Rome received Latin from the neighboring country of Latium, where it became the official language of the kingdom and the ancestor of the Romance languages of Europe. The Romans also absorbed the culture of the ancient Etruscan states, including religion, the alphabet, and aspects of gladiatorial combat. However, no other nation was as powerful as the ancient Greeks. Their influence can be seen in Roman art and architecture. The Roman upper class commissioned paintings and statues modeled after Greek art. Greek architectural styles, such as columns, were used in Roman buildings such as the Pantheon and the Colosseum. The rise of Christianity was a cultural change that had great influence throughout the empire. This religion originated in the Middle East and received strong support from Constantine I, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He transformed Rome into a Christian state and encouraged the spread of the religion throughout Europe. In the fourth century, the Roman Empire fell after more than a thousand years of existence. Factors such as political corruption, economic crises, and class wars caused empires to collapse from within, while invasion and other military threats caused empires to collapse from without. Rome's ability to unite diverse cultures, dominate its rivals, and tailor its political system to the needs of its people is a lesson to be learned forever.
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01
Titanic
- [Narrator] The turn of the 20th century saw a golden age of industry and prosperity in many Western countries. One aspect of this era came to epitomize its grandeur and ultimately its downfall, the Titanic. Commissioned by the British shipping company, White Star Line, the Titanic was created to satiate demand for luxury travel between Europe and North America. The ship's construction began in March 1909 in Belfast, Ireland. By the time it was sent to England for provisions, Titanic was one of the largest ships of its time. It was about 92 feet wide and 882.5 feet long, the length of nearly three football fields. With a height of about 175 feet, the ship above water was taller than most buildings. The Titanic also included new safety features such as 16 compartments designed to prevent the hull from flooding. This caused many to believe that the ship was unsinkable. Such confidence led to the unfortunate decision to cut the number of lifeboats on board in half in order to make the deck look clean and elegant. On April 10, 1912, Titanic left port in Southampton, England and embarked on its first and last voyage. It first stopped over in France and Ireland and by the time it set out on a long stretch of sea toward New York City, it had about 2,200 people on board. Unbeknownst to all, misfortune would arise just a few days into their voyage. On April 14 at approximately 9:40 and 10:55 p.m. Warnings were send to the Titanic's radio operators of ice fields but they were never relayed to the bridge. At about 11:40 p.m. nearly 500 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, lookout crew on the Titanic spotted an iceberg in the ship's path and sent word to the bridge, but it was too late. The iceberg grazed the right side of the ship causing its compartments, originally deemed watertight, to fill with water. Titanic's radio operators began sending out distress signals. At 12:20 a.m. one signal reached the ship Carpathia which began making its way to the Titanic at maximum speed. Around the same time, crew began loading women and children into the few lifeboats on board. In addition to the shortage of lifeboats, some of the ones used were not being filled to capacity stranding even more people on the sinking ship. For the next two hours, the front compartments of the Titanic filled with water causing the bow to sink and the stern to rise out of the water. At around 2:18 a.m., the ship snapped into two. The bow sank first followed by the stern a couple minutes later. Those who went down with the ship were left in the freezing waters. Over an hour later, at about 3:30 a.m., the Carpathia arrived to pick up passengers. Of the 2,200 people on the Titanic, only 705 survived. Soon after the disaster, both the United States and Great Britain conducted investigations and developed new safety measures for ships. They required ships to maintain a 24-hour radio watch and have enough lifeboats for all on board. They also helped establish the International Ice Patrol which monitors icebergs in the North Atlantic and warn ships of potential dangers. For decades Titanic was lost to the sea existing only as a ghost from a decadent past. In 1985, nearly 75 years after the ship sank a team led by National Geographic explorer-at-large, Bob Ballard, discovered the shipwreck off the coast of Canada. Little by little scientists have reconstructed the ship and its encounter with the iceberg giving us a better understanding of what exactly happened on that fateful day.
