History - Digest

Mayans Calendar To The End Of The World

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:21:16 GMT

History : Mayans Calendar To The End Of The World

The

Maya

calendar

is a system of distinct calendars and almanacs used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and by some modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala.

These calendars can be synchronized and interlocked, their combinations giving rise to further, more extensive cycles. The essentials of the Maya calendric system are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 6th century BC. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec, and contemporary or later ones such as the Mixtec and Aztec calendars. Although the Mesoamerican calendar did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements of it were the most sophisticated. Along with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best-documented and most completely understood.

By the Maya mythological tradition, as documented in Colonial Yucatec accounts and reconstructed from Late Classic and Postclassic inscriptions, the deity Itzamna is frequently credited with bringing the knowledge of the calendar system to the ancestral Maya, along with writing in general and other foundational aspects of Maya culture.

The most important of these calendars is one with a period of 260 days. This 260-day calendar was prevalent across all Mesoamerican societies, and is of great antiquity (almost certainly the oldest of the calendars). It is still used in some regions of Oaxaca, and by the Maya communities of the Guatemalan highlands. The Maya version is commonly known to scholars as the Tzolkin, or Tzolk'in in the revised orthography of the Academia de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala.[2] The Tzolk'in is combined with another 365-day calendar (known as the Haab, or Haab' ), to form a synchronized cycle lasting for 52 Haabs, called the Calendar Round. Smaller cycles of 13 days (the trecena) and 20 days (the veintena) were important components of the Tzolk'in and Haab' cycles, respectively.

A different form of calendar was used to track longer periods of time, and for the inscription of calendar dates (i.e., identifying when one event occurred in relation to others). This form, known as the Long Count, is based upon the number of elapsed days since a mythological starting-point.[3] According to the correlation between the Long Count and Western calendars accepted by the great majority of Maya researchers (known as the GMT correlation), this starting-point is equivalent to August 11, 3114 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar or 6 September in the Julian calendar (−3113 astronomical). ...

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strange facts in history

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:51:07 GMT

History : strange facts in history

The condom was invented in the early 1500's, and was originally made of linen.
In England and the American colonies they year 1752 only had 354 days. In that year, the type of calendar was changed, and 11 days were lost The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung and was used by the Egyptians in 2000 BC. The shortest war there has ever been was between Britain and Zanzibar during 1896. It lasted for a pathetic 38 minutes.

The Hundred Year War actually lasted for 116 years from 1337 to 1453.
Everyone in the Middle Ages believed -- as Aristotle had -- that the heart was the seat of intelligence.
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In 200 BC, when the Greek city of Sparta was at the height of its power there were 20 slaves for every citizen.

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Faster Rise of A Civilization

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:43:58 GMT

History : Faster Rise of A Civilization

I have read history of many civilizations: greek, roman, egyptians, etc. what I saw most amazing was the rise of Islamic civilization. Muhammad started a single person in Makkah, after 13 years went to Medina and built a city state, only 13 years after that from one city, his followers went and people of whole Arabic peninsula, syria and Iraq became Muslims..and then only few years afterwards african north became Muslim. it is not only amazing to observe the fast rise, but also the adherence of these people to this civilization, all other civilizations rise and die, but this one seems to rise, stop, fall but never die.

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History of Internet .)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:15:49 GMT

History : History of Internet .)

Quote:

Before the widespread internetworking that led to the Internet, most communication networks were limited by their nature to only allow communications between the stations on the network, and the prevalent computer networking method was based on the central mainframe computer model. Several research programs began to explore and articulate principles of networking between separate physical networks, leading to the development of the packet switching model of digital networking. These research efforts included those of the laboratories of Donald Davies (NPL), Paul Baran (RAND Corporation), and Leonard Kleinrock's MIT and UCLA.The research led to the development of several packet-switched networking solutions in the late 1960s and 1970s,[1] including ARPANET and the X.25 protocols. Additionally, public access and hobbyist networking systems grew in popularity, including unix-to-unix copy (UUCP) and FidoNet. They were however still disjointed separate networks, served only by limited gateways between networks. This led to the application of packet switching to develop a protocol for inter-networking, where multiple different networks could be joined together into a super-framework of networks. By defining a simple common network system, the Internet protocol suite, the concept of the network could be separated from its physical implementation. This spread of inter-network began to form into the idea of a global inter-network that would be called 'The Internet', and this began to quickly spread as existing networks were converted to become compatible with this. This spread quickly across the advanced telecommunication networks of the western world, and then began to penetrate into the rest of the world as it became the de-facto international standard and global network. However, the disparity of growth led to a digital divide that is still a concern today.

