June 2010
30 posts
Edmund Ross
Lifespan: December 7, 1826 – May 8, 1907
Country of Activities: United States
Edmund Ross was a United States Senator representing the state of Kansas in the period after the Civil War. Before becoming a Senator, he worked in the newspaper business in Ohio, Wisconsin, and finally Kansas. He was also a Civil War Union veteran and hero. When serving in a cavalry regiment, he had two horses shot...
May 2010
23 posts
Lighthouse of Alexandria
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Ptolemaic Egypt
Built in: 280 B.C.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was a structure built on the small island of Pharos, near the harbor of Alexandria. It was built to help guide nighttime sailors into the safety of the harbor. The Lighthouse was nothing more than a high tower with a massive fire at the top and several reflexive mirrors...
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Greeks
Built in: 423 B.C.
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is a sculpture of the Greek King of the Gods. It was erected in the Temple of Zeus, a temple built in honor of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Olympia is said the be the meeting place of the gods. The statue is 39 feet tall, and completely filled out the width and height of the...
Great Pyramids at Giza
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Egyptians
Built in: 2584 B.C. - 2561 B.C.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest pyramid at the necropolis complex at Giza. It is easily the oldest of the Seven Wonders, built nearly 2,000 years before all the other Seven Wonders. The pyramid was built as a mausoleum for the Pharaoh Khufu (perhaps more commonly known...
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Carians
Built in: 353 B.C. - 350 B.C.
The Mausoleum of Halicarnasssus is large, ornate building in modern day Turkey, built by Mausolus and Artemisia II of Caria. The building was built as a tomb for Mausolus and Artemisia, and was intended to be the most beautiful building in their newly created capital of Halicarnassus....
Temple of Artemis
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Greeks
Built in: 550 B.C.
The Temple of Artemis is a Greek temple dedicated to the Hellenic goddess, Artemis. Artemis was the goddess of animals, childbirth, fertility, and the hunt. Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo, and as such, was one of the most important goddesses to the Greeks. They built her a temple in Ephesus, as the...
Colossus of Rhodes
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Rhodians
Built in: 292 B.C. - 280 B.C.
The Colossus of Rhodes is another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Colossus of Rhodes was built on the island of Rhodes in the famous Rhodes Harbor as a greeting to all ships entering the harbor for trade. Due to its role as a greeting for merchants to the great trading...
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Built by: Babylonian Empire
Built in: 600 B.C.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the original seven wonders of the Ancient World. They were built by the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzer II for his wife, Amytis of Media, who was homesick for Persia, her homeland. Nebuchadnezzer build the Hanging Gardens to imitate the lush greenery...
Zouaves
Origin Timespan: 1831 - 1862
Type of Group: Soldiers
The Zouaves, originally, were a group of Algerian Berbers raised by the French Military to become troops to fight for the French Army of Africa in the conquest of Algeria and other territories.. Soon, however, enlistment shifted to be exclusively French. The Zouaves quickly gained a name as being the elite of the French Army of Africa. The...
Flappers
Timespan: 1920 - 1929
Relates to: Women’s Rights
Flappers are woman in the 1920’s who were liberated by the sudden surge in Women’s Rights. They wore short, bobbed hair, skirts just under their knees, drank and smoke, danced to music, and many other things considered indecent for women up until this point. All of this brought upon a new sense of freedom after the turmoil of...
Sargon of Akkad
Reign: 2270 B.C.E. - 2215 B.C.E.
Countries of Activies: Middle Eastern Countries, most notably Iran and Syria
Sargon of Akkad is the man who is responsible for the first ever empire in human history, which started in 2270 B.C.E. Sargon started this empire by rising to power in the High Courts of Kish, an ancient city in the state of Sumer. Eventually, Sargon rose to ruler of all of Sumer,...
