Rise of The Roman Empire

👑 The Roman Empire, located along the Mediterranean Sea, was one of the largest and most enduring in world history. It grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC.

        Ancient Roman Empire Map.

👑 Rome was a hub of technology, literature, culture and architecture. The Romans built strong arched bridges, and mastered the concept of "running water" using aqueducts that, among other other things, supplied public baths. 

               Romans Aqueducts. 

👑 The saying "All Road Lead to Rome" originated from the fact that the engineers of the Roman age created an unparalleled network of roads, spread over approximately 50,000 miles (80,000 km).

              Ancient Rome Roads. 

👑  Ancient Rome contributed greatly to the development of war, law, language, religion and art in the western world.

       Ancient Romans Architecture.

👑  Theater was very important in the lives of the Romans. It was another way of keeping people busy and happy, so they would not plot against the emperor.  

          Ancient Roman period Theater.

👑 Julius Caesar:

                             🔱 Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC) was a Roman statesman, general and notable author of a Latin Prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

                      Julius Caesar.

                            🔱 Caesar's Victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and Rhine. Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar and Julius face was depicted on Roman coins.

   Julian Calendar and Julius faced coins. 

" I Came, I Saw, I Conquered. "— Julius Caesar.   

The Protestant Reformation

As the Renaissance spread throughout Europe, the standard of living improved and more people could afford to recieve a formal education. These educated people felt that the practices and teachings of the Church were not consistent with the teachings found in the scriptures. So, they began to criticize the Catholic Church. The movement that followed is termed as  “ the Protestant Reformation ”. 

       Reformation in Germany by Luther.

The Protestant Reformation was led by Martin Luther, a monk from Germany.

                        Martin Luther. 

 He collected a list of 95 different points of doctrine where he felt that the Church was incorrect and nailed the list to the door of the Catholic Church in Wittenberg,  Germany, on October 31, 1517.

       Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms.

The movement resulted in the Catholic Church loosing out on the money that they collected in exchange for indulgences.

           King Henry VIII of England.

 King Henry VIII supported the ideas of Luther, and laid the foundations of Protestantism in England, which would later transform England from a Catholic to a Protestant nation.

     Fight between Islam and Protestants.

By 1603, the Protestant Reformation in this country was complete. And Martin Luther founded a new religion known as Lutheranism.

“ The Law Says, “ Do This ”, And It Is Never Done. Grace Says, “ Believe In This ”, And Everything Is Already Done.”  — Martin Luther.   

Story of Motor Car

Daimler, Maybach and Benz introduce the first practical gasoline-engine automobile.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a world without the motorcar. When German engineer Karl Benz ( 1844-1929 ) drove a motorcar tricycle in 1885 and

                          Karl Benz 

 fellow Germans Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) and

                    Gottlieb Daimler

 Wilhelm Maybach (1846-1929) converted a horse-drawn carrige into a four-wheeled motorcar in August 1886, 

                     Wilhelm Maybach

none of them could have foreseen the effects of their new invention.

Benz recognized the great potential of petrol as a fuel. His three-wheeled car had a top speed of just ten miles (16 km) per hour with its four-stroke, one cylinder engine. After receiving his patent in January 1886, he began selling the Benz Velo, but the public doubted it's reliability. 

The Patent Document awarded to Karl Benz in 1886.

Benz's wife Bertha had a brilliant idea to advertise the new car. In 1888 she took it on a 60-mile (100 km) trip from Mannheim to near Stuttgart. Despite having to push the car up hills, the success of the journey proved to a skeptical public that this was a reliable mode of transport.

            First motor car by Benz & Co.

Daimler and Maybach did not produce commercially feasible cars until 1889. Initially the German inventions did not meet with much demand, and it was French companies like Panhard et Levassor that redesigned and popularized the automobile.

          Panhard et Levassor Car (French).

 In 1926 Benz's company merged to form the Daimler-Benz company. Benz had left his company in 1906 and, remarkably, he and Daimler never met. Due to higher incomes and cheaper, mass-produced cars, the United States led in terms of motorization for much of the twentieth century.

           Daimler Benz Car Company.

