When did exams start? Exams started in China in 605 AD. Modern schools, universities, and other educational institutions have complex systems of examinations. The purpose of them is to rank students, decide if people pass or fail, see if schools are teaching successfully, see if students are learning successfully, and many other reasons. There are […]
#1053 When did exams start? Read More »
When was the wheel invented? The wheel was invented in roughly 4200 BC, over 6,700 years ago. I have toyed with whether “invented” might be the wrong word to use here. “Discovered” might be better because there are many round things that naturally exist in the world. However, I think we can safely go with
#1046 When was the wheel invented? Read More »
Why is Mexico City sinking? Mexico City is sinking because they are pumping more water out of the underground aquifer than can be replaced. Mexico City is the capital of Mexico, and it has a population of almost 22 million people, which is over 17% of the population of Mexico. Since the beginning of the
#1045 Why is Mexico City sinking? Read More »
Why is breakdancing called breakdancing? Breakdancing was dancing that filled a break in the music. Breakdancing is generally only called breakdancing by the general public. People who breakdance are called breakers, or break-boy (b-boy) and break-girl (b-girl). Breakdancing is a type of dance, but b-boys and b-girls live a lifestyle which has a culture of
#1040 Why is breakdancing called breakdancing? Read More »
Manor, mansion, villa, stately home or hall? They are all words that describe a large, expensive house, but they have slightly different origins. A manor is a British term now, but the tradition of manors comes from all over western Europe, having started in Rome. The word comes from the Latin “manere”, which meant remain,
#1038 Manor, mansion, villa, stately home or hall? Read More »
What languages became English? A Germanic language brought by the Anglo-Saxons, then Norse brought by the Scandinavian Vikings, and then French brought by the Normans. No language really has a starting point, but you can often see the languages that combined to make them. For example, French, Italian, and Spanish all evolved from Latin, which
#1034 What languages became English? Read More »
Why are mince pies called mince pies and why are puddings called puddings? Mince pies are called mince pies because they used to contain minced meat (ground beef) and puddings are called puddings because they used to be encased in some kind of skin and steamed. Mince pies are a traditional food eaten at Christmas
#1031 Why are mince pies called mince pies and why are puddings called puddings? Read More »
What is the Mercator projection? It is a map projection that tries to put the countries from a sphere onto a rectangle. Almost all world maps you see, and all of the ones we learned about at school, use the Mercator projection. Because of this, we all have a distorted view of how big countries
#1029 What is the Mercator projection? Read More »
What were punks rebelling against? They were rebelling against the establishment, the commercialization of music, hippie culture, and the general economic hardship in the UK and Europe. The word punk probably started as an insult that the punk movement took control of and owned. Punk meant “something worthless”, “inferior”, “bad”, “a worthless person”, and “a
#1028 What were punks rebelling against? Read More »
Why did the Louvre become a museum and art gallery? It was decided that the Louvre Palace should become an art gallery during the French Revolution. There is some argument as to why the Louvre is called the Louvre. There are four competing theories. It could be because the Louvre was built on an area
#1026 Why did the Louvre become a museum and art gallery? Read More »
