Milestones in the History of Ancient Greece

1. The Rise and Fall of the Minoans (3000-1500BC) – Minoans were the forerunners of the Greeks.
2. The Mycenean Hiatus – This is the Period when the Trojan War took place. The stuff that legends are made up of.
3. Invasion by the Doric Greeks – Although they would set up the foundations for Classical Greeks the Dorians were originally viewed as barbarians. Talk about improving your image.
4. Colonization of Asia Minor – The Greeks colonized modern Turkey. The Turks would make up for this by colonizing the Greek Peninsula almost two millennia later.
5. The Birth of Western Philosophy – nobody can accuse the Greeks of apathy toward knowledge even if some of their theories were way off the mark.
6. The Emergence of the City States – Dawning of the Classical Period – This is the Greece most of us are aware of. Romanticized but palatable.
7. The Persian Wars – The Greeks had to slug it out with the powerful Persian Empire before they could be deemed masters of the Mediterranean.
8. The Age of the Playwright – Some say that Shakespeare, Shaw and O’Neill would be nothing with out Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristpphanes. The Greeks turned the play into an art form.
9. The Golden Age of Pericles – The Golden Age of Greece when the Philosopher king Pericles ran Athens.
10. The Peloponnesian Wars – Athens v Sparta or the Geeks vs the Jocks. No happy ending here as the Jocks win.
11. Macedonian Emergence – A new type of barbarian takes control. No surprise in that it too comes from the North.
12. The Conquests of Alexander the Great – The most Brilliant military commander of the time. Alexander makes short work of his opponents especially the Persians.
13. The Hellenic Period – Greek culture spreads in the post-Alexander era. After the Empire is divided amongst the Macedonian ruler’s generals.
14. Fall to Rome – Greeks are toppled by an old enemy: Rome. Legendary descendants of the Trojans
15. Christianization of the Greeks – Its goodbye to the Olympian pantheon as the Greeks embrace Christianity.

Key Events in Spanish History

These are in my opinion the key events in Spanish history (not in chronological order)

1. Moorish rule and the mixing of the cultures.
2. Rise of the Christian Kingdoms in the 11th, 12 and 13th centuries.
3. The Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Unification of Castille and Aragon.
4. The Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.
5. Charles V becomes Joint Habsburg and Spanish Empire.
6. The Final Defeat of the Moors in 1492. Last Moor stronghold in Granada collapses.
7. Invasion by the Visigoths during Roman times.
8. Age of Discovery and the conquest of South and Central America in the 16th century.
9. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
10. Loss of Colonies in South and Central America in the 1820's and 1830's.
11. Loss of the Spanish Armada (1588).
12. The Carlist War of the 19th century.
13. Financial Collapse in the 17th century.
14. Defeating Napoleon in the Peninsula War (with English assistance).
15. Death of Franco and the coming of Democracy in 1976.
16. The rise and fall of Roman power in Spain.
17. War of the Spanish Succession and the Rise of the Bourbons.
18. Charles V abdicates and hands over power to his son Philip II.
19. 80 Year War with the Dutch in the 16th And 17th century. Leads to Dutch independence from Spain.
20. Loss of the Rock of Gibraltar to the British.

Useful websites on Ancient Rome

http://www.legionxxiv.org/history/
Has a neat name - tons of info

http://www.roman-empire.net/children/history.html
A worthwhile intro site for the novice

http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/asbook09.html
Heavy on the information - but certainly worth a visit.

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/history/fall.htm
More insight for the junior mind

http://www.historywiz.com/anc-rome.htm
Another locale for the history junkie

Ancient Hebrew Quiz 1

Ancient Hebrews I

1. Who was Adam and Eve’s third son?
2. Who was Methusalah’s father?
3. Name eight of Joseph’s eleven brothers?
4. What nationality was Laban?
5. Who are the four mothers of the Jewish people?
6. What was the name of the wealthy businessman who bought Joseph as a slave?
7. Who were Moses’ father and mother?
8. Who were Joseph’s two sons?
9. From which nation was Moses’s wife from?
10. What fell from heaven when the Hebrews complained to god about the manna?
11. Who was the mother of Ishmael?
12. How old was Abraham when he was circumsised?
13. What was the name of the cave that Abraham purchased for his family burials?
14. Who was the only matriarchial figure not buried in this cave?
15. In which town is this cave located?