Following commercialisation and introduction of privately run Internet Service Providers in the 1980s, and its expansion into popular use in the 1990s, the Internet has had a drastic impact on culture and commerce. ...

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do you believe official history book?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:44:15 GMT

History : do you believe official history book?

do you believe official history book?
if without official history book,how people can know true history? can people really know true history?

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Why do people want so much land? in india

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:35:15 GMT

History : Why do people want so much land? in india

It seems that all the rulers try to gain more land, but why? Wouldn't it be easier to control a small piece of land than a big one?i believe land is the source of resources which are the source of money which is the source of power.

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The stolen generation???

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:32:21 GMT

History : The stolen generation???

If we see inhistory there has been numerous atrocities and most have ben regarded as atrocities only after the have been done and ususllly a generation later. i see something similar to this in the case of stolen generation which was perpetrated by Australia. Actaully there was a great hue and cry about the applogy that was given bythe Australaian PM for have lifted aborgine children from theier parents. A lot of people said that the apology was not necessary. and there was also a claim for money by at least one person and the govt paid
No this may set a precedent and there may be several payments by the govt
What I want to say here is that there are not many atrocities that have been apologised for by the govt and hence this one makes it special
Austalia is moving into the next generation of the new world order
You comments and views on this issue is welcome

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Do you have some favorite medieval castles?

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:25:11 GMT

History : Do you have some favorite medieval castles?

Do you have some favorite medieval castles? Share them here

I like medieval castles of the early Gothic period of the Polish region of Pomerania. My favorites are:

Malbork Castle - the seat of the Teutonic state. Later it became the property of Polish kings. It is one of the most imposing defensive structures in the world, a unique monument of the class of zero. Built at the end of XIII century on the right bank of the Vistula rozwidlonej - - Nogat, stronghold became the seat of great masters. It covers an area of 21 hectares and is surrounded by high and thick walls. It was a powerful fortress so that the state capital of the Teutonic Knights moved from Venice to Malbork it.
(photo : http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/LPIPOD/BN16_8~Teutonic-castle-of-Malbork-at-sunset-Malbork-Poland-Posters.jpg)

Castle Pomezanian chapter in Kwidzyn (Photos and history - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwidzyn unfortunally there no good pictures of this castles in Internet )

The building modeled on the Teutonic Knights' castles. Krużgankowym with four internal courtyard. The corners are accented square towers, with the exception of north-eastern corner., Where the main tower stands high, which is also a cathedral bell. ...

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Forgotten Personalities of WWII

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:39:36 GMT

History : Forgotten Personalities of WWII

I am in the process of writing a book about individuals who for better or worse played a role in World War II but have been for the most part overlooked by history.

These are people good or bad who in some way should have made a mark on history.

Some examples include:

Dr. LTC Harold Alexander - Discovered that many of the deaths following an air raid on Bari, Italy was as a result of mustard gas stored on one of the American ships which was hit by the NAZIs.

Jimmy Baker - Enlisted in the Marines at age twelve. Later discharged.

Paul Carbonne - Corsican criminal in Marseille, France who collaborated with the NAZIs in exchange for protection of their criminal enterprises.

Paul Cole - British Thief, Con-man and deserter.

Velvalee Dickenson - American who was convicted of spying for the Japanese

David Frankfurter - Best known for assassinating Swiss NAZI Willhelm Gustloff.

