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After French failure, U.S. engineers carved a lock‑and‑lake canal across Panama. On 15 August 1914 SS Ancon completed the first transit, slicing 8 000 nautical miles off the New York–San Francisco journey. The canal revolutionised global shipping and cemented American influence in the hemisphere, its locks
quiz:122
Ottoman cannon battered Constantinople’s ancient walls for 53 days until dawn 29 May 1453. Janissaries poured through the breach; Emperor Constantine XI fell in battle and the Byzantine Empire died with him. Istanbul became the Ottoman capital, Greeks fled west with manuscripts that fueled the Renaissance, and Europe sought
quiz:121
Just before dawn on 19 April 1775 seventy‑seven Massachusetts militiamen faced 700 British regulars on Lexington Green. A musket cracked—no one knows whose—and eight colonists lay dead. British troops marched on to Concord but retreated under withering militia fire. The ‘shot heard round the world’ launched the
quiz:120
In October 1347 Genoese galleys brought fleas carrying Yersinia pestis to Sicily. The Black Death raced along trade routes, killing perhaps one‑third of Europe’s population by 1351. Labour shortages weakened serfdom, forests reclaimed fields, and art turned macabre. Out of devastation rose social shifts that helped usher in
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Paris, 14 July 1789. Rumours of hidden gunpowder drew crowds to the medieval Bastille fortress, symbol of royal absolutism. After tense negotiations a nervous shot sparked four hours of chaos until the garrison surrendered. The fortress’s fall electrified France, toppling feudal privileges and birthing a national holiday. Its rubble
quiz:118
Valley of the Kings, 26 November 1922: after years of digging, Howard Carter peered through a chisel hole and gasped at ‘wonderful things’. He had found Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s intact tomb, packed with gilded shrines, chariots and a meteoric‑iron dagger. Over 5 000 artefacts ignited global Tut‑mania, revealing
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quiz:116
The autumn air over southern England crackled with tension as Duke William of Normandy faced King Harold Godwinson at Hastings on 14 October 1066. From dawn to dusk shields splintered and arrows rained while Harold’s weary Saxons held a shield wall atop Senlac Hill. A legendary shaft—said to
quiz:115
On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank, resulting in the loss of more than 1,500 lives. It was one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history and led to significant improvements in maritime safety regulations.
quiz:114
In 1215, King John of England signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede, under pressure from rebellious barons. This document established the principle that everyone, including the king, was subject to the law, laying the groundwork for modern democracy.
quiz:113
Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin in 1928 when he found that mold growing on a petri dish killed surrounding bacteria. His breakthrough led to the development of antibiotics, saving millions of lives and transforming modern medicine.
quiz:112
Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440 revolutionized the way information was spread. His movable-type press made books affordable and accessible, sparking the spread of literacy and the rapid exchange of ideas across Europe.