This kind of movement has, however, come at a cost. Some 25 million people are estimated to have died in car accidents worldwide during the twentieth century. Climate-changing exhaust gases and suburban sprawl are but two more of the consequences of a heavy reliance on the automobile.

" If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." — Henry Ford.

The Greek Civilization

The earliest Greek civilization thrived nearly 4,000 years ago. The Ancient Greeks lived in Greece and the countries that we now call Bulgaria and Turkey. The Greek Empire was most powerful between 2000 BC and 146 BC.

Ancient Greek Map

Ancient Greece was split into many different states: each state had its own laws, government and money but they shared the same language and religion. The two most important city states were states were Athens and Sparta.

Right side - Athens; Left side - Sparta.

The Greeks focused more on the mind instead of the gods.

Greek Philosopher - Socrates 

They developed new ideas for government, science, philosophy, religion, and art. Their influence is still felt by us today. 

Greek Sculptures 

The word “ democracy ” is Greek; it means “ government by the people ”. The word ‘ theatre ’ is Greek; most modern theatres follow the Greek plan.“ Polis ”, the Greek word for “ city state ” is where the word “ Politics ” came from. The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC at the Greek city of Olympia.

First Olympic games ( 776 BC )

Throughout the world, buildings have been constructed in the style of Ancient Greece

Greek mythology Gods Painting 

The Ancient Greeks played an important part in the development of the alphabet. The first two letters of the Greek alphabet - alpha and beta - have given us the word “ alphabet.”

“ The Ancient Oracle Said That, I Was The Wisest Of All The Greeks. It Is Because I Alone, Of All The Greeks, Know That I Know Nothing. ” 

                                                              — Socrates.  

The Egyptian Civilization

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa and it developed around the river Nile. Egypt was an agricultural state. The Egyptian turned desert patches into farmlands, irritating them with the Nile's water. The yearly flooding of the Nile enriched the soil and brought good harvests and wealth to the land. The people of ancient Egypt built mudbrick homes in villages and in country.

Egyptian Civilization Map

The main Egyptian god was Amon Re, the king of all gods. One important Egyptian symbol was that of the solar disk surrounded by the sacred snake. Crocodiles were sacred in the ancient Egypt, and they were even embalmed. Ibis was the sacred bird.

                            Amon Re

Egyptians used hiéroglyphic inscriptions - a writing system using picture symbols or diagrams. These diagrams were thought to have magical powers.

Hieroglyphic Inscriptions

 To preserve the magical power of their art. the Egyptians believed they must copy exactly the style handed down through the ages. This meant that most artists painted in the same way, and the people they painted all looked the same.

The Egyptians loved music and played instruments like the harp. They loved beauty and fashion; eye paint was worn both by men and women. They also used a lot of perfume and jewellery .

The Egyptian people believed that their rulers, or pharaohs, were gods, and that they would continue to work even after their death. So, they preserved the bodies of the kings through the process of mummification. Mummies were entombed and included food, gifts and provisions were kept there for the afterlife.

The Pyramid Of Giza 

The pyramids were built to contain the tombs of pharaohs To avoid the theft of the treasures and tomb's profanation, the architects built a real labyrinth of false passages inside the pyramid, to confuse the thieves. The pyramids were the earliest buildings ever to be made by precisely cutting and putting together great blocks of stone. One of the most famous pyramids is the Great Pyramid of Khufu. It has 2,300,000 blocks and each block in the pyramid weighs 2.5tons.

Mummification 

The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC and lasted for three millennia until the conquest of Alexander the Great.

 “ From The Heights Of These Pyramids, Forty Centuries Look Down Upon Us. ” 

                                   — Napoleon Bonaparte. 

What is Space?

Space holds many secrets. It contains places  where human beings can be stretched into spaghetti shapes, or boiled, or frozen solid: that's  why astronauts wear protective clothing in the  space. 

Welcome to a mysterious — and endlessly fascinating — world. 

♦ What is space?

                               When people think of space,  they think of:

                      ♠ Weightlessness — everything  floats as if there's no gravity.

                       ♠ Nothingness — vast areas of  space are completely empty.

                        ♠ Stars —  every star is a burning ball of gas. Our Sun is a star.

