Category: Histories of countries and key towns and cities around the world

By Tim Lambert In the early 15th century, Togo was inhabited by various tribes who practiced agriculture and used iron tools. However, in the 16th century, the Portuguese began taking slaves from the area across the Atlantic. Other European nations soon joined them. Togo became part of the notorious Slave Coast from which slaves were… Continue reading A Brief History of Togo

By Tim Lambert Early Trinidad About 5,000 BC stone-age hunter-gatherers arrived in Trinidad by canoe. Then about 300 BC, more advanced people arrived. They grew crops like cassava and sweet potatoes. They also made pottery and wove cotton. However, in 1498 Columbus discovered the island. He named it Trinidad because he saw 3 peaks. The… Continue reading A Brief History of Trinidad and Tobago

By Tim Lambert Ancient Tunisia By about 8,000 BC human beings lived in what is now Tunisia by hunting and gathering. After about 5,000 BC they began farming although they still used stone tools. Then from about 1100 BC the Phoenicians from what is now Lebanon settled and traded in the area. About 480 BC… Continue reading A Brief History of Tunisia

By Tim Lambert Ancient Turkey Catal Huyuk was one of the world’s first towns. It was built in what is now Turkey about 6,500 BC not long after farming began. Catal Huyuk probably had a population of about 6,000. In Catal Huyuk, the houses were made of mud brick. Houses were built touching against each… Continue reading A Brief History of Turkey

By Tim Lambert Early Turkmenistan The early people of Turkmenistan were nomadic or semi-nomadic herders. However, the Persian Empire conquered the region in the 6th Century BC.  However, when Alexander died in 323 BC, his Empire broke up. Later parts of Turkmenistan were under the Parthian Empire, which ruled much of Central Asia from 247… Continue reading A Brief History of Turkmenistan

By Tim Lambert Early Uganda In 1875 the explorer Henry Stanley reached Uganda. At that time Uganda was divided into kingdoms. Shortly afterward the first missionaries came to Uganda. The first Anglican missionaries arrived in Uganda in 1877. The first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1879. Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims all tried to convert the… Continue reading A Brief History of Uganda

By Tim Lambert The Early History of Ukraine In the 7th century BC, a people called the Scythians lived in what is now Ukraine. Later the Greeks settled on the north coast of the Black Sea and they founded city-states there. Slavs settled in Ukraine in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Then in the… Continue reading A Brief History of Ukraine

By Tim Lambert Early Uruguay In 1516 a Spaniard named Juan Diaz de Solis became the first European to reach Uruguay. In the 16th century, the Spanish took Argentina while Portugal took Brazil. What is now Uruguay was between them but its lack of mineral wealth meant that for a long time both nations took… Continue reading A Brief History of Uruguay

By Tim Lambert Ancient Uzbekistan From 6,000 BC, Stone Age farmers lived in what is now Uzbekistan. In about 2,000 BC, they began using bronze tools and weapons. By about 1,000 BC, iron tools were made in what is now Uzbekistan. The city of Samarkand was founded about 650 BC. For centuries, what is now… Continue reading A Brief History of Uzbekistan

By Tim Lambert Early Venezuela For centuries, the indigenous peoples of Venezuela lived by farming but also by hunting and fishing. Then in 1498, Christopher Columbus became the first European to reach Venezuela. In 1499, a Spaniard named Alonso de Ojeda led another expedition to the area. He called it Venezuela, meaning little Venice, after… Continue reading A Brief History of Venezuela