Werner Goering - Nephew of Herman Goering who was an American bomber pilot.

Yoshiko Kawashima - Manchu princess who served as a spy for the Japanese.

Stella Kubler - Jewish woman who assisted the NAZIs in rounding up Jews.

James Monti - American pilot who defected to the Germans and later served them on propaganda broadcasts.

Sean Russell - IRA Chief of Staff who worked with the Abwehr.

Anyway I think you get the idea. My request is that if anyone who reads this can think of any names to add to the list or reference materials that may be of aid I would greatly appreciate a reply.

This is just a small taste of the hundreds of names I've collected and only very brief examples of the biographical information I have on each. Anyway any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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Mahatma 's "Ahimsa " theory !

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:37:58 GMT

History : Mahatma 's "Ahimsa " theory !

The world appreciates the "ahimsa " (non violence ) theory for protest and in general popularized by "MAHATMA GANDHI" , do we recall some of the greats from other parts of the world , who have gestured few words of appreciation or influence of his theory on them ?

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History Detectives (TV Show)

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:37:34 GMT

History : History Detectives (TV Show)

Does anyone else watch the PBS TV show History Detectives?

They had an interesting episode last night about the Black Tom explosion of 1916. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/

The Black Tom explosion was a act of terrorism committed during World War One by the German government, but that was covered up by the Woodrow Wilson administration who claimed it was an accident rather then German sabotage. He did this to ensure he would be reelected as he was running on an anti-war campaign.

The truth was revealed 9 years after the incident.

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George Bush

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:40:24 GMT

History : George Bush

How do you think History will judge George Bush's presidency? Will he go down as someone who helped set up democracy in middle east? or as an oppressor of other peoples cultures and values.

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Selamat Hari Malaysia

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:03:50 GMT

History : Selamat Hari Malaysia

Today is Malaysia Day. Is anyone on here celebrating this historical day? Here's a quote from Wikipedia regarding it, and it's history:

Malaysia Day is held on September 16 every year to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on the same date in 1963. It marked the joining together of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia. The formation of the new federation was planned to occur on June 1, 1963, but was later postponed to August 31, 1963, in order to coincide with the sixth Hari Merdeka. Several issues related to the Indonesian and the Filipino objection to the formation of Malaysia delayed the declaration to September 16 of the same year. The postponement was also done to allow the United Nations team time to conduct referendums in North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak regarding the two states participation in a new federation.

The formation of Malaysia was made possible through the introduction of the Malaysia Bill to the Malayan Parliament on July 9, 1963, and consent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on August 29, 1963.

Prior to the formation of Malaysia, Singapore and North Borneo unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom on August 31, 1963, thus coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the Malayan independence.

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Schools, history and learning

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:45:12 GMT

History : Schools, history and learning

Last week I was talking to someone in my adult learning class. she is over 20 and I had to explain to her what a swastika was, who the nazi party were and why that symbol isn't a really nice one. She had no clue. I got quite angry and asked 'di you go to highschool?' and she said she did but she didn't learn much.
I couldn't believe it.
Can it really be possible that a whole generation is graduating from school and they haven't learnt the basics of history???
I can't imagine not knowing these things?
This girl graduated highschool only three years ago.
What do ya think?

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Argentina's Dirty War 1976-1981

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:13:49 GMT

History : Argentina's Dirty War 1976-1981

Does anyone know more about the Dirty War in Argentina? It is said that about 30,000 people disappeared during the military junta of Jorge Rafael Videla. What concerns me is how difficult and long it took to bring those responsible for the attrocities to justice. They only really started with full-blown Government investigations in 2005 following also a pardon by President Menem in 1990, which cleared the convicted Generals. One good thing though is that the people who were fighting for justice, never gave up, even as late as 2008.

Quote:

Martínez de Perón was ousted in 1976. Starting that year, the juntas led by Videla until 1981, and then by Roberto Viola and Leopoldo Galtieri, were responsible for the illegal arrest, torture, killing or forced disappearance of thousands of people, primarily trade-unionists, students and activists. Videla's dictatorship referred to its systematized persecution of the Argentine citizenry as the "National Reorganization Process".

