What were the Ice Ages? The ice ages were periods when the ice caps gradually advanced to cover almost all of the world. As the weather became warmer again, the ice retreated to the poles, only to advance again as it again became colder. There have been four ice ages, and the last was only 20,000 years ago. During the last ice age, animals such as the woolly mammoth shown here,...

What is the longest animal ever to have lived on land? The prize for this record must go to Diplodocus, a plant-eating dinosaur which lived 30o million years ago. Over 27 m (80 ft) long and weighing 26 tonnes, this creature probably spent most of its life in and around swampy areas. When wading about in the water, it could use the buoyancy of the water to help support its great...

What is the largest land Carnivore ever to have lived? Carnivores are animals that eat meat, and the largest carnivore ever to have lived was the giant dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex (above). The word Tyrannosaurus means ‘terrible lizard’ — a rather fitting description of this fearsome beast. The word rex means king, and king it must have been when it roamed what is now North America and eastern Asia, for few animals...

Who was the founder of Democracy? In the seventh century before Christ, Athens was seething with discontent. Nobles and rich men ruled the city, a privilege which they used quite shamelessly to their own advantage. There were no written laws which the poor could appeal to in order to obtain justice. Those who ruled the city dispensed the law —all too often in favour of the rich against the poor. In...

Who were called the great-grandchildren of Heracles? Greek mythology is full of stories of the adventures of legendary heroes who were either helped or hindered by the gods. Perhaps the most famous of all these heroes was Heracles (or Hercules as he was known by the Romans). He typified the virtues of courage and endurance, and he was a symbol of strength. In about 1100 BC to 1000 BC, the Dorians...

 History of  Moses   The Jews, or Hebrews, as they were also called, under the leadership of their patriarch Abraham, emigrated first from Mesopotamia to Canaan in Plaestine about 2000 BC. Much of our information about early Jewish history comes from the Old Testament and according to the biblical story they suffered terrible hardships from famine in their new country. Therefore, the grandson of Abraham, known as Jacob or Israel, decided...

Why was Bertrand Russell famous?   Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher who lived from 1872 to 1970. In the first half of his long life, he developed ways of using logic to build knowledge and he provided a logical basis for the principles of mathematics. But Russell was also a man who dearly loved people as well as ideas. He spoke out against war and defended the right of people...

Why is Karl Marx important? Karl Marx was a German writer and philosopher who lived from 1818 to 1883. He saw that people were not equal; that emperors and nobles held power over the majority of people in many countries such as Russia, and that many employers grew rich through the exploitation of their workers. Marx wanted to change things to make all people equal. He helped to found the ideas...