Answers to Ancient Hebrews I

1. Seth
2. Enoch
3. Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, Issacher, Judah, Levi, Naphtali, Reuben, Simon, and Zebulen.
4. Syrian
5. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.
6. Potiphar
7. Avram and Jochebed.
8. Ephraim and Manasseh.
9. Midianites
10. Quail - Maybe they should not have complained so quickly.
11. Hagger
12. 99
13. Cave of Machpelah.
14. Rachel
15. Hebron

The Democrat Party - Support for Slavery

Reprinted Courtesy of: Intellectual Conservative
Author: Robert Oliver


Before the Civil War, the Democrat Party was united in its support for slavery. After the war, Democrats founded the Ku Klux Klan, established Jim Crow Laws, and repeatedly defeated anti-lynching and other federal legislation that became necessary in order to dismantle Democrat-created segregation in South.


There is a saying – “God cannot change the truth.”

I’m an African-American political independent. The purpose of this article is not to debate the merits of belonging to a certain political party nor to pursue political converts. The purpose is to clarify history and to ask, does the Democratic Party owe African-Americans an apology for past support of slavery and racism?

February is Black History Month. Sometimes Black History needs clarification. For example, a friend told me that an African-American employee in his New York City office thought that President Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat. Another African-American friend, a former liaison between the Democrats in the California State Legislature and the Clinton White House, as well as a campaigner for Bill Clinton’s presidency, thought that the slave owners in the Old South were all Republicans. He thought that the worst Democrat was better than the best Republican. I was even told that an African-American woman in Illinois actually thought that it was illegal for a Black person to vote Republican! Based on that sampling, is it possible that a vast number of African-Americans are laboring under similar false beliefs about Democrats and Republicans?

For the full article go to:

http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2008/02/18/should-the-democratic-party-apologize-for-supporting-slavery

Sad news on British History

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204/od_afp/britainpeoplehistoryoffbeat

LONDON (AFP) - Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

History of Boxing Quiz

1. Who wrote the rules on which Modern Boxing is based?
2. Which famous boxer’s real name was Walker Smith?
3. What was the nickname of Tommy Hearns?
4. His nickname was ‘Boom Boom’. Who was he?
5. Put the following boxers in chronological order (earliest to latest) taking into account the first time they won the World Heavyweight Crown: Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Floyd Patterson, and Ezzard Charles?
6. How many times did Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier meet in the rink?
7. What does the IBFstand for?
8. Who did Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali beat to win each of his three World Heavyweight Titles?
9. Who was South Africa’s only heavyweight boxing champion?
10. Put the folowing divisions in order from lightest to heaviest weight: Bantamweight, Featherweight and Flyweight.?
11. Which boxer ended Larry Holmes’ unbeaten run?
12. Who is considered as Boxing’s First Heavyweight Champion?
13. How did Rocky Marciano die?
14. This Panamanian fighter was probably Sugar Ray Leonard’s greatest rival. Who was he?
15. Who dethroned Mike Tyson as Heavyweight Champion in 1990?

Answers to Boxing History

1. Sir John Sholto Douglas, 8th Marquis of Queensberry.
2. Sugar Ray Robinson.
3. The Hitman or the Detroit Hitman.
4. Ray Mancini.
5. Jack Dempsey (1919), Gene Tunney (1926), Joe Louis (1937), Ezzard Charles (1949), and Floyd Patterson (1956).
6. Three times. Ali won two and lost one. The third fight was the renowned ‘Thriller in Manila’.
7. International Boxing Federation. One of several governing bodies. The other governing bodies of boxing are the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA), and the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
8. Sonny Liston (1964), George Foreman (1974), and Leon Spinks (1978).
9. Gerrie Coetzee (1983 - WBA Champion).
10. Flyweight, Bantamweight, and Featherweight.
11. Michael Spinks.
12. John L Sullivan.
13. He was killed in a plane crash in 1969. Marciano fought 49 fights during his professional carreer, winning all of them (43 by knockout). He was nicknamed the ‘Rock from Brockton’.
14. Roberto Duran.
15. James ‘Buster’ Douglas.