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India’s Nalanda University Existed 500 years before Oxford
The winter morning was cloaked in thick fog. Our car swerved past horse-drawn carriages, a mode of transport still popular in the rural reaches of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, the trotting horses and turbaned coachmen looking like shadowy apparitions in the pearly-white mist. After spending a night in the town of Bodhgaya, the…
Read MoreCheapest States to Live in
Jobs are plentiful today, but the cost of living is high. If you’re contemplating relocating to a more affordable part of the country, there are several factors you should consider. The average costs of food, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous goods and services, are the six elements that the Council for Community and…
Read MoreWhat Is Saliva and How Does It Change the Taste of Food?
Saliva mixes with everything we eat and plays a significant role in which foods we like and what happens to them before and after we swallow. SHOTPRIME STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK Saliva. It’s not the kind of thing that comes to mind often. Sure, you may notice it when you smell a juicy ribeye or the lack of it…
Read MoreWill THE US EVER RUN OUT OF TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Phone numbers, as we know them, may be endangered. While there are billions of potential digit combinations, it’s not an infinite number. Eventually, it’s very possible we’ll have used up every available phone number. Most people are familiar with the modern 10-digit U.S. phone number with an area code. But that’s actually a fairly recent invention. The History…
Read MoreWHAT HAPPENED TO ANDREW CARNEGIE’S MONEY AFTER HE DIED?
From the end of the Civil War in 1865 through the turn of the 20th century, America experienced a period of rapid industrial and economic growth now known as the Gilded Age (via History). This made the leaders of steel and railroad corporations from that era richer than many from that time could ever imagine.…
Read MoreSecret communication of sea animals discovered
A scientist has found that 53 sea creatures previously thought to be silent can actually communicate. The creatures were sending message all along, but humans had never thought to listen to them, Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen suggests. He used microphones to record the species, including turtles, communicating they wanted to mate or hatch from the egg. The…
Read MoreHow climate change threatens to close ski resorts
From the Swiss Alps to the Rocky Mountains, ski resorts are grappling with the impacts of climate change. How are they adapting in a warming world? Anzère is often hailed as Europe’s greenest ski resort. But the Swiss village had a difficult start to its 2023 winter season. Like many other Alpine ski resorts, low-lying…
Read MoreThe cities built to be reusable
The remnants of most old buildings end up in landfill, but some cities are starting to design them for so they can be easily disassembled and repurposed from the start. Many people now try to recycle their newspapers, plastic bottles and aluminium cans in an effort to reduce their household waste. But few of us think about…
Read MoreDoes Hot Water Freezes faster?
“Cold water does not boil faster than hot water. The rate of heating of a liquid depends on the magnitude of the temperature difference between the liquid and its surroundings (the flame on the stove, for instance). As a result, cold water will be absorbing heat faster while it is still cold; once it gets…
Read MoreSalt in water sources becoming worrisome in D.C. region, experts warn
The Washington region is growing — a metropolis of nearly 6 million people where area officials are pressing to build another 320,000 homes by the end of this decade. And with that growth comes an increasing, largely unregulated problem: Salt. Lots of it. Paved streets, sidewalks and parking lots need de-icing in winter, with the…
Read MoreTHE INVENTION OF THE VACUUM CLEANER
In 1901, if you were lucky, you might have witnessed a startling scene on the streets of London—one which would quickly revolutionise how most of us clean our homes. Science Museum Group Collection Hubert Cecil Booth (1871–1955). Science Museum Group Collection Engineer Hubert Cecil Booth was rolling his new vacuum cleaner onto the wealthier streets of…
Read MoreTreasure trove of gold and jewels recovered from a 366-year-old shipwreck in the Bahamas
Gold coins, gemstones and jewels are just a few of the priceless treasures found at a shipwreck site in the Bahamas. (Image credit: ©Brendan Chavez/Allen Exploration) A treasure trove of gold coins, gemstones and jewels was recently uncovered at a 366-year-old Spanish shipwreck. In an effort to conserve what’s left of the ship and its prized…