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01
Ancient Egypt
the ancient egyptian civilization lasted for over 3 000 years and became one of the most powerful and iconic civilizations in history at its height ancient egypt's empire stretched as far north as modern-day syria and as far south as today's sudan but long before it was an empire ancient egypt was a series of small independent city-states that bloomed along north africa's nile river the city-states were divided into two regions and named according to the flow of the nile upper egypt in the south which was upstream and lower egypt in the north which was downstream by about 3100 bc the two halves united thereby creating one egyptian state that lasted for millennia the reign of the civilization can be divided into three major periods of prosperity called the old middle and new kingdoms and two periods of instability in between called the first and second intermediate periods guiding the egyptian people was a succession of about 300 rulers often referred to as pharaohs pharaoh which means great house in egyptian was never the ruler's formal title it only became synonymous with the ruling individual in modern times thanks to its use in the hebrew bible these rulers who were not always men nor egyptian were considered protectors of the people and served as divine liaisons between humanity and the hundreds of gods they worshipped after the rulers passed away ancient egyptians believed they then became gods to prepare their journey into the afterlife the rulers constructed elaborate tombs including the great pyramids at giza and underground mausoleums in the valley of the kings rulers filled their tombs with all the items they could need in the afterlife including gold jewelry food drink and even pets preparing for this journey to the gods also involved mummifying one's body the deceased's corpse was embalmed wrapped in hundreds of yards of linen and placed inside the tomb so the body could be reanimated in the afterlife to this day structures like the great pyramids are a testament to the role of religion in ancient egyptians lives but they also represent the innovative and cultural might of the egyptian people innovations in mathematics and written language in particular propelled their civilization to success math specifically measurement mathematics helped egyptians understand and harness their world with numbers like no other civilization had before they developed a new form of measurement called the qubit it was used to design massive structures such as the great pyramid with remarkable geometrical precision the egyptians also measured time by combining mathematics with astronomy they established a 24-hour division to the day and created a solar calendar which was the first dating system in history to feature 365 days in one year lastly egyptians developed methods to measure and survey land around the nile river these civil engineering feats made way for the construction of dams canals and irrigation systems that helped farming and agriculture to flourish in the nile valley in addition to mathematical concepts the ancient egyptians also created written languages to describe the world around them the oldest and probably most well-known of these is hieroglyphic writing this system was developed around 3150 bc during the old kingdom and has over 700 pictorial characters it was used to inscribe monuments and pottery and predominantly served a decorative or ceremonial purpose soon after another ancient form of writing called hieratic developed out of the hieroglyphic system it was a form of cursive that was written in ink and served a more functional purpose unlike its more formal predecessor hieratic was written on another ancient egyptian innovation papyrus papyrus was a type of paper derived from the papyrus plant which grew plentifully along the nile river this medium gave the ancient egyptians a new avenue of communication and record keeping that allowed their civilization's administrative skill to grow and their culture to spread for thousands of years as with all great empires ancient egypt came to an end it was eventually conquered after a series of invasions including those by the persian empire in the 4th century bc and the roman empire around 30 bc not many civilizations can claim a lifespan of over 3000 years let alone one that made vast cultural contributions that still resonate in modern times ancient egypt with its linguistic and mathematical innovations spirituality and religion and extensive political and military might set a high standard for all civilizations that followed [Music] you
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01
The world’s most mysterious book
Yale University's Beinecke Library and Manuscript Library houses a 240-page book. The new carbon copy, from around 1420, has vellum pages with hand-drawn circles and hand-drawn illustrations that seem stolen from a dream. Real and imaginary plants, haunted houses, bathing women, star charts, zodiac signs, suns and moons and faces are all over the text. The 24x16 cm book, known as the Voynich Manuscript, is one of the greatest mysteries in history. The reason? No one knew what he was saying. The name comes from the Polish bookseller Wilfrid Voynich, who discovered writing in 1912 at a Jesuit university in Italy. He was confused. Who wrote it? Where is it made? What do these different words and vivid images represent? What secrets lie within its pages? He bought the books from a priest of the school of finance and brought them to the United States of America, where scholars have been studying for more than a century. Cryptozoologists say that the writing contains all the features of a real language, only one of which has never been seen before. What is true is that, in real languages, letters and groups of letters appear with constant frequency, but the language in the Voynich text is a pattern that cannot be found in various generators. random. Besides, all we know is what we see. The letters vary in shape and height. Some borrow from other texts, but many are unique. The higher letters give the name of the hanging shape. The whole text is beautifully decorated, like a scroll decoration. It seems that two or more people wrote it, while someone else did the painting. Over the years, three main theories have emerged about the text of the text. First, it is written in cipher, a cipher designed to hide the secret meaning. Second, the article is a scam written to make money from scammers. Some suggested that the author was a medieval impostor. Some believe it was Voynich himself. A third theory is that the text is written in the original language, but in an unknown script. Perhaps medieval scholars were trying to create an alphabet for a spoken but unwritten language. In this respect, the Voynich Manuscript may be similar to the Longorongo manuscript found on Easter Island, which is now unreadable due to cultural collapse. Although no one was able to read the Voynich manuscripts, that didn't stop people from thinking about what was written in them. Those who believe that the text represents an attempt to create a new form of literary language suggest that the text may have been an encyclopedia containing knowledge of the culture that produced it. Some believe that it was the 13th century scholar Roger Bacon, who sought to understand the rules of universal grammar; or John Dee, the Elizabethan magician of the 16th century, who practiced sorcery and witchcraft. Other fringe theories suggest that the book was written by a group of Italian magicians, even Martians. After a century of confusion, scientists finally solved the mystery. The first breakthrough is carbon dioxide. Furthermore, modern historians date the documents to Rome and Prague in 1612, when they were given to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in his ' by doctor Jacobus Sennapius (Jacobus Sinapius). In addition to this previous stage, linguistic researchers have also considered defining certain words in the text. Could the letters next to these seven stars spell Tauran (the name of the constellation Taurus), a constellation containing seven stars called the Pleiades? Could this word be Centaurun for the Centaurea plant in the picture? Maybe, but progress is slow. If we could crack the code, what would we find? The dream diary of a 15th century painter? Don't you? Or is knowledge lost from a forgotten culture? What do you think?
