Just the Facts I - Mesopotamia

Location: In the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Mesopotamia means the 'land between the rivers'. An alternative name for the civilization is Sumer (means 'cultivated land').

Key Crops grown: Wheat and Barley

Early Beginnings: 4000-3000BC - Migration of Semitic and Indo-European groups into region. Although settlements such as Ur are thought to have been founded in 6000BC.

Main Cities (Early Stage): Ur, Uruk, Umma, Lagash, Kish, Nippur and Adab. Ur is the city mentioned in Genesis where it is described as the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham.

Key Features of Society: Temple Economy - ruler/king administered lands on behalf of gods. The ruler was responsible for distribution of food. Central graion silos were vital to the economy.
Mespotamian cities were known for their diverse array of artisans abd craftsmen.

Other Important facts

• An important literary work associated with the early Mesopotamians is the Epic of Gilgamesh. For more on the Epic go to http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/.
• Lugalzaggesi, king of Umma, is one of the more significant rulers of the civilization. He conquered Lagash, Uruk and Adab but was defeated by Sargon I of Akkad, thus ending his dream of uniting Mesopotamia.
• The kingdom of Akkad was founded by Sargon of Agade in 2334. The word Sargon means 'legitimate king'.
• Sargon's kingdom would eventually spread into Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). He is also credited with smashing the dominance of Uruk. The following site contains an extract of an Akkadian father giving advice to his son (reminds me of Polonius and Laertes in Hamlet) - http://history-world.org/advice_of_an_akkadian_father_to_.htm
• One title held by Sargon was 'King of the Four Corners'.
• Akkad fell in 2250 a time that coincided with the emergence of the Guti mountain people.
• Ur (ruled by the Third Dynasty) was the dominant city in the 22nd century BC but it collapsed as a power in the wake of the Elam invasions. For more on the Elam (Early Iranians) go to http://www.iranchamber.com/history/elamite/elamite.php
• The Mesopotamians had many deities. Some of the more well known ones are: Enki (water/wisdom), Enlil (wind/air), Ninhursag (motherhood) and An (father/sky). For a list of Mespotamian deities and their Babylonian equivalents check out http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Mesochart.html
• The type of writing introduced by the Sumerians was Cuneiform - that used a system of pictographs. A blunt reed (stylus) was used to depict the pictographs on a clay tablet. The site http://www.mythome.org/cuniformdevelopment.html has some very useful information on the evolution of this earlier writing style.

An Alternative Early History of WWII

1940 – Hitler order Panzer division to attack British Troops at Dunkirk. A German victory sees the surrender of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force). Germans initiate Operation Sea Lion – the invasion of the UK.

October 1940 - Pro-German groups in the US urge Roosevelt to cut ties with the UK. He refuses.

December 1940 – Germans invade Britain. Italy with Arab support strike at British possessions in North Africa.

January 1941 – German forces land in Kent. They encounter stiff resistance from English Home guard but advance to London.

February 1941 – London falls to German troops. US pledges to support British government. Oswald Mosely is put in charge of pro-Nazi puppet government. Churchill chosen to head what is left of the British government. He will organize resistance to Germany from base in Northern town of Oldham.

March 1941 – Persecution of British Jews in the London area begins. Oswald Mosely is assassinated by a British resistance figure. Germans pound Oldham, Manchester and Liverpool demanding the surrender of Churchill’s government. Scottish forces and Geordie irregulars beat back a German tank advance.

April 1941 – Roosevelt fails to win Congressional support for a US Expeditionary force to help out the Brits. Birmingham and Coventry now under German control.

May 1941 – American ‘Firsters’ demand a presidential recall of Roosevelt. To which they succeed. Roosevelt chastised for ‘backing a sinking ship’. Republicans win recall vote. Roosevelt government collapses. ? elected President. John Foster Dulles chosen as secretary of state. US in crisis. Dulles negotiates anti-communist pact with Germans. Offers to withdraw US support for Churchill-led British government in exchange for American involvement in the new German order.

Germans launch a sea attack onto Scotland from bases in Norway. Scotland falls in mid June (Surrender of Glasgow).

July 1941 – Churchill’s government falls. Germans now in control of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Northumbria. Churchill flees to South Africa where he is greeted by Smuts. He will eventually settle in New Zealand.

