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From New World Encyclopedia


Picts

The Picts - "painted people" - were ancient inhabitants of Scotland who lived north of Hadrian's Wall

Nunavut

Nunavut is the newest, largest, and most northerly territory of Canada

Galileo Galilei

Galileo was accused of heresy in 1633 for his support of Nicolaus Copernicus' heliocentrism and it was not until 1992 that Pope John Paul II announced that the Catholic Church's denunciation of Galileo's work had been a tragic error

Tsimshian

Tsimshian people of the Pacific Northwest lived on salmon, which were plentiful prior to commercial fishing, and used Western Redcedar for most of their needs

Ivy League

The term "Ivy League" came from the ivy plants that cover many of these institutions' buildings

Constantine I

Constantine the Great was the first Roman Emperor to accept Christianity

Tunisia

Tunisia has been significant since ancient times: from the Phoenician city of Carthage through its role in the Roman Empire, its time as a pirate stronghold, rebuilding under the Ottoman Empire, and more recentl

Barbershop music

Barbershop music is a four-part a cappella style of singing famous for its "ringing" chords in which an overtone is produced that sounds like a fifth note

Cyberspace

The term "cyberspace" was coined by science fiction writer William Gibson

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is the longest epic poem ever written

Family therapy

Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that regards the whole family as the "patient" or "client"

Recorder (music)

The recorder, originally popular in Medieval music, was revived in the twentieth century

Mercury (element)

The chemical element mercury is the only metal that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure

Abuja

Abuja is a purpose-built city, created as the new capital of independent Nigeria

Great Lakes

Four of the five "Great Lakes" of North America straddle the U.S.-Canada border; Lake Michigan is entirely within the United States

Indonesia

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world

Kitty Wells

Kitty Wells' 1952 recording of "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" led to the introduction of female stars in the male-dominated country music genre

Ljubljana

The symbol of the city of Ljubljana is the dragon, which is found in the coat of arms, on top of the tower of the Ljubljana Castle, and on the Dragon Bridge

Ethel Merman

Tony Award winning star of musical theater Ethel Merman never took singing lessons

Mosque

According to the Qu'ran, the first mosque was the Kaaba built by Abraham on Allah's instruction

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi's name means "a bright collection of strange victories"

Mauna Loa

The Hawaiian name "Mauna Loa" means "Long Mountain"

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej, king for 70 years, had the longest reign in [[Thailand

Abortion

In 1920 under Vladimir Lenin the Soviet Union was the first to legalize all abortions, but this was reversed in 1936 by Joseph Stalin in order to increase population growth.

Mezuzah

The commandment to affix a mezuzah to the doorpost of the home is followed by observant Jews

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was called "the Two-Horned One" in Islamic and Arabic-language sources and "Alexander the Cursed" in Zoroastrian literature

Galaxy

The word galaxy derives from "galaxias" meaning "milky," the Greek term for our own Milky Way galaxy

Rumah Gadang

Every aspect of a Rumah Gadang ("Big house") has a symbolic significance related to Minangkabau adat (customary belief and law)

Tipi

For the Plains Indians, the tipi was more than just a home—it was a sacred space.

Marcus Daly

Marcus Daly was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Transylvania

In the seventeenth century, Transylvania was an autonomous state and passed through a "Golden age" for religions and culture

Alvin Langdon Coburn

Coburn invented a kaleidoscope-like instrument with three mirrors clamped together, which when fitted over the lens of the camera would reflect and fracture the image. It would come to be called a "Vortoscope"

Acts of Union 1707

Despite having a single monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, Scotland and England had separate governments until the Acts of Union were finalized in 1707

Shark

The smallest sharks are only as big as a human hand

Gerard Debreu

Gerard Debreu won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1983

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended prior to passage to explicitly include women's rights

Operetta

English language operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan were originally known as "comic operas" to distinguish them from French and German operettas

Archie Moore

Archie Moore's boxing style earned him the nickname "The Mongoose" and later in his career "The Old Mongoose"

Akkadian Empire

The Akkadian Empire has been described as the first true empire in world history

Big Ben

The nickname "Big Ben" refers to the largest bell in the Elizabeth Tower and not to the clock tower itself

Tlingit

Tlingit spirituality is expressed through art, especially in the form of detailed carvings on totem poles

Kyoto University

Kyoto University was founded to train scientists to support the rapid industrialization of Japan during the Meiji period

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American female writer to be published in the United States