By Tim Lambert Grigori Rasputin was born in a village in Siberia. We don’t know the exact date but it was around 1869. At that time life in Siberia was hard and primitive. It was almost untouched by the Industrial Revolution that was sweeping western Europe. However, the Rasputin family were not poor peasants. They… Continue reading A Biography of Grigori Rasputin
A Biography of Winston Churchill
By Tim Lambert His Early Life Winston Churchill was a 20th-century British prime minister. He was born on 30 November 1874 in Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. His father was Lord Randolph Churchill and his mother, Jeanette was an American woman. Winston had a brother called John, born in 1880. When he was a child… Continue reading A Biography of Winston Churchill
A Short History of Ancient Spain
By Tim Lambert From about 900 BC seafaring people called the Phoenicians who came from what is now Lebanon traded with what is now Spain. They founded a chain of trading settlements along the coast on islands and peninsulas. The Iberians gave the Phoenicians silver in return for wine and olive oil as well as… Continue reading A Short History of Ancient Spain
A History of The Minoans
By Tim Lambert The Minoan civilization existed in Crete. It was the first European civilization. About 2,500 BC a sophisticated society grew up on the island of Crete. By about 1,950 BC the inhabitants had invented a form of writing using hieroglyphs. This writing is called linear A. The Minoans were a bronze-age civilization. (They… Continue reading A History of The Minoans
The Hittites
By Tim Lambert The Hittites lived in what is now Turkey. They moved to Turkey about 2,000 BC and at first, they were divided into separate states. However about 1,650 BC, they were united by King Labarnas. The Hittites were a powerful and warlike people. About 1595 BC they captured Babylon. Later the Hittites fought… Continue reading The Hittites
The Philistines
By Tim Lambert The Philistines lived in the Southwest of the country we now call Israel. It is believed the Philistines originally came from the Agean or possibly from Crete. They invaded the coast of what is now Israel about 1200 BC. The Philistine realm was called Philistia and it included 5 cities Gaza, Ashkelon,… Continue reading The Philistines
The Assyrian Empire
By Tim Lambert The Assyrians were a warlike people from the north of what is now Iraq. From about 880 BC to 612 BC they ruled a great empire in the Middle East. The first great Assyrian king was Tiglath-pileser (c.1115-1077) who warred against people in Asia Minor and who defeated the Babylonians (of southern… Continue reading The Assyrian Empire
Leisure in the 18th Century
By Tim Lambert Traditional games remained popular in the 18th Century. These included games such as chess, draughts, and backgammon. So was tennis and a rough version of football. Then in 1759, a man named John Jeffries invented an entirely new board game called A Journey Through Europe or The Play of Geography in which… Continue reading Leisure in the 18th Century
A Timeline of the Bible
By Tim Lambert 4004 BC According to Bishop Ussher in the 17th century, the world was created on this date. Most Christians no longer believe that the Bible is literally true. 2349 BC Noah and his family are the only survivors of a worldwide flood. Myths about a universal flood occur in many cultures. 2242… Continue reading A Timeline of the Bible
A Short History of New Zealand
By Tim Lambert The Maori The Maori arrived in New Zealand in the 10th century AD. They called the new land Aotearoa, which means Land of the Long White Cloud. The Maori brought dogs and rats. They also brought yams and kumara or sweet potatoes and gourds. The Maori also ate fern roots. There was… Continue reading A Short History of New Zealand