The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team, part of the National Football League (NFL), based in Texas. They began playing in 1960, and by 2015, Forbes magazine named them the most valuable sports team in the world. They hold a record of 20 straight winning seasons.... Read more
What is Thanksgiving? In the United States and Canada, this holiday celebrates "the harvest and other blessings of the past year." In the U.S., the holiday is linked to a legend of a feast shared by the English colonists and the Wampanoag Native American people in 1621... Read more
Our perception of the American West has largely been shaped by literature and Western films. Stereotypical symbols of the West include vast cactus-clad deserts, cowboys riding a horse into the sunset, and wanted posters on saloon walls... Read more
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "the bath as an institution has a long history." From the Bible to ancient Egyptian architecture, you can find evidence of baths and dedicated bathrooms. In ancient Rome, the baths were more akin to spas, containing not only areas for washing but also for steam treatments and massage. From ancient to medieval times, most baths were public institutes rather than private rooms... Read more
For the flute, "a stream of air [is] directed against a sharp edge" which separates into eddies. The tone and sound are controlled by the placement of the fingers over the flute's holes. The flute in our illustration is known as a recorder, fipple flute, or whistle flute. The recorder was produced during the fourteenth century; today, it is often used in schools as the students' introduction to playing a musical instrument... Read more
Radio waves were first discovered in 1886. By 1894, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi had devised a way to transmit telegraph signals via radio waves. Radio was being used commercially by 1920, and... Read more
Fruitcake is both lauded as a holiday gift-giving tradition and loathed as the butt of jokes and as a synonym for "crazy." What is a fruitcake? It is a very heavy spice cake filled with candied or dried and sugared fruits and nuts. Some recipes also contain alcohol. Fruitcake is known for lasting many years due to the preserving qualities of the sugar and alcohol... Read more
New Year festivals are celebrated around the world. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, they are "among the oldest and the most universally observed."... Read more
An axe or ax is a chopping or cutting tool that has been used by humans since the Stone Age. The first axes were, not surprisingly, made from sharpened blocks of stone. Later, wooden handles were added and the blades were made from copper, bronze, or iron... Read more
Camping is a "recreational activity in which participants take up temporary residence in the outdoors." Camping first took a recreational turn around 1908, with the publication of The Camper's Handbook... Read more
Glass has been used to make man-made objects since ancient times. In fact, the earliest specimens date to around 3500 B.C. and were discovered in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Glass is made by heating materials such as sand and cooling it in such a way that crystals do not form... Read more
Wine, the fermented juice of the grape or other fruits, has been a revered alcoholic beverage since ancient times. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the grape "was being cultivated in the Middle East by 4000 BCE and probably earlier." Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Bible, and other documents show that grapes were used to make wine thousands of years ago... Read more
The magnifying glass or hand lens is a convex optical lens, mounted on a handle and used to visually magnify objects. They are commonly used for reading, examining jewelry, or observing plants and insects... Read more
The tank is a heavily armoured military combat vehicle that crawls along on tracks. The armor protects the soldiers inside. The chain-like tracks allow it to travel over difficult terrain. Tanks are often heavily armed with very large guns... Read more
Spoons are utensils for cooking, eating, and serving food that consist of a small bowl and a handle. Its companion the fork is made up of at least two prongs and a handle. Together, forks and spoons are known as flatware... Read more
Love is defined as "a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person." In English, the word "love" describes a range of emotions, ranging from a romantic attraction to familial loyalty and friendship. Love is often symbolized by the shape of the heart... Read more
A log cabin is a house constructed of the logs of trees. They are traditionally small structures, consisting of one or two rooms, but some are large and elaborate. In Europe, their history is ancient, while in North America, they are often associated with early European settlers... Read more
The canoe is a lightweight boat that is powered and steered by paddles. Canoes have been used all over the world for millennia. The native peoples of the Arctic used canoes called kayaks, that consisted of animal skins stretched over wooden or bone frames. Dugout canoes - those carved from a fallen log... Read more
A kayak is a small boat or canoe. The kayak traces its history to the native peoples of Greenland and Alaska. These kayaks were made of animal skins stretched over frames of wood or whalebone. They were used for fishing and hunting. The word kayak means "man's boat" or "hunter's boat."... Read more
Harry Potter was a young boy who discovered he was a wizard. He then attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the book and film series Harry Potter... Read more