The history of railways goes back a long time. Evidence has been found to support the existence of wheeled vehicles which were pulled by horses and men way back in the time of the Roman Empire. There used to be grooves in the limestone roads which did not allow the wagons to go off track.

The 1550s saw the development of ‘Wagonways’ in Europe where wooden rails were used to transport tubs of ore from mines. Tramways were also found some time later as the next step of the wagonway tracks.

Vasco da Gama, a legendary sea farer was born at Sines, province of Alemtejo, Portugal. Like his father, he also served the King John II of Portugal who sent him to the port of Setubal in 1492 to retaliate against French ships that encroached on Portuguese waters and shipping lanes.

It was around that time, that much of legwork to find a sea route to India was completed by Bartholomew Dias and Pedro Corvilhao who had not only gone around the Cape of Good Hope but has sailed all the way to East Africa. Portuguese were searching a sea route to India, whose highly valued spices promised wealth to European traders. They had also met Arab merchants who regularly traded to India and learned the sea route to India. This set the stage for King John II to explore the possibility of Portuguese discovering a new sea route to India and thereby expand the tradewhich was the monopoly of Arab traders. King John II was succeeded by King Manuel in 1495 and da Gama was sent by him to find a sea route to India. After confessing and receiving absolution after the manner of those going to their death, Vasco da Gama and his companions set out with four ships on July 8, 1497.

Inspired by religion, mythology, and even art, many of the ancient civilizations took on these seven imposingly magnificent projects between the years 2700 BC to 270 BC. However, only the ancient Egyptian Pyramids at Giza has survived the test of time. Earthquakes, conquests, fires and the ravages of time are perhaps the main reasons why the other ancient monuments do not exist today.

The ancient Romans and Greeks are said to have originally initiated making the ‘7 wonders list’, maybe as a kind of ancient travel guide. Who knows?

The ancient Greek theaters developed through the ceremonial worship of the then God Dionysus and were always communal in nature. The Greek drama or theater is a tradition that flourished greatly between in c. 600 and c. 200 BC in ancient Greece. Athens, the political and military power city of Greece was the epicenter of the ancient Greek theatrical tradition. Athenian comedy, tragedy and satyrs have been recorded as some of the earliest forms of theater to emerge in the world. Yes, Greek plays and theater have indeed had a strong impact on the Western culture and drama.

Early tradition claims that theater in Athens evolved from various festivals that were related to the cult of Dionysus who is the Greek God of fertility and wine. This is probably accurate information, since drama in Athens occurred during the Dionysia, which is the annual festival that honors Dionysus.

China is one of the oldest continuous civilizations of the world. It has been accepted that it was in 221 BC that China became unified under a large empire or kingdom.

 

Daily Life in Ancient China
The Chinese civilization has been considered to be an advanced one. In ancient China everyday life consisted of pottery, baking and farming with silk making a little later. As the various dynasties changed over the century, people’s interest in science and philosophy too changed.

Dragons in Ancient China
The dragons are Chinese mythical creatures that are depicted as long, scaled and snake like creatures with five claws. These dragons have been symbol of auspicious power in the Chinese folklore and art. Traditionally, the dragons are also the embodiment of the yang (male) and is associated with the weather are the bringer of rain and water in China which is an agriculturally water driven nation. The female counterpart is known as the Fenghuang.

Germany is famous for the contributions the country has made to the world, from the first pocket watch in the world, to cars like the Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and the BMW, to the first jet engine, motorcycle, diesel engine, and petrol engine, to the classical musicians like Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss, Wagner, and Schumann, to philosophers like Nietzsche, Hegel, Kant, Marx, Leibniz, and Heidegger, to other famous people like Albert Einstein, Marlene Dietrich, Bertolt Brecht, Boris Becker, Erich Maria Remarque, Konrad Zuse, Levi Strauss, Rudolf Diesel… And, of course, one of the most notorious of all in German and World history – Adolf Hitler.