October 1941 – Spain joins war effort on the side of the Axis. Franco’s presence in North Africa takes pressure off German troops in the region.

November 1941 – Ukrainian revolts (encouraged by the Germans) are savagely put down by the Stalinist regime.

Us Civil War Quiz I

1. Which was the first state to secede from the Union?
2. Who was President of the Confederacy?
3. In which city was the First White House of the Confederacy located?
4. Who was the greatest naval figure to emerge from the war?
5. Which ship sunk the Merrimac?
6. Why did Robert E. Lee side with the Confederacy?
7. Which noted abolitionist founded The New York Tribune?
8. Which city was the site of a major battle fought on July 22, 1864 ?
9. Which General was known as ‘Fighting Joe’?
10. Who said, “It is well that war is so terrible - we should grow too fond of it?”
11. How many men died in the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter?
12. Which General was described as Robert E.Lee’s war horse?
13. Which city in Virginia was General Grant’s headquarters from 1864-1865?
14. What were ‘Popskull’ and ‘Rifle Rock Knee’?
15. With which side did the Five Civilized tribes ally with?

Answers to U.S. Civil War I

1. South Carolina.
2. Jefferson Davis.
3. Montgomery, Alabama.
4. David Farragut.
5. The Monitor. It beat the Merrimac at the Battle of Hampton Roads in Virginia.
6. He could not bare to take up arms against his home state, Virginia.
7. Horace Greeley.
8. Atlanta
9. General Joseph Hooker.
10. Robert E. Lee.
11. Although this event initiated the war, there were no casualties on either side.
12. The Confederate General James Longstreet.
13. Hopewell
14. Civil War terms for ‘liquor’.
15. The Confederacy.

Disasters Quiz

Name or describe the disaster from the date given:

1. January 28, 1986.
2. March 27, 1977.
3. May 6, 1937.
4. April 15, 1911.
5. February 6, 1958.
6. December 21, 1987.
7. Which river flooded its banks killing 900,000 people in October 1887?
8. Which type of disaster struck Hong Kong on September 18, 1906?
9. What was the name of the hurricane that hit Central America in late 1998, causing 9745 deaths?
10. Why is Chelabinsk, Russia notorious?
11. What did 1426 people die in Saudi Arabia of in a 1991 disaster?
12. What happened in Ramstein, Germany on August 28, 1988?
13. This European city is the largest city at present to be threatened by a volcano?
14. This Asian country has the worst road fatality rate. What is it?
15. Two hundred and twenty-two people died in Sinceljo, Colombia when a stand collapsed. What sport were the people watching?

Answers to Disasters
1. Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger 51L.
2. Collision of two Boeing 747, one operated Pan Am the other by KLM on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport, Canary Islands. Five hundred and eighty-three people were killed. This is the largest air accident of all-time.
3. Hindenburg Airship Disaster.
4. The S.S. Ttitanic sunk.
5. Munich Air Disaster. A plane carrying the Manchester United Soccer Team and reporters crashes.
6. Ferry Dona Paz collided with the tanker Victor off the Philippines coast. In the worst ferry disaster ever.
7. The Yellow River.
8. A typhoon with winds up to 100 mph. Ten thousand people died.
9. Hurricane Mitch.
10. It is the most radioactive place on Earth. There have been three nuclear disasters in this area.
Five hundred thousand people in the region have been affected by radiation equivalent to Chernobyl.
11. A mass panic stampede in a tunnel between Mecca and Medina.
12. An airplane disaster at an air show. Three Italian jets collided, one jet exploded killing 70 people and injuring 400.
13. Naples
14. India. It has 1% of the world’s roads but 6% of its accidents.
15. Bullfighting (if it is indeed a sport).

