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Showing posts from May, 2020

China civilization

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The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the king Wu Ding 's reign, [1][2] who was mentioned as the twenty-first Shang king by the same. [3][4] Ancient historical texts such as the Book of Documents (early chapters, 11th century BC), the Records of the Grand Historian (c. 100 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) mention and describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period, and Shang writings do not indicate the existence of the Xia. [5] The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations , ...

Industrial revolution and scientific movement in the 18th and 19th centuries

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      The industrial revolution came about as a result of the application of  science to useful practical purposes. It was science that was the driving force behind the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries .The most importance change involved was the Change from the cottage system of industry known in the 16th century or earlier to the factory system of industry .It was changed from the use of hand in producing things to the use of machines and news source of century to turn them . several machines were invented that helped Britain to become the birth place of industrial revolution .There was the invention of the steam engine by Thomas Newton between 1705-1725 which was improved by James watt (1738-1919).The steam engine was used to run factories ,turn drills, drive ships and pull cars along ba track. It was a cheaper ,more dependable and tireless form of energy .By 1800 there were 500 watt of steam engines in use throughout England plus several other...

Emergence of state in West Africa circa 1000-1500

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The  Ghana Empire  flourished in West  Africa  from at least the 6th to 13th century CE. Not connected geographically to the modern state of Ghana, the Ghana  Empire  was located in the western Sudan savannah region (modern southern Mauritania and Mali) sandwiched between the Sahara desert to the north and the rainforests to the south.  Trade  was facilitated by the abundance of iron,  copper ,  gold , and ivory and easy access to the Niger and Senegal Rivers and their tributaries. The Ghana kings, residing in the capital at Koumbi Saleh, grew immensely rich, building up stockpiles of the gold nuggets only they were permitted to possess. Consequently, the reputation of Ghana spread to North Africa and  Europe , where it was described as a fabulous land of gold. The Ghana Empire crumbled from the 12th century CE following drought, civil wars, the opening up of trade routes elsewhere, and the rise of the Sosso Kingdom (c. 11...

Trans sahara slave trade

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Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara (north and south) to reach sub-Saharan Africa from the North African coast, Europe , to the Levant . While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very different environment . In Libya and Algeria , from at least 7000 BC, there was pastoralism , the herding of sheep, goats, large settlements, and pottery. Cattle were introduced to the Central Sahara ( Ahaggar ) from 4000 to 3500 BC. Remarkable rock paintings (dated 3500 to 2500 BC), in places which are currently very dry, portray vegetation, and animal presence rather different from modern expectations. [1] As a desert, Sahara is now a hostile expanse that separates the Mediterranean economy from the economy of the Niger basin . As Fernand Braudel points out that crossing such a zone (especially without mechanized transport) is worthwhile only when exceptional circumstances cause th...

AFRICA THE CRADLE OF MANKIND

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One of the most important contribution Africa made to the history of man himself .As earlier , Africa seems certainly to be the home of ancestors of man .it was in Africa that the early man and the ape developed separately from thier common ancestors .in the world today ,there are between 2,500 and 3,500 languages and many of these are spoken in Africa language enabled men to give out information. Tools making and language are the basis of mans present Dominion over the world .The most revolutionary changes in the early man's life came from the present Syria , Iraq and the Iran which discovered how to grow cereals from seeds.This meant that instead of moving from one place to another in search of food ,they could have stay in the same place and grow it themselves .In the same way,by taming animals such as cows,goat and so on so long hunting b, expedition for meat ,so they could now settle down and build permanent homes .These revolutionary changes spread gradually to the othe...

Science in human civilization :The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia

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This is know as the land between the rivers -Tigris and Euphrates in what is now Iraq in the middle East .The area was peopled by the Sumerian between 1000 and 5000BC and their civilization seemed to have developed bat the same time with that of Egypt .Each has as slight influence over the other .Some aspect of science had manifested themselves in their civilization .Their writing for example was crucial to the growth of abstract science and it's transmission .They wrote on clay ,tablets with sharpend tools .The writing took the form of picture symbol which at the initial stage represented objects but later stood for sounds .There were about 200 signs  with each representing a number of words having similar sounds and homonyms Their early medicine manifested itself in a combined form of magic and science .They had the belief that all ailments were caused by the gods and so they could consult the gods before they would administer any drug. But like several other ancien...