I learned this today. Rasputin managed to gain so much influence over the tsar of Russia because he appeared able to cure the tsar’s son of his hemophilia. Rasputin was a peasant who managed to rise to become one of the most powerful people in Russia before and during World War 1. In the end […]
#176 How did Rasputin gain so much influence over Tsar Nicholas II of Russia? Read More »
I learned this today. Technically the first parachute jump was in 852. A man called Armen Firman, in Spain, jumped off a tower using a cloak as a parachute. Apparently, it did slow him down enough to avoid death and serious injury. Having a parachute seems obvious, but I am thinking from a world where
#175 When was the parachute invented? Read More »
I learned this today. New Delhi became the capital of India in 1911 because the previous capital Kolkata had become too politically unstable, and it was too far from the center of India to be an effective capital. India has an extremely long history and people first lived there 55,000 years ago. Over the millennia,
#174 How did New Delhi become the capital of India? Read More »
I learned this today. The UK finished paying its World War 2 debt on 29th December 2006 and its World War 1 debt on 9 March 2015. Fighting World War 1 and World War 2 cost the UK a lot more than they could have imagined. Even though they had an empire, they didn’t have
#169 When did the UK finish paying its World War 1 and 2 debts? Read More »
I learned this today. Russia didn’t think it would be able to defend Alaska from Britain, had no real reason to keep Alaska, didn’t want Britain as a neighbor, and needed the money, which is why they agreed to sell it. First, we need to go back a few hundred years in time to look
#164 Why did Russia sell Alaska to the United States? Read More »
I learned this today. The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th June 1914 started World War 1 because of a series of treaties that existed across Europe. It should be noted that the assassination didn’t cause the war. Because of the rising tensions in Europe, war was probably going to happen at some
#163 Why did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand start World War 1? Read More »
I learned this today. West Point is the United States Military Academy. It used to be a fort and is now the most famous military academy for officer training in America. There are 5 American service academies and West Point is the oldest. The others are the US Naval Academy, the US Air Force Academy,
#160 What is West Point? Read More »
I learned this today. Dinosaurs were able to grow so big because they had hollow bones, could get more nutrition out of less food, and they didn’t need to chew their food. The largest land animal today is the African elephant and they grow up to about 3m and weigh about 6 tons. The largest
#158 How could dinosaurs grow so big? Read More »
I learned this today. The first fire extinguisher was patented in 1723 by Ambrose Godfrey. For thousands of years, the only way to fight fire was to bring water to it. If you lived too far from a water source, then your house was going to burn down. Friends, family, or anyone available would rush
#157 When did we start using fire extinguishers? Read More »
I learned this today. Reuters is an international news agency that started in Germany 150 years ago. Reuters was started by Paul Julius Reuter in 1851 and he could have had no idea what he was starting. Paul Reuter was born in Germany as Israel Beer Josaphat. He moved to London in 1845 and changed
#155 What is Reuters? Read More »