Read More‘Heatflation’: How High Temperatures Send Food Prices Soaring
Crops are seen drying up on the banks of the Loire River July 17, 2022, in Ancenis, France. The country was on high alert in mid-July after a punishing heatwave sent temperatures soaring and wildfires raging through parts of southwest Europe. LOIC VENANCE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Vicious heat waves are sweeping parts of the globe, along with the…
Read MoreHow to Prepare for a Hurricane
In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan struck the Gulf Coast as a powerful Category 3. Homeowners like Jason Huffman (seen here) did all they could beforehand to prepare their homes to withstand the brunt of the storm. STEPHEN MORTON/GETTY IMAGES There’s not much that can rattle a New Yorker. Most have seen enough to know they’ve…
Read MoreA Short History of Showering
Personal hygiene hasn’t always been an integral part of grooming, yet the need to clean oneself easily and quickly was as pressing in ancient times as it is today. Bathing in a tub was cumbersome, so those who could bathed under waterfalls. These were the first showers used by man. The first man-made showers that…
Read MoreThe History of the Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that were for centuries central to cultural interaction originally through regions of Eurasia connecting the East and West and stretching from the Korean peninsula and Japan to the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road concept refers to both the terrestrial and the maritime routes connecting Asia and Europe. The overland Steppe route stretching through the Eurasian steppe is…
Read MoreThe History of the Gun
Many people consider guns as a relatively modern invention. That means people often think the history of guns dates back only a few hundred years when, in actuality, the gun dates back about a thousand years. The history of firearms is long and storied, consisting of many twists and turns along the way. But despite many design improvements…
Read MoreCan you learn to wiggle your ears?
Have you ever seen someone wiggle one ear? How about both at the same time? How do they do that? (Image credit: Patrick Lane via Getty Images) Wiggling your ears is a neat party trick, like rolling your tongue or licking your nose. Such abilities are often considered genetic; you can either do them naturally or…
Read MoreWhy Jack Ruby Killed JFK’s Assassin
If not for the events of Nov. 22, 1963, Jack Ruby may have lived out the rest of his life as he did most of the first 50-plus years of it: as a nobody, an outsider looking in, a small-time crook desperately seeking to belong. As it happened, though that day in Dallas changed a lot…
Read More1.2 billion-year-old groundwater is some of the oldest on Earth
Researchers discovered 1.2 billion-year-old groundwater inside a mine in South Africa. (Image credit: Dr. Oliver Warr/University of Toronto) Groundwater that was recently discovered deep underground in a mine in South Africa is estimated to be 1.2 billion years old. Researchers suspect that the groundwater is some of the oldest on the planet, and its chemical interactions…
Read MoreThere Are 6 ‘Strongest Materials’ On Earth That Are Harder Than Diamonds
Carbon is one of the most fascinating elements in all of nature, with chemical and physical properties unlike any other element. With just six protons in its nucleus, it’s the lightest abundant element capable of forming a slew of complex bonds. All known forms of life are carbon-based, as its atomic properties enable it to…
Read MoreThese 6 U.S. States Once Declared Themselves Independent Nations
This map shows the short-lived Republic of West Florida. Taken from the map ‘The British Colonies in North America, 1763-1775.’ RATTYRATTERY/WIKIPEDIA/CREATIVE COMMONS CC0 1.0 The good old U.S. of A. wasn’t always made up of the 50 states that we know today. It took a lot of battles, bloodshed and negotiations to get to this point. Some states…
Read MoreWho Invented The Shower?
For many of us, taking a daily shower is part of our everyday routine. Approximately half (49%) of people living in the UK have a shower or bath at least once a day and one in five (20%) have a shower four to six times a week*. That’s a lot of time spent in the…
Read MoreThe biggest state
The biggest parts of the Union Every state in the Union is bound by the same Constitution, but states aren’t always equal. In terms of wildlife, industries, culture, and even size, the different states can be wildly different from one another. Find out which states make up a bigger part of the union than the…
Read MoreWhy does ancient Egypt’s distinctive art style make everything look flat?