Up to 30,000 people "disappeared" during this time. Argentine security forces and death squads worked hand in hand with other South American dictatorships in the frame of Operation Condor. The democratic government that took office in 1983 prosecuted these crimes and made the unprecedent (and only Latin American example) Trial of the Juntas. Furthermore, in 2006 an Argentine court condemn the 1970s government's crimes as crimes against humanity and "genocide".

Quote:

In 1985, Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment at the military prison of Magdalena. ...

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The Mayans.

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:53:11 GMT

History : The Mayans.

(Branched off from a Universe Forum)Nearing the December 21st, 2012 Time Period, im sure many of you have heard of the Mayans. They predicticed the world would end on that date, and that also marks the End of their Calendar. At this point I just wan't to know the truth. I don't know how some ancient religion could be so advanced in Astronamy, but their Calendar has been Extremley accurate. I'm not an expert on this subject, but I do wish someone can inform me more on this topic, and help me know if the world will really end on 2012?

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Stupidest Military Action

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:09:07 GMT

History : Stupidest Military Action

I cannot believe how some nations took actions far beyond their capabilities without consideration for the consequences. Why did Japan attack the Americans in Pearl harbour? What possessed them to do that or (similarly) Why did Iraq march into Kuwait. Of course we are always wiser with hindsight but even so?
My order (Stupidest first)

Iraq marching into Kuwait
Japan attacking America in Pearl Harbour.

What other ones can YOU think of and what order?
I am talking about the Start of a war and not either an "offensive" DURING a war. Also I'm talking about Individual small countries invoking the wrath of a group of powerful countries or country.
SORRY I WAS NOT CLEAR ENOUGH SO I APPENDED THIS

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War & Research

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:47:22 GMT

History : War & Research

A friend and I had a debate recently. His point was that a country in war will do little research or production as its resources would necessarily be limited to the war effort and that only efforts related directly to the effort would be followed through on. Also, that all wartime research would be based solely on research done prior to the war, and that, even though there my be research done during war, it was limited to countries that were not in the conflict itself.

I countered, pointing out that, using WWII, Germany's production actually increased, and that war was good for the economy of the countries involved. Also, medical discoveries and research actually increase, if for no other reason than that the medical professionals have access to situations that they simply don't during peace time (such as the research done on stomachs during the Civil War thanks to cannon shot). Also, that there are a lot of inventions and technologies that required the war to make feasible, such as rockets and computers (even though a lot of the research had been done prior to the war, the war allowed more experimentation as well as refinement of that research).

In essence, which point is closer to how things work out in reality: That wars stop the country cold, or that, cynically, wars are overall god for the country?

HM

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Titanic

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:46:33 GMT

History : Titanic

Does anyone know of the Titanic ship? It was really sad when it sunk.

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Most interesting war

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:42:27 GMT

History : Most interesting war

In your personal opion what is the war you find most interesting? I personaly think that WWII was one of the most intersting wars of all time.

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5 billion to one - a tale of extinction

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:43:19 GMT

History : 5 billion to one - a tale of extinction

I was watching a programme on TV the other night,about a bird called the passenger pigeon,in the 19th century this was the most common bird in the united states,its numbers were believed to be about 5 billion,and it would fly in flocks of hundreds of millions blackening the skys with their numbers as they flew across. A single flock could take several days to pass over you.

A bird of so many numbers surely couldnt become extinct ,could they? Well that is what happened to the passenger pigeon,in the space of just over a hundred years it went from 5 billion birds ,to one,the last one named martha died in 1914.

How did this happen? the simple answer is over hunting, (although other factors like deforestation also had an effect) ,their meat was a cheap food source in the 19th century. The reason that they were so easily hunted was that ,all the hunters had to do was tie a passenger pigeon to a stool (this is where the phrase stool pigeon originated from) ,the pigeon would cry out and all the rest of the flock would fly to its calls,making them sitting ducks for the gunmen,and they would keep on coming and coming until the gunmen ran of of ammunition.

