The Pony Express
The Pony Express formed one of the legendary episodes of the “Old West” of the United States. Foundation It was founded by three freight transportation entrepreneurs, William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell. These men owned and ran the Central...
Cai Lun, the man who invented paper
Have you heard of Cai Lun? No, I hadn’t either, until very recently. And yet, he had a huge influence on world history. It was he who refined the technology of paper-making to the point where it became easy to make a light, durable material on which writing was easy....
Why was the New Testament Written in Greek?
Didn’t Jesus and his disciples speak Hebrew, and therefore write in Hebrew? Well, not Jesus personally, nothing from him actually survives in writing, and there’s no actual evidence that he wrote anything down himself. And, come to think of it, probably not his...
What will civilization be like 1000 years from now?
Do any other historians think about the future, I wonder - and look to the past for clues as to what might unfold? I confess to doing that now and again. I definitely do NOT try to predict the future. As some wag said, “You can predict everything, except the future”. ...
Whatever Happened to Maya Civilization?
Along with the Aztec Empire and the Inca empire, Maya civilization is probably one of the three civilizations which most people have heard of from Pre-Columbian America. Of all of them, indeed, it was the Maya who are widely recognized as reaching the highest levels...
The Last Dynasty of China – was it a total failure?
When we westerners look at Chinese history we often come to the conclusion that the last dynasty of China was a total failure. However, that is mostly because we focus a lot on that bit of Chinese history after the Europeans started to have a real impact. One of our...
What connects that high value vase with the largest structure ever built?
The largest structure ever built is (if you hadn’t already guessed it) the Great Wall of China. At 8,850 km (5,500 miles) long from east to west, or nearer 13,000 miles if all the various parallel defence system are take into account, nothing else comes close. And...
When actually did the Roman Empire fall?
In 1453 the Christian city of Constantinople fell to the forces of the Ottoman sultan, Mehmet II. This event sent a shockwave throughout Europe. For hundreds of years, Constantinople had been the capital of what modern scholars call the “Byzantine Empire”. The...