Just my Opinion: 30 Most Important Events in Financial and Economic History

1. The invention of money by the Ancients and its replacement of the barter system
2. The Industrial Revolution and the Collapse of the Domestic Cottage Economy since the 18th century
3. Age of exploration and the Opening up of the New worlds
4. The Birth of Mercantilism in 17th century Europe
5. Invention of the discipline of Accountancy in Renaissance Italy
6. The Increase in Women in the Western World’s Workforce throughout the 20th century
7. Introduction of Income Tax by the British Government during the Napoleonic War
8. Collapse of the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929
9. Adam Smith documents the working of the market society
10. Derivation of the Law of Supply and Demand
11. Formation of the First Stock Exchange in Amsterdam c. 17th century
12. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels write the Communist Manifesto
13. Setting up of the First National Pension Plan – 19th Century Germany
14. Introduction of the First Credit Card (Diner’s Club)
15. Formation of the First Guilds and Trade Unions
16. Bretton Woods, the formation of the IMF and the beginning of GATT
17. Formation of the European Common Market
18. Movement on and off the Gold Standard by the various nations
19. The continuous complication of the Income Tax Acts in most Western Countries since WWII.
20. John Meynard Keynes makes the case for Government Intervention and Fiscal Policy
21. Invention of the Macroeconomic discipline of National Incoming Accounting
22. Milton Friedman makes the case for Monetary policy
23. The New Economy Revolution of the 1990s, Rise of the NASDAQ
24. Further Impoverishment of the Third World since the 1970s by the accumulation of debt
25. Development of the Theory of Rational Expectations
26. Signing of NAFTA and the Mercursor Nation Trade Agreements and the Globalization drive.
27. Period of Post Cold War Privatization
28. Alan Greenspan’s success in defeating inflation in the Western world
29. Period of Post World War II Industrial Nationalization
30. Era of Merger and Acquistion’s - 1980s and 1990s

1980s Quiz #2

1. In which Country did Joaquim Chissano become President in 1986?
2. This Company overtook Exxon as the largest corporation in the world in 1986. Which Company was this?
3. A government report in 1986 indicated that a hydrogen bomb was accidentally dropped near this City in New Mexico in 1957. Due to a stroke of luck nothing happened. Which City was this?
4. What are the English words for ‘glasnost’ and ‘perestroika’?
5. Troops from this Country entered West Beirut in 1987 to end warfare between the Druze and the Shiite militia. Which Country was this?
6. For whom did the U.S. Senate approve $40 million in aid in 1987?
7. This American Ship was hit by two Iraqi exocets in 1987. What was the name this Ship?
8. He landed a Cessna aircraft in Red Square, Moscow in 1987. Who was this man?
9. Why did Ronald Reagan visit Berlin in 1987 (during which he asked Mikhael Gorbachev to tear down the wall)?
10. In which Region of India was Direct Rule imposed in 1987?
11. U.S. Marine Guards at the U.S. Embassy in this City were accused of espionage. Which City was this?
12. E.F. Adams was elected Prime Minister of this Mediterranean Country in 1987. Which Country was this?
13. This Central American Leader was indicted by a U.S. Court in drug smuggling charges in 1988. Who was this man?
14. In which Country was Lt. Colonel William Higgins kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in 1988?
15. This U.S. Ship mistakingly shot down an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf causing 290 casualties. What was the name the Ship?

Answers to The 1980s

1. Mozambique. Following the death of Samora Machel in a plane accident.
2. General Motors.
3. Albuquerque
4. Openness and reconstruction.
5. Syria
6. Contra Rebels in Nicaragua.
7. The USS Stark.
8. Mathias Rust. A German teenager. He was jailed for four years, but freed in 1988.
9. To celebrate the 750th Anniversary of the Foundation of the City.
10. Punjab in an effort to weaken Sikh terrorism.
11. Moscow. They were accused of spying for the KGB.
12. Malta. He represented the Nationalist Party.
13. General Manuel Noriega.
14. Lebanon
15. The USS Vincennes.

Under the Thumb of.............

European Nations which have been controlled in historical times by other Powers.

Country ---- Controller Nation/s

Norway ---- Denmark/Sweden
Scotland ---- England
Ireland ---- England
Poland ---- Russia/France/Austria/Germany
Hungary ---- Austria
Portugal ---- Spain
Netherlands ---- Spain
Finland ---- Russia
Greece ---- Turkey
Serbia ---- Turkey
Northern Italy ---- Austria
Switzerland ---- Austria
Southern Italy ---- Spain
Belgium ---- Netherlands
Bulgaria ---- Turkey
Croatia ---- Austria
Armenia ---- Turkey
Czech Republic ---- Austria
Malta ---- England
Cyprus ---- England
Lithuania ---- Poland
Romania ---- Turkey
Slovenia ---- Austria
Slovakia ---- Austria
Montenegro ---- Serbia