Life, the Universe, & Everything?
Smart kids ought to know about:
Crash Course World History Crash Course US History
The Straight Dope - Vinyl Record Speeds
Famous Scientists
- Copernicus - said the earth might go 'round the sun, hoping "might" would prevent the Catholic church wouldn't from burning him at the stake.
- Galileo - invented the telescope, saw craters on the moon, and moons circling Jupiter. But the Pope told him to say he was mistaken - the heavens were perfect and the earth was the center of the universe. Science wasn't the Popes strong suite, so he used methods other than peer reviewed publications to convince Galileo.
- Isaac Newton - discovered gravity, rainbows, calculus; but continued to try to turn lead into gold.
- Charles Darwin - Devleoped the Theory of Evolution& Geologic Time
- Albert Einstein - E=MC2 http://www.einstein-website.de/z_kids/biographykids.html
- Louis Pasteur - Germ theory of disease.
- Sigmund Freud - the first psychologist
- Lisa Meitner - Physicist
- Madam Curie - Nobel Prize winner for discovering radioactivity
Important Books & Resources
- Dad's List of Top Books
- Freedom Webisodes
- A History of US (10 Vol. Set) by Joy Hakim
- AMNH 'ology' website for kids
Important Documents
- Code of Hammarabi
- Magna Carta
- Mayflower Compact
- Declaration of Independence
- U.S. Constitution
Most Americans fail this basic test on their history and institutions. Can you do better? Take the Test (33 Questions) I scored 91% (30/33)
Shameful Episodes in American History
Salem Witch Trials Slavery Indian Wars - Indian Removal Act 1830 Lynching Negros in the South Racism - Jim Crow Laws Secret U.S. Military Iinterventions in Foreign Countries Japanese Internment U.S. CIA Overthrows elected governments in Iran (1953), Guatamala (1954), Congo (1960, '65), Brazil (1964), Chile (1963), Indonesia (1965), Ghana (1966).
Here's a great book: Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change ...Vietnam War
Important Dates
A Universal Timeline
Logarithmic Timescale of the Universe and Earth
National Geographic Prehistoric Timeline Prehistoric Life Explorations Through Time 13 billion years ago the universe was created in a "Big Bang"
- The first stars were formed grew old, died and then some exploded
4.5 billion years ago the Precambrian Period began
- Star debris came together and our solar system was born
- The Sun started to glow followed by life on earth2.3 billion years ago the earth becomes a snowball, covered with ice from pole to pole
850 to 542 million years ago - a Slushball Earth
543 million years ago the Paleozoic Era began
- Cambrian Explosion - animals become more complex than slime.250 million years ago - Permian Extinction
- 90 percent of all species died, 2/3 of land animals, and almost all the trees.From 248 to 65 million years ago was the Mesozoic Era - The Age of the Dinosaurs
- Triassic (248 - 206)
- Jurassic (206 - 144)
- Cretaceous (144 - 65)
- 65 million years ago - asteroid hits earth and kills all the dinosaurs.Starting 65 million years to the present is the Cenozoic Era - The Age of the Mammals
---- 2.3 million years ago - humans and chimps go in different directions
World History
- 2 million years ago - hominids learn to use fire - Pleistocene (1.8 million to today)
- 1.25 million years ago - Homo Erectus leaves Africa
- 200,000 years ago - Neanderthals in Ice Age Europe
- 70,000 years ago - People start wearing clothes (what about Neanderthals?)
- 40,000 ya - Cro-Magnon (modern humans) in Europe
- 10,000 years ago - Ice Age ends
- 3,500 BC - Some hunter-gatherers settle down and plant seeds, make pets of cats and dogs. Civilization begins in Sumer (near today's Iraq)
- 3,000 BC - Bronze Age begins (until 1200 BC)
- 2,700 BC - Egypt builds pyramids, Horse domesticated
- 1,700 BC - Shang Dynasty (China), Babylonian Empire (Middle East)
- Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations
- 1000 BC Greeks invent democracy.
- 550 BC - Persian Empire
- 510 BC - Roman Republic
- 300 BC - Alexander the Great conquers the known world.
- 1 AD - Jesus, Buddah, Lao-Tzu offer up some good thoughts.
- Roman Empire - Romans decide democracy is a bad idea, kill the Greeks, and try and conquer the rest of the world.
- 400 AD - Goths defeat Romans and Roman empire divided and begins to fall
- Ottoman Empire
- 600 AD - Muhammad begins Muslim religion which soon conquers the Mideast
- 1000 - First Crusade
- 1075 - The Acoma Pueblo, in New Mexico is believed to be the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United States
- 1205 - Genghis-Khan conquers most of Asia, including China, Russia, and Persia
- 1215 - Magna Carta signed limiting Kings power
- 1255 - Marco Polo goes to China and brings back fantastic stories
- 1350 - Black Death 1/4 of Europeans die.
