5 Whores Who Changed The Course of History For most of us, performing sexual favors in some dark alley for grocery money is about as low as life can get. But history is full of stories of prostitutes who parlayed their skills into positions of prestige and power. And some of them changed the world. Where: Jericho. When: 1400s B.C. How She Got Her Start? Rahab probably came from a middle-class family in Jericho. The cost of freedom, circa 1400 BC. By all accounts, she was good at it, too. What Made Her Great? Back in 1422 B.C., the Israelites were living on a barren tract of land appropriately named, Shittim. Better than Shittim. Joshua sent out two spies to scout out the defenses. Their sweaty reconnaissance was cut short, however, when the king of Jericho sent his men out to look for the two Jewish spies skulking around his city. That's right; believe what you want about the Bible, but it's right there in the Old Testament that the course of world history was turned by a hooker with a heart of gold. Athens. London, England.
Weapons of the American Revolution By the late 18th century, artillerymen were considered elite troops. In an age of widespread illiteracy, soldiers who could do the geometric calculations necessary to place a cannonball on target must have seemed almost as wizards. Indeed, even though for centuries it was known that the flight path of spears and arrows was parabolic, the fellow who demonstrated it mathematically, Galileo, came close to being burned by the Inquisition for his heretical ideas. Background The earliest european devices that we would recognize as artillery were called "bombards", an Old English word which is believed to derive from the Latin "bombus" or deep, loud noise. Given the technology of the age, giant cannons would have been prohibitively expensive, and couldn't possibly withstand the powder charge that would have been required. The earliest artillery pieces resembled the much caricatured witches' cauldron, except with much thicker sides and a small basin. GUNS (Cannons) Swivel gun. A bomb or shell.
Everything You Need To Know About Shakespeare Plays This article provides an overview that tells you everything you need to know about Shakespeare plays. How Many Plays? A remarkable fact about Shakespeare plays is that scholars can’t agree on how many he actually wrote. Thirty-eight plays is the most popular hypothesis, but after many years of wrangling a little-known play called Double Falsehood has now been added to the canon. The main problem is that it is believed that William Shakespeare wrote many of his plays collaboratively – and it is, therefore, difficult to identify the content penned by the Bard with any accuracy. When Was Shakespeare Writing Plays? As this list of Shakespeare Plays indicates, the Bard was writing between 1590 and 1613. Many of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s and would have been performed at the Globe Theatre. About Shakespeare Play Genres Shakespeare wrote in three genres: tragedy, comedy , and history. Shakespeare’s Language Why is Shakespeare’s language so descriptive?
Western Philosophy Key Figures from the Revolutionary War The Revolutionary War, otherwise known as the American Revolution, was a battle for independence fought between the United States (then the Continental Colonies) and Great Britain that spanned the years of 1775 to 1783. The conflict was the result of mounting tension between the colonists and the colonial government, which was an extension of the British crown’s authority. Throughout the war, a number of individuals played essential roles for their respective parties, with the following individuals standing out for their bravery, intelligence, and leadership. Ethan Allen Born in 1738, Ethan Allen was credited with commanding the Green Mountain Boys in the victory at Fort Ticonderoga, a battle which later became known as the United States’ first success during the Revolutionary War. Benedict Arnold Before defecting to the British army, Benedict Arnold had a humble upbringing in which he began serving in the militia at an early age. Yet as Arnold’s success grew, so did his pride. Learn More
5 Nazi Plans That Prove They Were Dumber Than You Think Other websites like to tiptoe around the issue, but we've never hesitated to come out and just say it: The Nazis were bad. And the thing is, the Nazis weren't strictly about tearing Europe down brick by brick and the Holocaust. They actually had tons of other horrible and, quite frankly, stupid ideas. Not all of them were brought to fruition, fortunately, but at one time or another, Hitler was all about ... #5. Operation Pope Kill Fun fact about Hitler: In the 1930s, he ordered Catholic schools to replace their classroom crucifixes with pictures of him. GettyOn one hand, militarism is terrifying. Step one in that plan: Seize the Vatican. The Stupidity: By 1943, Pope Pius XII began making vague yet public condemnations of Nazi human rights abuses, and Hitler started making vague threats of killing him for it. Getty"Once I have that hat, the armies of the Reich will be unstoppable!" OK, but that's just occupying the Vatican, kidnapping the Pope and stealing some art, right? #4. #3.
