Learn

Origin of Cards

The earliest sign of playing cards was during the 10th century in China. There are no specifics about their markings or how the cards were played. The first familiar sign of cards was in Europe (imported from the Mamluks of Egypt). They gained popularity in Spain and Italy during the 1370s. At that time, playing cards were expensive to due to the workmanship involved in painting the cards. Playing cards eventually spread around the world through trade routes and were used by the upper classes. In the early 15th century, wood-block printing was developed in Germany. This decreased the price for a deck of cards. The price was driven even lower when the French began to produce decks by painting over stencils. This technique resulted in simplified suit marks (as shown below) which became the standard marks internationally.

Full Article »

History of Glass Making

The first discovery of when glass making started is uncertain. However, the Bible does mention its rarity by comparing glass to gold. Glass was used to make fake gemstones as jewelry pieces. They were dyed a color that could not be found in the natural world. At times, prices of the glass gemstones were more expensive than real gemstones due to the complex procedure used to create them.

Full Article »

The People’s Republic of China is the world’s largest nation, with 1.3 billion people (for every American, there are at least 4 Chinese). China is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Its sports team has been one of the best performing at recent Olympic events (2nd behind the US in Athens 2004). Nonetheless, no Olympic games had ever been held in China. Beijing nearly edged out Sydney for the 2000 Summer Olympics, but it was not until the July 31st 2001 announcement that the 2008 games would be held in Beijing that a long-cherished dream of the Chinese people came true.

Hosting a grand international festival is one way for a country to establish its brand in human consciousness. It looks as if the Beijing 2008 Olympics will validate China’s global emergence just as Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exhibition in 1893, for example, previewed America’s rise as the primary 20th century industrial power.

Full Article »

Alcatraz Island was one of the strangest prisons in the world. It lay smack in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The views were spectacular. The Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands lay to the west. Berkeley and the Oakland Hills were to the east. The whole city of San Francisco lay to the south, a glittering diamond of light at night. The fog rolling in from the Pacific and sailboats gliding across the waves offered an eye-catching panorama. For decades this was the spectacle afforded to America’s most hardened criminals.

The story of Alcatraz maximum security federal penitentiary began in the 1770s, when a Spanish explorer named it for the Alcatraces or pelicans he found living on this roughly 20 acre rock. It was not until the 1850s, following the Gold Rush, that the US Army was spurred to construct a military base and the first lighthouse on the West Coast on Alcatraz. The objective was to protect the growing gold mining industry from foreign prowlers. The island quickly became a stark symbol of American military might with a massive battery of 36,000 pound guns.

Full Article »

Tornadoes are among the most beautiful, dramatic and deadly natural phenomena to cut across the face of the earth. A rapidly moving funnel of air, tornadoes can appear out of nowhere to upturn a town or farm, livestock and cars, trees and people. This walloping tunnel suddenly and abruptly connects land and sky. Its speed can vary from 40 to more than 300 miles per hour. Tornadoes can be found all over the world, but are most common in the flat prairie lands of the United States. There are about 800 tornadoes a year in the US, with every one resulting in an average of two injuries. Every 10 tornadoes leads to a human fatality.

Full Article »

Deep in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, there are no cities or roads. The only way to get in is by boat or with a special kind of airplane that can land on the water. The foliage is so thick that you can barely see the sky when you’re underneath the trees. And the few people that live there live very different lives from people in the United States, or even people in the rest of Brazil. They can go for months or even years without ever seeing people from outside the jungle. Because they live so far from civilization, they don’t need to have jobs or money. They get what they need to eat by picking it off trees, catching it in the water, or hunting it with bows and arrows. When they need to sleep, they go to huts made of palm leaves with dirt floors and use thin tree branches as a bed.

Full Article »

Once in a while, one reads a story that proves the old adage that real life can prove far more unusual than fiction.

Greg Mortenson was an amateur American mountain climber, living out of a Volvo in Berkeley, barely getting by while working as a nurse in hospital emergency rooms. In 1993 he went to Pakistan as part of an expedition to climb K2, the world’s second highest mountain — 100 feet or so shorter than Mt. Everest, and many times as dangerous. He and two fellow mountaineers nearly made it to the top when disaster struck. One of the them fell, and had to be carried for two days across some of the most difficult rocky and icy terrain in the world, with little food or water, barely alive. On the way back to camp, Greg got lost and nearly died from the cold.

Full Article »

Twelve new stars will shine on the 5th season of the most popular ballroom dancing competition, Dancing with the Stars. The celebrities picked for the televised dancing competition vary in age, and often come from different professional backgrounds. They range from starlets to Hollywood legends, boy band stars to rappers, and even female wrestlers to professional athletes. On the fifth season of this hit show, the celebrities who will attempt to outshine one another are: Melanie Brown a.k.a. “Scary Spice”, Sabrina Bryan, Helio Castroneves, Mark Cuban, Jennie Garth, Josie Maran, Cameron Mathison, Floyd Mayweather, Wayne Newton, Marie Osmond, Albert Reed, and Jane Seymour.

In Dancing with the Stars, each celebrity is paired with a professional dancer who will teach them some fancy footwork in preparation for their weekly performance. After the performance, there are three judges who usually give brief critiques and cast their votes. Viewer participation is highly encouraged as viewers are allowed to cast their votes for their favorite star online or by phone.

Full Article »

So you’ve read the entire Harry Potter series, but did you know that author J.K. Rowling drew much of her inspiration from myths and stories that existed before?

In a recent interview, Rowling shared that her inspiration for part of the most recent book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” came from a story “The Pardoner’s Tale” written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century as part of his collection, “The Canterbury Tales.” In The Pardoner’s Tale, three men set out to find and kill Death. Similarly, in the Deathly Hallows, there is a story of three brothers who succeeded in beating Death by crossing a river and as reward received gifts from him.

Full Article »

Who is Bao Xishun, you ask? You might know him as the tallest living man in the world. Bao Xishun, a mongolian herdsman was recognized in 2005 by the Guiness World Records as “The world’s tallest man alive”. He was born in Mongolia, China in 1951 and stands a reported 7′9″ tall. His family is said to be descended from the offspring of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368).

Bao Xishun claims to have been the same height as many kids while growing up. It wasn’t until the age of 16 when he experienced a sudden spurt of growth that shot him to his current height. Because of his abnormal height he developed rheumatism (painful conditions of muscles, tendons, joints, and bones) at a young age and is still undergoing daily medical treatments.

Full Article »

Ancient people can become new discoveries. This week, scientists and archaeologists studied a body found in Egypt in 1903 and discovered that it is actually the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s most powerful female pharaoh. This finding is being called the biggest Egyptian discovery since Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922.

Queen Hatshepsut became Pharaoh when her husband Pharaoh Thutmose II passed away after 13 years of rule. Thutmose’s son, Thutmose III, was too young to take the throne so Hatshepsut was put in place as the regent – a temporary ruler. Even as Thutmose became old enough to take the throne, Hatshepsut declared herself the real Pharaoh and continued her rule.

Full Article »

How much do you know about pirates? Have you just watched the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie? Have you read any other facts about pirates? Do you think that you are an expert on “Blackbeard”, “Captain William Kidd” or even “Captain Jack Sparrow”?

Try to see if you know the answers to these interesting pirate questions. But remember, there are still many unanswered questions about pirates. Ahoy Matey!

Full Article »