A Brief History of Jamaica

By Tim Lambert Early Jamaica From about 800 AD a people called the Arawaks lived in Jamaica. They were stone age farmers although they also hunted and fished. The Arawaks grew beans, cassava, and maize. They also grew cotton. However, in 1494, Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica. The Spanish and Arawaks briefly fought each other… Continue reading A Brief History of Jamaica

A Biography of Grigori Rasputin

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

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 Ancient Spain

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 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 The Minoans