In 1986, the band “The Bangles” sang about “all the old paintings on the tombs” where the figures they depict are “walking like an Egyptian.” Though he was neither an art historian nor an Egyptologist, songwriter Liam Sternberg was referring to one of the most striking features of ancient Egyptian visual art — the depiction of people,…
Read MoreWho was the youngest president?
US Constitution According to the constitution, a president must be at least 35 years old to qualify as president. To be president of the United States at any age is an amazing feat done by just 45 people so far. To be the youngest president is even more of an achievement to be able to get to…
Read MoreWebb telescope’s new images of stars, galaxies and an exoplanet
(CNN)The first glimpse of how the James Webb Space Telescope will change the way people see the universe has arrived. President Joe Biden has released one of Webb’s first images, and it’s the deepest view of the universe ever captured. The image shows SMACS 0723, where a massive group of galaxy clusters act as a magnifying glass for…
Read MoreHOW BRIDGES ARE BUILT OVER WATER?
lmost everyone travel everyday and you must pass any bridge along your way. Bridges are the connecting link between two lands separated with water body. Do you ever think how the pillars are build in the water bodies to construct the bridge? Welcome to Engineering Master. In this article, we will tell the answer… Bridges…
Read More10 Little-known Facts About the Founding Fathers
This painting shows Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Benjamin Franklin presenting the first draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress. Less than a week later, on July 4, 1776, the colonial delegates signed the document. If asked to come up with a fact or two about the…
Read MoreWillis Carrier The Man who Invented Air Conditioning!
Who hasn’t sung the praises of air conditioning on a sweltering summer day? But who do you have to thank for this refreshing convenience? The short answer to that question is Willis Carrier, an American engineer credited with inventing the first modern air conditioner. However, the idea of using evaporated water — or other liquids…
Read MoreAlan Turing: Computer Genius Compared to Einstein
he 20th century had no shortage of brilliant minds, but perhaps none had as significant an impact on our day-to-day lives as Alan Turing, considered by many as the founding father of modern computer science. Turing was a brilliant mathematician, before he’d even earned a Master’s Degree he wrote probably the second-most-important academic paper of…
Read MoreThe Net Worth Of Andrew Carnegie $310 Billion! His Story
Have you ever wondered what the net worth of Andrew Carnegie was? Andrew Carnegie has an incredible “rags to riches” story that led him to a net worth today of $310 billion. This is more than Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos combined. In this post, we show you exactly how Carnegie built his net…
Read MoreThe Dangers of Trees That Are Close to the
Fallen trees can cause thousands of dollars in damage to a house and pose a big risk to those who live in it. Tree damage to a home usually is covered by home insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute. But it’s much better to avoid having to file a claim in the first place.…
Read MoreMeet the mites that have sex on your face and nipples while you sleep
The idea of eight-legged mites that have sex on your face and nipples while you sleep may sound like a concept from the latest horror blockbuster. But the creatures are very much real and are becoming such simplified organisms that they may soon ‘become one with humans,’ according to a new study. Demodex folliculorum mites…
Read MoreHow Many U.S. Presidents Have Been Assassinated?
Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated while in office and many more have faced serious attempts on their lives. Andrew Jackson holds the dubious distinction of being the first sitting president to survive a serious assassination attempt, which occurred in 1835. Thirty years later, Abraham Lincoln was the first to be slain. Chances are, you…
Read MoreWhat is Manifest Destiny?
Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-nineteenth century. Like the Massachusetts Puritans who hoped to build a “city upon a hill, “courageous pioneers believed that America had a divine obligation to stretch the boundaries of their noble republic to the Pacific Ocean. Independence had been won in the Revolution and reaffirmed…
Read MoreWhy don’t we get our drinking water from the ocean by taking the salt out of seawater?