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01
The history of chocolate
If you can't imagine life without chocolate, you're lucky you weren't born before the 16th century. Until then, chocolate only existed in Mesoamerica in a form quite different from what we know. As far back as 1900 BCE, the people of that region had learned to prepare the beans of the native cacao tree. The earliest records tell us the beans were ground and mixed with cornmeal and chili peppers to create a drink - not a relaxing cup of hot cocoa, but a bitter, invigorating concoction frothing with foam. And if you thought we make a big deal about chocolate today, the Mesoamericans had us beat. They believed that cacao was a heavenly food gifted to humans by a feathered serpent god, known to the Maya as Kukulkan and to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. Aztecs used cacao beans as currency and drank chocolate at royal feasts, gave it to soldiers as a reward for success in battle, and used it in rituals. The first transatlantic chocolate encounter occurred in 1519 when Hernán Cortés visited the court of Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. As recorded by Cortés's lieutenant, the king had 50 jugs of the drink brought out and poured into golden cups. When the colonists returned with shipments of the strange new bean, missionaries' salacious accounts of native customs gave it a reputation as an aphrodisiac. At first, its bitter taste made it suitable as a medicine for ailments, like upset stomachs, but sweetening it with honey, sugar, or vanilla quickly made chocolate a popular delicacy in the Spanish court. And soon, no aristocratic home was complete without dedicated chocolate ware. The fashionable drink was difficult and time consuming to produce on a large scale. That involved using plantations and imported slave labor in the Caribbean and on islands off the coast of Africa. The world of chocolate would change forever in 1828 with the introduction of the cocoa press by Coenraad van Houten of Amsterdam. Van Houten's invention could separate the cocoa's natural fat, or cocoa butter. This left a powder that could be mixed into a drinkable solution or recombined with the cocoa butter to create the solid chocolate we know today. Not long after, a Swiss chocolatier named Daniel Peter added powdered milk to the mix, thus inventing milk chocolate. By the 20th century, chocolate was no longer an elite luxury but had become a treat for the public. Meeting the massive demand required more cultivation of cocoa, which can only grow near the equator. Now, instead of African slaves being shipped to South American cocoa plantations, cocoa production itself would shift to West Africa with Cote d'Ivoire providing two-fifths of the world's cocoa as of 2015. Yet along with the growth of the industry, there have been horrific abuses of human rights. Many of the plantations throughout West Africa, which supply Western companies, use slave and child labor, with an estimation of more than 2 million children affected. This is a complex problem that persists despite efforts from major chocolate companies to partner with African nations to reduce child and indentured labor practices. Today, chocolate has established itself in the rituals of our modern culture. Due to its colonial association with native cultures, combined with the power of advertising, chocolate retains an aura of something sensual, decadent, and forbidden. Yet knowing more about its fascinating and often cruel history, as well as its production today, tells us where these associations originate and what they hide. So as you unwrap your next bar of chocolate, take a moment to consider that not everything about chocolate is sweet. at the end we all love chocolate and one of our favourite things
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01
The history of tea
An exhausted Shennong killed himself seventy-two times as he wandered the forest in search of seeds and edible plants throughout his long day. But before the poison died, he put a leaf in his mouth. He chewed it and came back to her, then found the tea. At least one old story says so. Tea does not cure poison, but the story of Shennong, the legendary discoverer of Chinese agriculture, shows the importance of tea in ancient China. Archaeological evidence shows that tea was grown here 6,000 years ago, 1,500 years before the Pharaohs built the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Chinese tea tree is the same type of tea tree grown all over the world today, but it was originally eaten differently. It can be eaten as a vegetable or porridge with grains. Tea went from being a food to a drink about 1,500 years ago when people realized that the combination of heat and moisture could produce complex and different flavors in the green leafy vegetable. . Preparation methods have varied over the centuries, typically heating the tea, filling it into a carrier cake, turning it into a powder, and mixing it with hot water to make a drink called a matcha or matcha. Matcha became so