Never has a scientist, with one book, caused such a stir in the world as Darwin did with The Origin of Species. His ideas, the fruit of many years of patient thought and study, were attacked by learned and ignorant alike. He was called a madman, a deceiver, and an anti-Christian. Long and bitter quarrels arose, […]
The long reign of Queen Victoria was a time of almost uninterrupted peace and great progress. The rapid growth of industry made Britain the world’s leading industrial nation – “the workshop of the world”, as it was called – and the British Empire reached the height of its power when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress […]
The human eye is nature’s most intricate and delicate organ, and the high degree of development of human society probably rests upon the development of this organ. When nature first developed this intricate and adaptable organism, human eyes were used primarily for outdoor work and living. With the stress of indoor life and artificial lighting, […]
The art world is flooded with forgeries, it has been estimated that only about half of the 600 works supposedly painted by Rembrandt are genuine. No great artist, past or present, has been safe from having his or her work copied by a counterfeiter, and some of the fakes have been so deceptive that only […]
We started our hike at the Usk Bridge. Prom there, we walked around Park Farm and then a short distance along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal until we reached the old miners’ path. We took this path and began to ascend the steep hillside. The path led to the summit and to a pillar of […]
More money is spent on art in Philadelphia than in any other American city. In fact, about one percent of the total city budget is spent on art. Philadelphia’s art museum houses an unparalleled collection from the Middle Ages onward. It has exhibits from all over the world and has a superb collection from the […]
Judo, which means “the gentle way” in Japanese, is a perfect example of how skill can overcome brute force, because it teaches a person to use an opponent’s weight against them. So, although a woman may feel intimidated by a taller male opponent, through the skilful application of throws and holds, she can overpower him. […]
A record producer who had been searching for a “white man with the Negro sound and the Negro feel” began recording the Memphis-based country singer Elvis Presley. In 1956 the 21-year-old Presley created a sensation with his rock ‘n’ roll- styled “Heartbreak Hotel”, the first of his 14 records in a row that sold more […]
According to the ancient mathematician Hero of Alexandria, Egyptian temples in 1 about 215 BC had devices from which one could get a squirt of holy water for a few small coins. Today’s vending machines, however, have their origins in coin-operated dispensers of tobacco and snuff in 18th-century England, and later in the American colonies. […]
If people are satisfied where they are, they will not migrate. Throughout history, people have left their native lands for a variety of reasons: religious or racial persecution, lack of political freedom, economic deprivation. The forces that attracted them to new homelands were the opposites of these: religious and political freedom, ethnic tolerance, economic opportunity. […]