Even with all of the water in Earth’s oceans, we satisfy less than half a percent of human water needs with desalinated water.* We currently use on the order of 960 cubic miles (4,000 cubic kilometers) of freshwater a year, and overall there’s enough water to go around. There is increasing regional scarcity, though. So why…
Read MoreBurr’s Political Legacy Died in the Duel with Hamilton
Burr’s political achievements are largely overshadowed by his duel with Hamilton.The rivalry between Founding Fathers Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton stretched much further than the legendary duel where sitting Vice President Aaron Burr shot and fatally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Both were orphans. Both fought in the American Revolution. And both found political success at an early…
Read MoreHow Bad Is Black Mold, Really?
By: Melanie Radzicki McManus | Mar 25, 2021 Black mold is shown on this wall. Regardless of color, you want to remove mold from your house. You don’t want mold in your home. Black, green, orange, yellow — no matter the color, it’s all undesirable. Yet you don’t necessarily have to panic if you see it growing on your walls…
Read MoreWhere The Name Banana Republic Originated
Banana Republic refers to a politically unstable nation economically dependent on the exportation of a limited resource product (bananas, for example). In 1901, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring countries under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company (today known as Chiquita Brands International). Typically, a…
Read MoreWhat Causes Nearsightness?
Who invented the Car?
The Orgins of Soda Pop!
What would happen if you never washed your face?
Why Is Glass Transparent?
We use glass all the time, it is practically everywhere. They can be used from enhancing vision, to building bridges. But what is it about glass, that we love it so much? Why is it so important, and why was it revolutionary? Because it is transparent. This is the most important property of glass. We…
Read MoreHow Alexander the Great Ended the Achaemenid Empire at the Battle of Gaugamela
On 1 October 331 BC, Alexander the Great won a definitive victory at Gaugamela against the Persian empire. Alexander’s charismatic leadership and brilliant use of cavalry secured his immortality, and signalled the end for his wily foe, the Persian ruler Darius III. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was the son of Philip, King of Macedon,…
Read More6 Tips for Starting an Old Engine
If you’ve ever tried to start an old car that’s been sitting for a long time, you know that it isn’t always as easy as just turning the key. NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES If you’ve ever had an old car sitting around for a while, you know that getting it started and back in running condition isn’t…
Read MoreU.S. Gives the Panama Canal to the Panama Government
In Washington, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos sign a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at the end of the 20th century. The Panama Canal Treaty also authorized the immediate abolishment of the Canal Zone, a 10-mile-wide, 40-mile-long U.S.-controlled area that bisected the Republic of Panama. Many…
Read MoreIs it Safe to Sleep While Your Car is Running?
It is quite usual for motorists to stop at a petrol station or rest and recreation area to take a nap in their vehicle if they feel drowsy after driving for a number of hours. Is it safe to sleep in the car? It can be deadly if the windows are all wound up and…
Read MoreWho built the first automobile?
It’s hard to credit a single person with inventing the automobile. Not only did an estimated 100,000 patents lead to cars as we know them, but people also disagree on what qualifies as the first true automobile. For historians who think that early steam-powered road vehicles fit the bill, the answer is Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a…
Read MoreNaked Cooks, Excrement, Rats: The Secretly Disgusting History of Royal Palaces
Filthy residences forced European monarchs to constantly move their courts. In July of 1535, King Henry VIII and his court of over 700 people embarked on an epic official tour. Over the next four months the massive entourage would visit around 30 different royal palaces, aristocratic residences and religious institutions. While these stops were important PR events for the…
Read MoreU.S. First Ladies That Are Probably Smarter Than Their Husbands
Myths People Believe About The Founding Of The United States
In the United States, American schoolchildren grow up learning all about their Founding Fathers, their Revolutionary ancestors, and some unfortunate realities of American history like slavery and indentured servitude. To a large extent, however, they learn myths about the founding of America, and those myths get recycled and amplified with each generation. Moreover, the recitation of those myths isn’t…
Read MoreHow the Sarissa Helped Make Alexander the Great’s Empire
