1. Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word "GOLF" entered into the English language.
2. In ancient China, doctors could receive fees only if their patient was cured. If it deteriorated, they would have to pay the patient.
3. It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world.
4. The total number of Americans killed in the Civil War is greater than the combined total of Americans killed in all other wars.
5. Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.
6. Charles Dickens always faced north while sleeping.
7. Roman coins have been dug up in America, suggesting that perhaps the Vikings or Columbus weren't the first Europeans to visit the New World. The coins were found in locations as far afield as Texas, Venezuela and Maine. One stash was found buried in a mound in Round Rock, Texas. The mound is dated to approximately 800 A.D. In the town of Heavener, Okla., a bronze tetradrachm bearing the profile of Emperor Nero was found in 1976. The coin was originally struck in Antioch, Syria, in 63 A.D.
8. In 1920 for the first time in recorded history, the average life expectancy of human beings exceeded that of goldfish. Before that year, a newborn infant could expect to live 48.4 years. For many species of wild goldfish, the projected life span was over 50.
9. Peter the Great executed his wife's lover, and forced her to keep her lover's head in a jar of alcohol in her bedroom.
10. People have been wearing glasses for about 700 years.
11. Seven of the eight US Presidents who have died in office - either through illness or assassination - were elected at precisely 20-year intervals.
12. The US federal income tax was first enacted in 1862 to support the Union's Civil War effort. It was eliminated in 1872, revived in 1894 then declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court the following year. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution made the income tax a permanent fixture in the US tax system.
13. People drank gold powder mixed in with water in medieval Europe to relieve pain from sore limbs.
14. The White House, in Washington DC, was originally gray, the color of the sandstone it was built out of. After the War of 1812, during which it had been burned by Canadian troops, the outside walls were painted white to hide the smoke stains.
15. The custom of shaking hands with the strangers originated to show that both the parties were unarmed.
16. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
17. Celtic warriors sometimes fought their battles naked, their bodies dyed blue from head to toe.
18. King Charles the Second often rubbed dust from the mummies of pharaohs so he could "absorb their ancient greatness".
19. In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb".
20. Acupuncture was first used as a medical treatment in 2700 BC by Chinese emperor Shen-Nung.
21. In ancient Egypt, people shaved eyebrows as a mourning symbol when their cats died.
22. Abdul Kassam Ismael, Grand Vizier of Persia in the tenth century, carried his library with him wherever he went. Four hundred camels carried the 117,000 volumes.
23. The Black Death reduced the population of Europe by one third in the period from 1347 to 1351.
24. Coca-Cola was originally green.
25. The 1st 20 African slaves were brought to the US, to the colony of Virginia in 1619, by a Dutch ship.
26. Of the 262 men who have held the title of pope, 33 have died by violence.
27. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
28. Roman Emperor Caligula was so upset by the death of his sister Drusila that he imposed a year of mourning. During this time, everyone in the empire was forbidden to dine with his family, laugh or take a bath. The penalty for transgression was death.
29. The name of the first airplane flown at Kitty Hawk by the Wright Brothers, on December 17, 1903, was Bird of Prey.
30. The worldwide "Spanish Flu" epidemic which broke out in 1918 killed more than 30 million people in less than a year's time.
31. The punishment of a Vestal Virgin who broke her oath of chastity was to be buried alive.
32. Pilgrims did not eat potatoes for Thanksgiving as they thought they were poisonous.
33. Tablecloths were originally meant to serve as towels with which guests could wipe their hands and faces after dinner.
34. Cleopatra married two of her brothers.
35. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Funny and Amazing facts

Jarawa Tribe--The Desecendants of the Frst Humans

Prehistory and origins
Along with other indigenous Andamanese peoples, they have inhabited the islands for at least several thousand years, and most likely a great deal longer. The Andaman Islands have been known to outsiders since antiquity however, until quite recent times they were infrequently visited, and such contacts were predominantly sporadic and temporary. For the greater portion of their history their only significant contact has been with other Andamanese groups; the experience of such a lengthy period of isolation almost completely lacking in external cultural influences is equaled by few other groups in the world, if at all^.
There is some indication that the Jarawa regarded the now-extinct Jangil tribe as a parent tribe from which they split centuries or millennia ago, even though the Jarawa outnumbered (and eventually out-survived) the Jangil. The Jangil (also called the Rutland Island Aka Bea) were presumed extinct by 1931, sixteen years prior to Indian independenceContact, settlements and dislocation

Comparative map showing distributions of various Andamanese tribes in the Andaman Islands - early 1800s versus present-day (2004). Notables:
(a) Rapid depopulation of the original southeastern Jarawa homeland in the 1789-1793 period
(b) Onge and Great Andamanese shrinkage to isolated settlements
(c) Complete Jangil extinction by 1931
(d) Jarawa move to occupy depopulated former west coast homeland of the Great Andamanese
(e) Only the Sentinelese zone is somewhat intact

Before the 19th century, the Jarawa homelands were located in the southeast part of South Andama Island and nearby islets. With the establishment of the initial British settlement, these are suspected to have been largely depopulated by disease shortly after 1789. The Great Andamanese tribes were similarly decimated by disease, alcoholism and British government-sponsored destruction, leaving open the western areas which the Jarawa gradually made their new homeland. The immigration of mainland Indian and Karen (Burmese) settlers, beginning about two centuries ago, accelerated this process. Prior to their initiating contact with settled populations in 1997, they were noted for vigorously maintaining their independence and distance from external groups, actively discouraging most incursions and attempts at contact. Since 1998, they have been in increasing contact with the outside world and have increasingly been the choosers of such contact. All contact, especially with tourists, remains extremely dangerous to the Jarawa due to the risk of disease. Of the remaining Andamanese peoples, only the Sentineless have been able to maintain a more isolated situation, and their society and traditions persist with little variance from their practices they observed before the first significant contacts were made. Today the Jarawa are in regular contact with the outside world through settlements on the fringes of their Reserve, through daily contact with outsiders along the Andaman Trunk Road and at jetties, marketplaces and hospitals near the road and at settlements near the reserve, with some children even showing up at mainstream schools and asking to be educated along with settler children.

The Ancient World - Prehistoric Times

Discovering the past- an Introduction

WHAT IS HISTORY??? In a broad sense, history is the story of the people-the study of our past. Some historians look at important events, such as wars,revolutionsand governments, while others are interested in ordinary peoples lives. Henry Ford, the American car legend once said," History is Bunk", but most disagree. Our lives today are shaped by decisions and actions made decades,centuries or even thousands of years ago. By understanding the past, we may able to gain a more balanced view of the present.