- 1350 - Renaissance begins
- 1519 - European Voyages of Exploration
- 1733 - First cotton mill
- 1776 - Adam Smith publishes Wealth of Nations
- 1860 - Industrial Revolution. Steam Engine starts to change the world.
- 1880 - Charles Darwin writes "Origin of the Species" documenting evolution.
- 1917 - Russian Revolution
- 1914 - U.S. enters World War I
- 1938 - Hitler conquers Austria, Poland, Denmark, France...
- 1949 - Chinese Revolution
- 1955 - Watson and Crick Discover DNA carries the blueprint for all living things.
- 1957 - Sputnik - first satellite (Soviet Union)
- 1961 - Construction of the Berlin Wall
- 1989 - Communism collapses. Cold War ends.
American History
Wikipedia's History of the United States
- 1492 - Columbus sails West to get to the East Indies, but accidentally finds a new world. He calls the people Indians, because he thinks he's near the Indies. Later 80% of the Indians die because of all the germs the Europeans bring over.
- 1519 - Cortez destroys the Aztec Empire
- 1532 - Francisco Pizaro destroys the Inca Empire
- 1536 - Hernando de Soto arrives in Florida
- 1559 - Pensacola, Florida (Santa Rosa Island) - first European Settlement, later abandoned. (St. Augustine 1st permanent settlement)
- 1585 - Roanoke - first English colony, later abandoned.
- 1610 - Jamestown - 1st English colony - Most of them die, they look for gold and don't plant any food.
- 1617 - Mayflower brings Pilgrims to found Plymouth, Mass. First Thanksgiving in 1621
- 1776 - Declaration of Independence.
- 1812 - War of 1812 (against Britain)
- 1803 - Louisiana Purchase by President Thomas Jefferson
- 1803-06 - Lewis and Clark Expedition
- 1841-69 - Oregon Trail (in 1869 Transcontinental Railroad completed)
- 1849 - Gold Discovered in California
- 1861-65 Civil War - War of the States. Fought over whether the South could keep slaves.
- 1902 - Wright brothers begin the age of the airplane
- 1942 - Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor and U.S. enters World War II
- 1945 - U.S. drops two atomic bombs on Japan, ending the war.
- 1950-53 - Korean War, Interstate Highway System begun.
- 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis
- 1961-75 Vietnam War
- 1969 - Apollo astronauts land on the moon.
- 1973 - President Richard Nixon resigns in disgrace because of Watergate break-ins into Democratic party headquarters
- 2001 - Terrorists slam three large passenger jets into World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. 3,000 people killed
World History According to Students
USS Enterprise History
Important Presidents
& Events- George Washington - First president
- Thomas Jefferson - Louisiana Purchase
- Abraham Lincoln - Civil War
- Woodrow Wilson - League of Nations
- Theodore Roosevelt - Panama Canal
- Franklin Roosevelt - Great Depression
- Medical History of the Presidents
- Which Presidents owned slaves?
Major Civilizations
- Guide to Ancient Civilizations
- Fertile Crescent
- China
- India
- Egypt
- Greek
- Roman
- Middle Ages
- Maya, Inca, Aztec Index
Wikipedia's History of the World
Flags of the World
Great Explorers
Directory of Heros
Famous Musicians, Artists, Writers
- Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier
- Mozart
- Beethoven - Sonatas
- Baroque Music
- Elvis
- Beatles
- Michaelangelo
- Leonardo Davinci
- Picasso
- Shakespeare
- Charles Dickens
- Tom Lehrer - The Elements Version 1 & Version 2
Important Inventions & Discoveries
Long list of Inventions
10 Greatest Inventions (after year 0)
- Using Fire
- Stone Tools & the Spear
- Weaving - nets & bags
- Pottery
- Clothing
- Fishing
- Boats
- Bow & Arrow
- The Wheel, Lever & Pulley
- Writing
- Farming - Agriculture, Domestication
- Metalworking - Copper, Brass, Iron, Steel
- Gunpowder - Cannons, Rockets, Guns
- Printing
- Circulation of the Blood
- Telescope & Microscope
- Electromagnetic Spectrum
- Periodic Table of the Elements
- The Steam Engine
- Germ Theory of Disease
- Evolution
- Oil
- Electricity
- Lightbulb
- Automobile
- Airplane
- Radio
- Satellite
- Microwaves
- Contraceptives
- DNA
- Rocket
- Atomic Bomb
- Computer
- Money
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