Major Events That Led to the American Revolution The American Revolution was a war between the 13 British Colonies in North America and Great Britain. It lasted from April 19, 1775, to Sept. 3, 1783, and resulted in independence for the colonies. Timeline of the War The following timeline describes the events that led up to the American Revolution, beginning with the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. February 10: The Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War. April 5: Grenville Acts pass in parliament. April 19: The Currency Act passes Parliament, prohibiting the colonies from issuing legal tender paper money. May 24: A Boston town meeting is held to protest the Grenville measures. June 12–13: The Massachusetts House of Representatives creates a Committee of Correspondence to communicate with the other colonies about their grievances. August: Boston merchants begin a policy of nonimportation of British luxury goods as a form of protest against British economic policies. March 22: The Stamp Act passes in parliament.
Myth, Legend, Folklore, Ghosts Apollo and the Greek Muses Updated July 2010 COMPREHENSIVE SITES ON MYTHOLOGY ***** The Encyclopedia Mythica - SEARCH - Areas - Image Gallery - Genealogy tables - Mythic Heroes Probert Encyclopaedia - Mythology Gods, Heroes, and MythDictionary of Mythology What is Myth? MESOPOTAMIAN MYTHOLOGYThe Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ Sumerian Mythology FAQ Sumerian Mythology Sumerian Gods and Goddesses Sumerian Myths SUMERIAN RELIGION Mythology's Mythinglinks: the Tigris-Euphrates Region of the Ancient Near East Gods, Goddesses, Demons and Monsters of Mesopotamia The Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ More info on Ancient Mesopotamia can be found on my Ancient River Valley Civilizations page. GREEK MYTHOLOGYOrigins of Greek MythologyGreek Mythology - MythWeb Greek-Gods.info (plus a fun QUIZ)Ancient Greek Religion Family Tree of Greek Mythology Greek Names vs. VARIOUS FAIRIES, ELVES, UNICORNS, MERMAIDS, & OTHER MYTHICAL TOPICS HERE BE DRAGONS!
Humans Change the World Modern humans evolve in Africa. Image courtesy of Karen Carr Studio.For millions of years all humans, early and modern alike, had to find their own food. They spent a large part of each day gathering plants and hunting or scavenging animals. 200,000 Years Ago Modern Humans Evolve in Africa During a time of dramatic climate change, modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa. The first modern humans shared the planet with at least three species of early humans. Modern humans exchange resources over long distances. By 164,000 years ago Modern humans collect and cook shellfish By 130,000 years ago Modern humans exchange resources over long distances By 90,000 years ago Modern humans make special tools for fishing Between 80,000 and 60,000 years ago Modern humans spread to Asia By 77,000 years ago Modern humans almost become extinct. Modern humans record information on objects About 74,000 years ago Near-extinction! By 70,000 years ago Extinction! Homo erectus becomes extinct By 60,000–40,000 years ago
Did the CIA test LSD in the New York City subway system? On Nov. 28, 1953, Frank Olson, a bland, seemingly innocuous 42-year-old government scientist, plunged to his death from room 1018A in New York’s Statler Hotel, landing on a Seventh Avenue sidewalk just opposite Penn Station. Olson’s ignominious end was written off as an unremarkable suicide of a depressed government bureaucrat who came to New York City seeking psychiatric treatment, so it attracted scant attention at the time. But 22 years later, the Rockefeller Commission report was released, detailing a litany of domestic abuses committed by the CIA. The shocking disclosure led to President Gerald Ford’s apology to Olson’s widow and his three children, who accepted a $750,000 civil payment for his wrongful death. But the belated 1975 mea culpa failed to close a tawdry chapter of our nation’s past. Much of this plot unfolded here, in New York, according to H.P. Olson was a research scientist assigned to the CIA’s Special Operations Division, at Ft. An Olson colleague, Dr.