Alexander the Great is well known for leading his armies to many victories as he battled through Europe. His armies weaponry however, differed from his enemies in its use of one particular weapon, the sarissa. The sarissa was a type of pike that was wielded with both great ability and efficiency by Alexander’s armies, and…
Read MoreCHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colo. (AP) — A quarter-century has passed since the end of the nuclear standoff between the United States and the former Soviet Union, but the famous U.S. military command center inside Colorado’s Cheyenne Mountain is still alive, tracking new threats from new enemies. The U.S. blasted a warren of tunnels…
Read MoreWilliam James Sidis Was The Smartest Man Who Ever Lived — But He Died A Low-Level Office Clerk
Born a child prodigy in the late 19th century, William James Sidis had an estimated IQ of 250 to 300. But his intelligence couldn’t save him from his demons. In 1898, the smartest man who ever lived was born in America. His name was William James Sidis and his IQ was eventually estimated to be…
Read MoreFrance pulled off one of the greatest heists ever. It left Haiti perpetually impoverished | Opinion
There’s never been a more clear-cut case for reparations than that of Haiti. What France did to the Haitian people after the Haitian Revolution is a particularly notorious examples of colonial theft. France instituted slavery on the island in the 17th century, but, in the late 18th century, the enslaved population rebelled and eventually declared…
Read MoreThe Tragic Story Of The Jonestown Massacre, Modern History’s Largest Mass “Suicide”
Until the September 11th attacks, the tragedy in Jonestown on November 18th, 1978 represented the largest number of American civilian casualties in a single non-natural event. It is unfathomable now, as it was then, that more than 900 Americans – members of a San Francisco-based religious group called the Peoples Temple – died after drinking poison at…
Read MoreAndrew Jackson was a slaver, ethnic cleanser, and tyrant. Should he be on our money?
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department announced that a portrait of Harriet Tubman will grace future $20 bills starting in 2030. It’s a fitting, and long overdue tribute to a genuine hero of American history who helped end the gravest evil this nation ever perpetrated. But the department also announced that the man currently on the bill —…
Read MoreHow to Escape From Pompeii in 79 AD
If you had been in Pompeii in 79 AD, you might have tried to hunker down or escape by sea. This would be a mistake. But there is a way to safety. LET’S SAY YOU were visiting the Roman town of Pompeii on the morning of August 24, 79 AD. And let’s say you arrived sometime…
Read MoreKarl Wilhelm Scheele The Founder of Bleach
Discovering Chlorine Karl Wilhelm Scheele, the seventh of eleven children, born December 9, 1742, to a Swedish couple in Stralsund, was an apprentice to an apothecary in Gothenburg by the age of 14. A dozen years later he was working in a Stockholm pharmacy, studying and experimenting in his spare time with the pharmacy’s salts,…
Read MoreBuilding The Statue of Liberty
Liberty Enlightening the World. That’s the meaning of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island off the coast of New York City. But this iconic statue of a green woman outstretching a torch while clasping a tablet to her chest holds much more history and significance than you may think. The story of building the Statue of…
Read MoreHow the Brooklyn Bridge was Built
The iconic bridge spans over the East River and thousands of people cross the bridge every day to get between Manhattan and Brooklyn. It opened to the public on May 24, 1883 and was designed and constructed over two generations of the Roebling family by John, Washington, and Emily Roebling. The design is a…
Read More10 Things That Happen to Your Body When You Lose Sleep
What happens if you don’t sleep? Not getting enough sleep can lower your sex drive, weaken your immune system, cause thinking issues, and lead to weight gain. When you don’t get enough sleep, you may also increase your risk of certain cancers, diabetes, and even car accidents. If you find yourself part of this no-sleep…
Read MoreWhy Christopher Columbus wasn’t the hero we learned about in school
“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” That rhyme has long been how American students were introduced to Christopher Columbus in elementary school. Students are taught that Columbus is the one who discovered the Americas, sailing across the Atlantic in his three ships: The Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. The Italian explorer is even celebrated…
Read MoreThe Great Depression
During the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties, the traditional values of rural America were challenged by the Jazz Age, symbolized by women smoking, drinking, and wearing short skirts. The average American was busy buying automobiles and household appliances, and speculating in the stock market, where big money could be made. Those appliances were bought…
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