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Written in: 1861, United States
Type of Song: Military Chant
The Battle Hymn of the Republic is the Northern counterpart to Dixie. Written by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe in November 1861, it was written as support for the Civil War and abolition of slavery. The lyrics were adapted to a tune written by a man named William Steffe. Another relevant song adapted to this tune is entitled, “John...
Catullus 16 ("Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo")
Type of Work: Poem
Written by: Gaius Valerius Catullus
Catullus 16 is the 16th work of Roman poet Gaius Catullus. Catullus was an amazingly influential poet, and his works are still often read today. Most of Catullus’ poetry was written about love and poetry, and his friends, who neglected the politics of Rome. Another favorite theme in the poems of Catullus are erotic tones. He wrote...
Dixie
“Dixie”, also known as “I Wish I Was In Dixie Land,” is a song from 19th Century United States. The song was created for short plays carried out by white men wearing black face, who would sing Dixie and portray stereotypes of slaves. Created by Daniel Emmett, an Ohio-born songwriter and creator of black face shows, wrote the song to be included in his first show. The song...
Chiang Kai-shek
Lifespan: 1887 - 1975
Country of Activities: China
Chiang Kai-Shek is the man responsible for keeping China as a non-communist nation for so long. He fought the China Communist Party for 20 years in a vicious civil war that raged across China. Kai-shek was eventually forced to retreat to Taiwan once the China Communist Party gained the support of Soviet Russia. He proclaimed himself President...
Shaka of the Zulus
Lifespan: 1787 - 1828
Country of Activities: South Africa
Shaka was the king of the Zulu kingdom at the peak of their power, and is responsible for uniting many smaller tribes into the Zulu nation. The Zulu Kingdom was a tribe in northeastern South Africa, and with Shaka’s help, they dominated their territory. He was fiercely patriotic and a military genius, and because of this, was...
Anglo-Mysore Wars
Timespan: 1766 - 1799
Involved: Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company
The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of four wars occurring in mainland India between the Kingdom of Mysore versus the British East India Company and its Indian allies. The British East India Company was a joint-stock company that controlled most of the trade down with China and India, mostly for silk, dyes,...
Laika
Lifespan: 1954 - 1957
Country of Activities: Soviet Russia
Laika was the first animal in outer space. During the Space-Race between the United States and Soviet Russia, both sides were trying desperately to get a human into space. Before they could send humans, they needed to test the affects of space flight on another living thing, so they sent Laika. Little-to-nothing was known about the...
Ashurbanipal
Lifespan: 685 B.C.E. - 627 B.C.E.
Countries of Activies: Neo-Assyrian Empire, modern day parts of the Middle East and Egypt
Ashurbanipal was the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, which, at the the time was the most powerful and greatest nation in the world. Assyria was fighting for dominance of the Middle East with Babylon, another once great nation. Assyria’s vibrant...
Battle of New Orleans
War: War of 1812
Timespan: December 23, 1814 - January 26, 1815
Involved: The British Empire versus the United States of America
The Battle of New Orleans was the last major battle of the War of 1812. It occurred when British troops attempted to move in and take the Port of New Orleans, one of the most financially successful ports in the world. The British hoped to use the Port of New Orleans...
Leonardo da Vinci
Lifespan: April 15th, 1452 - May 2nd, 1519
Country of Activities: Italy
Leonardo da Vinci was the iconic Italian Renaissance Man. He was a polymath (painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer) and exemplified the Italian Renaissance. However, you probably know him best as a painter. His works are...
The Tunguska Incident
Location: Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia
Year: June 30th, 1908
The Tunguska Incident was a immense explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The explosion has no known origin, with many debating the original cause. The most logical explanation is that it was an air explosion caused by a meteoroid about 5 kilometers in the air.
The explosion was...
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Location: England to North Africa to the Middle East to Eastern Europe
Year: Sept, 476
The Roman Empire is perhaps the most influential and powerful empire in the history of the world. So influential, in fact, that its very destruction helped shape the world for the next two thousand years.
The Roman Empire fell due to a culmination of several events. First, the splitting into the Eastern and...