So a species as many in number as there are people on the planet was wiped out in just over 100 years.

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Global trends

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:34:31 GMT

History : Global trends

Our world has seen fundamental and pervasive change in the last 50 years. National economies are increasingly integrated in a global economic structure where all the elements needed to produce a final good or serviceproduction of inputs, design, assembly, management, marketing, savings for investmentmay be sourced from around the globe in a system held together by powerful communications and information technologies. The trend toward globalization has been driven in part by these new technologies, and in part by reduced barriers to international trade and investment flows. The result has been a steady increase in the importance of international trade in the global economy: in the last 50 years, while the global economy quintupled, world trade grew by a factor of 14.

Another important trend is increasing inequity; the benefits of growth have been unevenly spread. Although average global income now exceeds $5,000 US per person a year, 1.3 billion people still survive on incomes of less than a dollar a day. The world's three richest people have a combined wealth greater than the GDPs of the 48 least developed countries. And the growing inequality between and within nations shows no signs of abating.

In the last 50 years, the world has also seen enormous environmental change. Global carbon dioxide emissions have quadrupled, and the steady increase in nitrogen releases from cars and fertilizers is creating deserts of lifelessness in our oceans and lakes. One-quarter of the world's fish stocks are depleted, and another 44 per cent are being fished at their biological limits. In 30 years, if current trends continue, two-thirds of the world will live with "water stress"having less than 1,000 litres of water per person a year. ...

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Ignorance isn't bliss

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:08:54 GMT

History : Ignorance isn't bliss

It is interesting how we can look back and say "Man, those medieval people were dumb from living with rats and that's why they got the plague."

But maybe in the future it will seem just as obvious why we are currently dying of cancer or heart disease or whatever. We'd be just as ignorant and primitive-seeming to them as medieval people seem to us.

Look at AIDS, for example. In areas where unprotected promiscuity is the norm, it spread very quickly, and is causing a lot of harm. Hardly any of them suspected what was going on, and perhaps many still don't in places like rural Africa or Asia. Same thing with Avian Flu, which is said to come from crowded, intensive animal farms. If it happens to evolve and kill off half the planet, the survivors will probably say "gosh, they were dumb for cramming 40 000 birds into one small shed, pooping all over one another... why didn't they see that that was bad news"...

But that's just the thing. We are going on without really thinking or planning about the side effects of our actions. We don't know that what we are a doing may be setting us up for a whole lot of pain.

Another example: most of the African-americans are descended from slaves. There is to this day a great deal of hostility between the euro and african-descended people in the states. ...

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The Fall of the Minoans

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:01:44 GMT

History : The Fall of the Minoans

I just saw this documentary that discussed the fall of teh Minoan Empire. Said there that it was due to a volcanic eruption so wide and massive that it hid a lake (which therefore concealed also the eruption's own impact) and so on. Is this already proven or is it still some theory?

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Why did the great ALEXANDER could not enter India?

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:43:03 GMT

History : Why did the great ALEXANDER could not enter India?

Recently I got an assignment to make a motivational video presentation on Alexander and his progress. To do this I read few books on Alexander and watched movie 'Alexander' as well but everywhere its mentioned that finally Alexander was defeated in India and he decided to return home and putting and end to his ambition of capturing the world.

But nowhere its explained why such a strong Alexander couldn't enter India? is it because he and his army got traped in Himalayan Chillness, they couldn't manage with the cold air?

In those few books I read its written like he was tired and his army too so they decided to return home but Why only after a defeat? Why Alexander did not decide before the war with an not so strong Indian king.

Is this was a reason? simply Alexander did not know anything about Indian style of attacking. They have picturized well in the movie how Alexander meets the defeat.

But such an inspiring Alexander and a simple defeat in the end.. I am not clear about this part.

Can anyone explain this?

P.S: My presentation on Alexander was a success. People acknowledged me .. thanks to the great Alexander.

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