Why were alarm clocks the first consumer goods to stop being rationed during World War 2? Because, as you would expect, people couldn’t wake up in time to work. People have used many different methods to wake themselves up over the centuries. Some people relied on church bells. Some people used elaborate systems with candles […]
When were latitude and longitude invented? Latitude in about 600 BC and longitude in AD 1736. Latitude are the horizontal lines that measure your distance to the north or the south of the equator. Longitude are the vertical lines that measure your distance to the east or west of 0, which has been set as
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Why do we say north, east, south, and west? The cardinal directions north, east, south, and west came about because of the position of the sun in the sky. Nobody has any idea when the idea of cardinal directions came about. Early civilizations would have had no need for directions such as north and south
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Where did the circus come from? The modern circus was invented in 1768, but the idea of a show in an amphitheater goes back thousands of years. The word “circus” comes from Greek, through Latin into English. It simply means “ring” or “circle” and the Romans used them to show horse and chariot races, battle
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When did supermarkets start? The first supermarket was opened in 1916. Most of us don’t think twice about pushing a cart around a supermarket and then heading to the cash register to pay. However, that is a concept that is only slightly over 100 years old. A few changes in society had to happen before
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When were credit cards invented? The first use of the phrase “credit card” was in 1887. A credit card is a system whereby a customer can pay for goods using a line of credit from the credit card provider. The credit card provider basically pays for the goods upfront, and the customer reimburses the credit
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What are the crown jewels? The crown jewels are a collection of 142 objects, many are used in ceremonies such as the coronation. The Crown Jewels are made up of 13 crowns, 6 swords, 6 sceptres, 16 trumpets, 13 maces, 3 robes, 3 rings, 3 coronets, 2 orbs, 1 spoon and bottle, and lots of
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How did the Polynesians navigate? They used star compasses, maps of waves made using sticks, clouds, the color of the sky, and birds. From about 5,000 years ago, groups of people started to spread out from Taiwan into South East Asia. These were the people we call Polynesians. By 1200 AD, they had spread across
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What was the Carrington Event? It was the largest ever geomagnetic storm in recorded history? The Carrington Event lasted from the 1st to the 2nd of September 1859. It was observed by an amateur astronomer called Richard Christopher Carrington; hence its name, and it was caused by a very bright solar flare. From August of
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How did the Black Death change society? It ended serfdom and slavery, improved worker conditions, brought a recession, harmed religion, increased antisemitism, improved medical practice, improved women’s rights, and changed the world of art and fashion. There were three major plagues, but let’s look at the middle one, the one that is most famous. It
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