What caused the US dust bowl? The dust bowl was caused by a combination of factors including bad farming practices, drought, high winds, and the economy. The dust bowl was named in 1935 by a reporter called Robert Geiger, but it was a phenomenon that had started in 1930, with causes going back long before […]
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Why are there only the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal? There are only the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal because they are at the two points in the world where shipping distances can be greatly reduced. No other canal would make enough of a difference to be worth the price of building it.
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Where did Christmas trees come from? The idea for Christmas trees came from Germany in the 16th century. They were introduced into North America in the early 18th century, but they didn’t spread to England until the 19th century. The origins of having an evergreen tree, or part of one, in the house, go back
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Why did the war in Syria start? The Syrian war started because the President, Bashar al-Assad put down a peaceful demonstration with violence. The Syrian war started on 15th March 2011 and is still going on. So far, roughly 600,000 people have been killed, 300,000 of them civilians. 6.7 million people have no place to
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What happened at Roanoke? Roanoke was the first permanent English colony founded in North America and within 3 years all of the colonists had vanished. It is still a mystery. There are five basic theories. The colonists were killed by Native Americans. They were killed by the Spanish. They returned to England. They assimilated with
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What is a salt road? A salt road is a road that was used in ancient times to transport salt from where it was produced to where it was needed. We don’t think about salt so much these days. Maybe if our meal is a bit bland we might reach for the salt cellar and
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Why are the two Koreas still at war? The two Koreas are still at war because they didn’t sign a peace treaty in 1953 when the Korean War ended. Fighting could technically break out at any time, although it is fairly unlikely. The reason they didn’t sign a peace treaty is surprisingly because of the
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Why were coffeehouses important? Early coffee houses were important because they were a center for social interaction and the sharing of knowledge. It can be speculated that were it not for coffeehouses, several revolutions would not have happened, and the world would be much different to the way it is today. Coffee was discovered on
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Why are trousers / pants plural? Trousers and pants are plural because they used to be separated into left leg and right leg. Before we begin, people in the UK say trousers and people in the USA say pants and they both mean the same thing. However, all of the words have different origins. The
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Where did 0 come from? The concept of the modern zero was invented in India, but the idea of a placeholder for numbers was thought up by the Mesopotamians. We take the idea of the number 0 for granted. We use it regularly throughout the day (probably) and many of the things we use would
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