Dec 10, 2022
Coffee was harvested from wild bushes in Ethiopia and transported across the Red Sea to Yemen, starting in the middle of the fifteenth century. Coffee seems to have spread rapidly in the Near East. By the time the Ottoman Turks conquered Egypt from the Mamelukes in 1517, coffee-drinking was already widespread...
Nov 12, 2022
The Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 makes China cede Taiwan and the Peng-hu Islands to Japan in perpetuity. Tokyo’s first attempt at colonialism is a great success as it establishes order, eradicating disease, building infrastructure, and creating a modern economy. Taiwan soon becomes the most-advanced place in East...
Oct 29, 2022
In October 1950, Mao Tse Tung decides to invade Tibet.In 1953, India finds out that China has built a road in India's Aksai Chin region to connect Mainland China to Tibet. India protests and China suggests that it will withdraw claim on any territory south of the McMahon line in exchange for retaining Aksai Chin. This...
Oct 15, 2022
In October of 1962, President John F. Kennedy was stunned to learn that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear-armed medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Though Moscow was trying to balance out the equation between the two Super Powers, JFK was against any Soviet presence in the...
Oct 1, 2022
On June 15, 1215, King John of England signs the Magna Carta declaring the King to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by free men. The Magna Carta lays the foundation for individual rights enshrined in several Constitutions across the globe, including the US Constitution. The Industrial...