Did the Incas have the wheel? Although the Incas were very advanced and did in fact know about the concept of the wheel, they never developed it in practice. As to why Incas did not invent the wheel – a lot of things are not as ’obvious’ as they may…
Punxsutawney Phil emerged to some falling snow on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, and saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. Keep your fingers crossed, Phil has predicted an early spring two out of the last three years. Not surprisingly, that’s been a rarity over the event’s 136-year history.…
Punxsutawney Phil emerged to some falling snow on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, and saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. Keep your fingers crossed, Phil has predicted an early spring two out of the last three years. Not surprisingly, that’s been a rarity over the event’s 136-year history.…
Where did the families of the guard staff live? At any given time, there were about 300 civilians living on Alcatraz that included both women and children. The primary living areas for families were Building #64, three apartment buildings, one large duplex, and four large wooden houses for senior officers.…
During the reign of Chandragupta II, Gupta Empire maintained a large army consisting of 500,000 infantry, 50,000 cavalry, 20,000 charioteers and 10,000 elephants along with a powerful navy with more than 1200 ships. Why is the Gupta empire important? The Gupta Dynasty promoted Hinduism, but supported Buddhist and Jain cultures…
The Gupta emperors, unlike many other monarchs of the time, did not claim supernatural authority to rule. Law and tradition were considered supreme authorities in government. The law was a compilation of sacred code, custom, and the opinion of the sages. Gupta dynasty, rulers of the Magadha (now Bihar) state…
It took 13 rangers, a hydraulic jack, and a winch to remove the boulder, which might not have been possible with the rest of Ralston’s body in there too. The arm was cremated and returned to Ralston. Six months later, on his 28th birthday, he returned to the slot canyon…
Both federal and local government struggled to enforce Prohibition over the course of the 1920s. Enforcement was initially assigned to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and was later transferred to the Justice Department and the Bureau of Prohibition, or Prohibition Bureau. The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the…
Four of the five transcontinental railroads were built with assistance from the federal government through land grants. How did 19th-century government land grants to the railroads work? Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 to finance the transcontinental railroads. Twenty alternating sections (checkerboards) were granted to rail companies on…
Even though they did not play a significant role in New York’s decision to ratify the Constitution, the Federalist Papers remain an important collection today because they offer insight into the intentions of key individuals who debated the elements of the Constitution. The Federalist Papers is a collection of 85…