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The combination of good sailing and lousy farming tends to make Greeks try to get a living from the sea.

There are several active volcanoes, and earthquakes are also very common. There is a nervous feeling that there could be a natural disaster at any time. This got the Greeks interested in a particular kind of religion which we call oracles. Oracles are the gods speaking to people, often in the form of minor earthquakes, and the gods tell the people what is going to happen in the future.

There used to be quite a lot of trees on the hillsides of Greece, but people cut most of them down, and now the hills of Greece are mostly bare, or have little bushes on them.

In the medieval world, there was a belief that only miracles were so powerful

full and healthy life for men was making it through early childhood. For women, it was making it past childbearing age.

boy had reached 20 he could hope to live to 45, and if he made it to 30 he had a good chance of making it into his fifties.

Knights might have been professional soldiers but that didn't mean they had to act like one. In the early days of feudalism, knights often ate at the same table as the lords and ladies of the manor

They often belched, spit, and put their feet directly on the dinner table. The refined ladies and lords were appalled. So, a code of honor was drawn up that we now call Chivalry.

This stems from the Medieval Knights Code of Chivalry and the Vows of Knighthood.

The popular statement, " From here to Timbuktu." conjures up images of remote, isolated and distant parts of this earth. Very few people are aware of this ancient city's location, and fewer still ascribe any kind of civilization to this historic area. Timbuktu is located in the western African nation of Mali at the edge of the sahara.

The historic town of Timbuktu is located at the precise point where the Niger flows northward into the southern edge of the desert. As a result of its unique geographical position, Timbuktu has been a natural meeting point of Songhai, Wangara,Fulani, Tuareg and Arabs. According to the inhabitants of Timbuku, gold came from the south, the salt from the north and the Divine knowledge, from Timbuktu. Timbuktu is also the cross-road where "the camel met the canoe." It is to this privilege position that the city owes much of its historical dynamism. From the 11th century and onward, Timbuktu became an important port where goods from West Africa and North Africa were traded.

Goods coming the Mediterranean shores and salt were traded in Timbuktu for gold. The prosperity of the city attracted both black scholars, blacks merchants and Arabs traders from North Africa. Salt, books and gold were very much in demand at that time.

Spartans lived in harsh conditions, without luxuries, to make them tough fighters. Physical training and fitness was considered to be an important part of a Spartan child’s education. Girls did not fight in wars but they took part in physical activities because Spartans believed fit and strong women would have healthy babies that would be good soldiers. Boys went to live at an army barracks at the age of 7. Government Sparta had its own system of government which was very different from the other city states. Rule was shared between two kings, the Gerousia and the Assembly. Most citizens Spartans were either Perioeci (citizens who paid taxes, served in the army and were protected by Spartan laws) or Helots (people from lands conquered and ruled by Sparta who had no rights). The Helots Spartan citizens were given land which was farmed for them by the Helots. The Helots were treated as serfs (slaves) and had to give half their crops to their Spartan master.