 |
 The Sea
of Galilee lies in
the Jordan Plain of northern Israel, about 30
miles from the Mediterranean. It is fed by the
Jordan River, which flows through it from north
to south. It was on its shores where Jesus
performed the miracle of feeding a multitude with
a few loaves of bread and a basket of fish. |
 The
Island of New Guinea in General New Guinea has an area of 304,980 square
miles, making it the second largest island in the
world, behind Greenland. Native animals of New
Guinea include crocodiles, tree kangaroos, and
such snakes as the death adder, the Papuan black,
and the taipan. The island also has many
bright-colored birds and butterflies. |
 William
Howe gained distinction during the
campaign against Quebec in 1759, during the Seven
Years' War. Sent back to America in 1775, he actively led a column against Americans
entrenched on Breed's Hill. As commander of all
British forces in America he won battles at Long
Island, White Plains and Brandywine before
resigning. |
 Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg: Facts and Figures
Local Name Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. Area
998 sq mi. Capital Luxembourg. Form
of Government Constitutional Monarchy. Independence
from the Netherlands Achieved 1839. |
 The Colosseum
(aka Coliseum) was begun in 72
A.D. by Emperor Vespasian, completed by his son
Titus in 80 A.D., and expanded during the reign
of Domitian (81-96). Officially known as the
Flavian Amphitheatre under the Roman Empire, it
is believed to have gotten its more common name
from a huge statue of Nero that once stood
nearby. |
 Republic
of Poland: Facts and Figures
Local Name Rzeczpospolita Polska. Area
120,725 sq mi. Population 38,441,588. Capital
Warsaw. Republic Proclaimed November 11,
1918. |
 The Great
Wall of China is the
world's longest human-made structure, stretching
over 4,000 miles from Shanhaiguan in the east to
Lop Nur in the west. Despite many common myths to
the contrary, the Great Wall of China cannot be
seen from the Moon. |
 Republic
of Madagascar: Facts and Figures
Local Name Repoblikan'i
Madagasikara (Malagasy), Republique de Madagascar
(French). Area 226,658 sq mi. Population
20.1 million. Capital Antananarivo. Independence
from France Achieved June 26, 1960. |
 Hainan,
which translates to "south of
the seas," is the southernmost and smallest
province of the People's Republic of China.
Although the province consists of about 200
hundred islands in three archipelagos off the
southern coast, with a combined land area of
about 13,100 square miles, Hainan Island accounts
for about 12,700 square miles of that combined
area. |
 Spanish
Civil War, 1936-1939 In
July 1936, Spanish army units stationed in
Morocco proclaimed a revolution against Spain's
government. Most army units in Spain then rose in
revolt, and they soon won control of about a
third of the country. Francisco Franco entered
Madrid in March 1939, and the remaining Loyalist
forces surrendered on April 1st. |
 Republic
of Lebanon: Facts and Figures Local
Name al-Jumhouriya al-Lubnaniya. Area
4,015 sq mi. Population 4,125,247. Capital
Beirut. Gained Independence November 22,
1943 |
 Queen
Victoria ruled for 63
years, from 1837 to 1901, the longest reign of
any British monarch. During her reign, Great
Britain reached the height of its power. The
Victorian Age featured great industrial expansion
at home and imperial expansion abroad. |
 Catherine
de Vivonne, Marquise de Rambouillet established herself at Hôtel de
Rambouillet, in Paris, where she gathered an
impressive array of intellectuals, aristocrats,
and men of letters. The Marquise's salons
resulted in many collections of sonnets and other
literary works that exerted great influence on
French language and literature for an entire
generation. |
 The
Crusades, An Overview The
Crusades were Christian military expditions to
recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. They
began shortly before A.D. 1100 and lasted into
the 1400's. Christians were aroused to organize
the Crusades primarily by religious faith, but
the expeditions were also part of the larger
effort by Europeans to increase their powers,
territory, and riches. |
 U Thant
was an educator-turned-diplomat who served as
Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961
to 1971. In that capacity, he was
instrumental in defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis
and ending the war in the Congo. |
 Moshe
Sharett was one of
the signatories of Israel's Declaration of
Establishment in 1947. As the country's first
Foreign Minister, he established diplomatic
relations with dozens of nations, got Israel into
the United Nations, and signed a reparations
agreement with West Germany in 1952. |
 William
Pitt served as Secretary of State
from 1756 to 1761, and it was in
this capacity that he made his biggest impact on
British history. His policies led to French
defeats in North America, the West Indies, India,
Europe, West Africa, and on the seas, and the
British Empire reached its greatest extent ever. |
