Where was the first artificial dam? The Jawa Dam in Jordan. Natural dams exist all over the world and can be formed by landslides or trees getting caught at a narrow point in a river. It wouldn’t be difficult for early people to see how it is possible to dam a river. However, until people […]
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Where did Jazz come from? It started in New Orleans in the 1890s. What is Jazz? The word “jazz” probably comes from “jasm”, a slang expression meaning pep or energy. Jazz started out as jas and didn’t become jazz until about 1916. That means jazz wasn’t really considered a separate style of music for almost
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Why is a strike called a “strike”? Because sailors in 1768 struck their ships. To strike a ship means to take off its topsail, making the ship incapable of movement. The word “stricken” comes from the same place. As in, the ship was stricken on the rocks. On a ship, the command to take down
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What is the oldest stone circle in the world? Probably the stone circles at Göbekli Tepe, which are almost 12,000 years old. A stone circle is literally a ring made of standing stones. There were many earth circles and wooden stake circles made as well, but they haven’t lasted as well as the stone circles.
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What is an anchorite? An anchorite or an anchoress were people who were walled into a small cell built into a church so that they could carry out a life of prayer and religious contemplation. Anchorites were men and anchoresses were women. The great majority of anchorites were actually women. Studies of the archives have
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How did the Vatican become a country? Benito Mussolini gave it to the Roman Catholic church in 1929. The Vatican is the world’s smallest country. It has a population of 453 people and is 0.44 square kilometers. That makes it about 2,500 times smaller than the city of Rome, which surrounds it. The Vatican is
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Why is there so much gold in Fort Knox? Because it is far enough away from any coast and is protected by the Appalachian Mountains. Fort Knox is famous worldwide for being the place where the United States keeps most of its gold. The building isn’t actually called Fort Knox. It is called the US
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When did April Fools’ Day start? No one knows. Although, most theories have it connected to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. The expression “April Fools’ Day” was first used in English in 1686. A British historian called John Aubrey first used it in his book “Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme”. This
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Was Ferdinand Magellan really the first person to circumnavigate the world? No, because he died about two-thirds into the journey. Ferdinand Magellan’s name was actually Magellan. He was born Fernão de Magalhães in Portugal, I n1480. He was born into nobility and he was a page of Queen Eleanor, the consort of King John II,
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Why does the USA use the dollar? Because, in the early days of the American colonies, the Spanish dollar was more prevalent than the British pound. There are twenty countries around the world that have a dollar as their currency. The symbol for the majority of them is the $ sign with possibly letters before
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