                         ♠  Astronauts — people who  explore the world beyond our Earth.

                          ♠ Rockets and Satellites — These  are what scientists use to explore space.

                           ♠ Silence — there is no air in  space, so there is absolutely no sound.

 

♦ Is that space?

                              On a cloudless night, you can see  thousands of stars. Space is the name we give to  the huge empty areas in between the  atmospheres of stars and planets. Apart from the odd rock, space is sprinkled only with dust and  gas.

♦ Why is space so dark?

                                            Space is black because  there is nothing there to reflect light. From space,  Earth looks lit up because light from our Sun  reflects off sea, and land, and the particles in our  atmosphere.

♦ How the distance is measure in space?

                                                                         The  distance measure in space in light years. One light year is the distance light travels in one year: that's  10 million million km ( 6 million million miles ). 

♦ Is anyone there?

                                  • If there are aliens, it is unlikely they will speak the languages of Earth, so  communication may be a problem. Coded signals  have been sent into space. People are also  listening for signals from space.

           

                                   • SETI ( The search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence ) uses powerful radio  telescopes to scan for alien signals. However, so  far nothing has been found. 

         

                                   • Message into space:

                                                                         In 1974,

 astronomers at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, sent a radio  message from us to the stars. It was sent towards 

a cluster of stars called M13, where it will arrive  in 25,000 years. We may then get a reply after  another 25,000 years.( Is anyone there to read it ! )

                                    

 The Arecibo message lasts  three minutes. It is consists of 1,679 pulses,  which when arranged from a pictogram. The  pictogram explains the basis of life.

♦ Is a black hole may be a doorway to another  universe?

                 Some people think a black hole may be a doorway to another universe. But it's all just  speculation. Nobody really knows. However, it is  doubtful someone could survive the journey  through the hole to find out. An astronaut unfortunate enough to try would be stretched out  like a piece of spaghetti... 

            

              

“ Two Possibilities Exist: Either We Are  Alone In The Universe Or We Not Both Are Equally Terrifying. ”

                                — Arthur C. Clark.  

History of France (From Brest To Strasbourg)

The history of France dates back thousands of  years ago when the earliest human being arrived in the area. In ancient times, France was part of the Celtic territory known as Gaul or Gallia. Later,  Gaul was subject to barbarian raids by the  Germanic Franks. 

                 The Frankish King Clovis I.

 In the late 5th century, the  Frankish king Clovis I united most of Gaul under  his rule , setting the stage for Frankish dominance  in the region for hundreds of years. France  became separate country in the 9th century. 

              French Before The Revolution.

The French society was divided into three separate castes known as estates. The first  estate was made up of priests, and reglious  leaders. The second estate was made up of the  nobility, while third and lowest estate consisted of  everyone else, over 97% of the population of  France.  

In time, most of the western part of France was yielded to the British crown. After the death of the  last Capetian King Charles IV, Edward III of  England claimed the French Throne and started  the Hundred Years' War in 1337.

   Right - King Charles IV of France;Left - Edward III of England.

 With the help of  a France peasant girl, Joan of Arc, Charles VIII  emerged victorious in the war and drove the  English back to Calais. 

    Right - Joan of Arc; Left - Charles III of France.

France became a centralized state where an absolute monarchy was established. The long  Italian Wars ( 1494—1559 )marked the beginning  of early modern France.

France has six overseas departments: French  Guiana in South America; Guadeloupe and  Martinique in the West Indies; Mayotte, an island  formerly part of the Comoros, located in the  Indian Ocean; Reunion, an island in the Indian  Ocean; and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, islands off  the east coast of Canada. In addition, it has  numerous small possessions called overseas  territories and many small islands in the southern  oceans.

Since the 17th century, France has played a major  role in European and world events. In the 20th  century, it has experienced numerous crises, and  the loss of a large empire in Indochina, Algeria,  and West and Equatorial Africa. It has, however,  survived and emerged as an important world  supplier of agricultural and industrial products.  France has been a leading member in the United  Nations, the European Union and NATO, and  remains a strong economic, cultural, and political 

influence in 21st century. 

"You Write To Me That it's Impossible, The Word is not French." — Napoleon Bonaparte.