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From New World Encyclopedia


Florence

Florence, well known for art and architecture, is considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance

Comanche

The horse was a key element in the emergence of a distinctive Comanche culture

Atheism

"Positive" or "strong" atheism is the assertion that no deities exist while "negative" or "weak" atheism is simply the absence of belief in the existence of any deity

Bhimbetka rock shelters

The rock shelters and caves of Bhimbetka contain numerous cave paintings which depict the lives of the people who lived there over periods spanning thousands of years

Nicolaus Copernicus

The "Copernican revolution," placing the sun instead of the Earth at the center of the universe, is considered "the" scientific revolution and marked the starting point of modern astronomy and cosmology

Cave painting

Cave paintings probably had a religious or informational purpose rather than being purely decorative

Erwin Rommel

Rommel's campaign in Africa earned him the nickname “The Desert Fox”

Freedom of religion

In 1948 the United Nations defined freedom of religion as a universal human right

Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865, is commonly viewed as signifying the end of the American Civil War

Cole Porter

Unlike most successful Broadway composers, Cole Porter wrote both the lyrics and the music for his songs

Pyramids of Giza

The Great Pyramid at Giza is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence

Holy Sepulchre

the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is considered the holiest Christian site in the world, built at the place of Jesus' crucifixion and burial

Bankruptcy

In the Jewish law there was no provision for bankruptcy; instead, all unpaid debts were canceled every seven years

Robert Morrison

Robert Morrison was the first Protestant missionary to China, baptizing ten converts over a period of 27 years

Mount Rushmore

The original plan for the Mount Rushmore monument was for the figures of the presidents to be carved down to their waists

Aleut

Many Aleuts became Christian, joining the Russian Orthodox Church during the years when Russian fur traders settled in Alaska

Norman Bethune

In his lifetime Norman Bethune was virtually unknown in his homeland of Canada but received international recognition when Chairman Mao Zedong wrote about his work in China

Kanji

Kanji are the Chinese characters used in the Japanese writing system

Affirmative action

Some policies adopted as affirmative action, such as quotas for race or gender in college admissions, have been criticized as a form of reverse discrimination

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ruled parts of Afghanistan and most of the Indian Subcontinent between 1526 and 1857

Geisha

Geisha are traditional Japanese female entertainers who act as hostesses, performing Japanese music, dance, tea ceremony, and poetry; they are not prostitutes and do not engage in paid sex with clients

Centaur

The most common theory of the origin of centaurs is that when non-riding cultures first saw nomads mounted on horses they thought they were half-horse, half-man creatures.

Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton, generally regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential scientists in history, wrote more on religion than on science

Abydos, Egypt

So rare is a full list of pharaoh names that the Table of Abydos has been called the "Rosetta Stone" of Egyptian archaeology

Aachen Cathedral

Aachen Cathedral in Germany, built by Charlemagne and his burial site, is the oldest cathedral in Northern Europe

Abenaki

The Abenaki largely relied on horticulture when it came to their diet, which is why villages often were located on or near river floodplains.

Herring

Very young herring are called whitebait and are eaten whole as a delicacy.

Mastodon

Mastodons are extinct members of a family related to elephants, while mammoths are extinct members of the elephant family

Stanley Milgram

Stanley Milgram's experiments showed that people may act in inhumane ways when ordered to do so by an authority figure and when their peers also act in the same way

Proterozoic

One of the most important events of the Proterozoic was the build up of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere

Contact lens

The first corrective contact lenses were made of blown glass

Reserve Officers' Training Corps

ROTC in the United States began in 1916 with the passage of the National Defense Act that was intended to increase "preparedness" prior to the American entry into World War I.

Greenland

About 80 percent of Greenland is covered by ice, the world's second largest ice sheet

Colin Cherry

Colin Cherry was the first to study the "cocktail party effect" which is the human ability to follow a single conversation in the midst of other conversations and background noises

Alexander Stephens

Alexander Stephens suffered illness throughout his life and his resultant small size led to the nickname "Little Aleck"

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia was a country in Central Europe that existed from October 28, 1918, when it declared independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until January 1, 1993, when it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

King Edward VII was known as the "uncle of Europe" as he was related to nearly every other European monarch

Yellow River

The Yellow River is known as the "Mother River of China" and "the Cradle of Chinese Civilization"

Almond

Almonds were found in Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt

Nelson Rockefeller

Nelson Rockefeller served as governor of New York State from 1959 to 1973 and as the 41st vice president of the United States of America from 1974 to 1977

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016

Vaishnavism

Vaishnavism differs from other traditions of Hinduism by recognizing Vishnu as the supreme deity

Currency

Early forms of currency include ivory, beads, shells, and livestock such as cattle

Parachute

An early parachute design was called "Homo Volans" (Flying Man)