popular that it spawned a Chinese tea tradition. Tea is the subject of books and poems, a favorite drink of emperors, and a language of art. They paint beautiful pictures on the tea foam, like the espresso art you see in coffee shops these days. During the Tang Dynasty in the 9th century AD, a Japanese monk brought the first tea tree to Japan. Eventually the Japanese developed their own unique way of drinking tea, which became the Japanese tea ceremony. During the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century, Chinese emperors changed the standard of pressed tea to loose leaf tea. At that time, China had almost complete control over the world's tea tree, as tea was one of China's top three exports, along with porcelain and silk. As tea drinking spread throughout the world, China's economic power and influence grew. The spread of this tea began in the early 1600s, when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe. Many believe that the tea made by Queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess, when she married King Charles II in 1661, was popular with British royalty. At the time, England was expanding its colonial power and becoming a new world power. As England developed, the interest in tea spread throughout the world. In 1700, tea was sold ten times more than coffee in Europe, and the plant was grown only in China. The tea trade was so profitable that competition between Western trading companies led to the birth of the world's fastest ships, the cutter ships. Everyone raced to bring the tea back to Europe first to increase the profits. At first, the British bought this Chinese tea with silver. Since the price was too high, they decided to exchange the tea for another substance, namely opium. This has led to public health concerns in China as people become addicted to the drug. In 1839, a Chinese officer ordered his men to destroy British opium as a protest against British rule in China. This action started the first Opium War between the two countries. The war raged on the Chinese coast until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1842 and the port of Hong Kong was handed over to the British and trade was resumed on harsh terms. This conflict has weakened China's position in the world for more than a century. The British East India Company also hoped to grow its own tea and gain more market power. So they sent botanist Robert Fortune to run an undercover operation to steal tea from China. Undercover, he embarks on a perilous journey through the tea mountain regions of China, eventually capturing tea trees and skilled tea workers in Darjeeling, India. Since then, this plant has spread and helped the rapid growth of tea as an everyday commodity. Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and there are almost as many ways to prepare the drink as there are cultures around the world, from Turkish rezzi cheese with salted Tibetan butter cheese.
Rowan SharkawyPublished 11 days ago in 01FRITZ HABER'S DUAL LEGACY
In the annals of Nobel history, the 1918 Chemistry Prize stands as a pivotal acknowledgment, arguably the most momentous ever conferred. Fritz Haber, the German luminary, was the recipient, hailed for resolving one of humanity's most formidable dilemmas. His groundbreaking invention directly underpins the existence of 4 billion souls today. Yet, paradoxically, his Nobel accolade was marred by peer alienation and dissenting renunciations from two laureates, amplified by a scathing reproach from The New York Times. Haber embodies a duality an influential figure of poignant tragedy.
Purity IsabokePublished 13 days ago in 01THE OCEAN WONDERS
The Earth's majestic oceans, spanning more than 70% of its surface, hold an allure that beckons exploration and hides secrets beyond imagination. Surprisingly, almost half of the US territory lies submerged, yet we've merely skimmed the surface, delving into a mere 5% of this aquatic realm. While a dozen individuals have set foot on the moon, only a handful have ventured into the Mariana Trench, Earth's deepest point..
Purity IsabokePublished 13 days ago in 01
The Impact of Live Streaming on Content Moderation: Strategies for Success
To be sure, the impact of live streaming on content moderation is huge, and the strategies for success need to be dynamic and responsive. Here is the description of the blog post on this topic:
David FrancisPublished 14 days ago in 01
10 Qualities of a Good Moderator for Engaging Discussions
A good facilitator plays a vital role in facilitating an interesting and productive conversation. They act as mentors, ensuring the conversation flows smoothly, participants feel respected, and share valuable insights. Here are some essential qualities of a good facilitator to make the conversation interesting.
David FrancisPublished 15 days ago in 01He said, 'Do you know that you are talking to Indra, the lord of the gods?' | MORAL STORY
Hello, Jai Shri Radhe Radhe How are you, Hope you are healthy and happy, So let us tell you a story today,
Shree Radhe"s WriterPublished 17 days ago in 01
