On this Page, you and your family will learn about World Facts. Example: Ancient Greece, Coins, Earthquakes, Energy, South America and so much MORE....

Ancient Greece About 800 B.C. Greek writing developed into a true alphabet, using both consonants and vowels, affecting every facet of Greek culture, written laws, literature and philosophy.

 Although the earliest cookbooks were produced in Sicily, in wealthy, decadent Sybaris (ruled by classical Greece) inventors of new recipes were given a year's copyright.

From the Ancient Greece language come many of the words we use today: demos, the people, gives us democracy; polis, the city, gives us political.

In the temple of Apollo, near the Greek city of Delphi, the famous oracle was interpreted by priests from the utterances of the priestesses.

`                                           Cold War

In 1949, the Western Allies formed the north atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), designed as a military counter weight to the Soviet forces in Europe.

In 1955, a new round of Soviet-American confrontations ensued, all the riskier because now both sides possessed nuclear weapons. " Brinkmanship "a term coined by John Foster Dulles, peaked in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In May 1948, USSR authorities severed all land access routes to Berlin; only the success of the Berlin Airlift in supplying West Berlin, permitted the West to resist the pressure.

The Cold War initially centered on the use of USSR military forces to install Communist Governments in Eastern Europe. The US government insisted upon the right of self determination.

                                 Roads

The first major road was the Persian Royal Road, from Persian Gulf to the Aegean Sea, distance of 2,857 km/1,775 mi and used c. 3500-300 BC.

Asphalt is a  mixture of bitumen and stone. In 1824 asphalt blocks were placed on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. The first successful major application was 1858 on the nearby rue Sain -Honoreur.

The lowest-value banknote ever issued was the one-sen (one hundredth of a rupiah) Indonesian note. It had a value of over 300,000 to the pound in 1993.

The oldest coin is said to be an electrum stater of King Gyges of Lydia  (now Turkey), believed to be dated c. 630 B.C.

The oldest surviving banknote printed by the Bank Of England is one for  L 555 and dated 1699. It measures 11.4 by 19.1 cm/4.5 by 7.5.

The US Treasury Mint on Independence Mall, Philadelphia has an annual production of 12 bn coins. The Graebner Press can mint coins at a rate of 42,000 per hour.

A rock-music festival, the Woodstock Music and Art fair was held in 1969, on a farm near woodstock, New York. Attracted by the presence of the most famous rock-music bands, huge crowd of perhaps 500,000 fans camped in a meadow for 3 days.

Cairo is a city of contrasts, with modern skyscrapers alongside Roman antiquities the tombs of the Caliphs and citadel and over 260 mosques.

Cairo, the capital of modern Egypt, lies on the River Nile about 20 km/12 miles south of the apex of the Delta, partly on the alluvial plain and partly on the mokattam hills.

Originally the Roman fortress of Babylon, Cairo was considerably developed by Saladin in 1177 when he erected the citadel or El-Kala.

The industries of Cairo include textiles, namely cotton and silk goods, sugar-refining, gunpowder, leather, glass and machinery.

The population of Cairo is 6,452,000 (est. 1990), making it the largest city in Africa.

                                    Cars

General Motors was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant  (1862-1947) providing the organisational pattern for successful large-scale motor vehicle production over time.

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