Western Philosophy 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.
Revolutionary War - American Revolution For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between colonists and the British authorities. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies (notably the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Tariffs of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects. Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts) designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.
Subjects Skip to main content Your browser is not supported.This website may not work as expected. Please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge. <! 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!
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
Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. It showed Great Britain that Americans wouldn’t take taxation and tyranny sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for independence. Why Did the Boston Tea Party Happen? In the 1760s, Britain was deep in debt, so British Parliament imposed a series of taxes on American colonists to help pay those debts. The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed colonists on virtually every piece of printed paper they used, from playing cards and business licenses to newspapers and legal documents. READ MORE: 7 Events That Enraged Colonists and Led to the American Revolution Tea Act Imposed Sources
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
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.
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.