For thousands of years the world had speculated about the origin of the River Nile, but it was not until Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, two experienced explorers, led an expedition to Africa in 1857 that a real attempt was made to solve the problem. The entire journey was complicated from the start by the fact that neither of …
Read More »Who discovered the Mississippi River?
One of the many who went on a vain search for El Dorado was a Spaniard, Hernando de Soto. He set off with a few mounted companions from Florida in 1539 on a journey that was to last for three years. De Soto and his party pushed their way through unexplored territory and in 1541 came to the banks of …
Read More »Who discovered Newfoundland?
John Cabot was an Italian and a native of Venice. When he sailed westwards in the little Matthew, in 1497, however, he flew the banner of St George at his masthead, for he had been sent on a voyage of discovery by England’s King Henry VII. After a crossing of six weeks, land was sighted. Cabot went ashore to claim …
Read More »Who discovered comets? How is the tail formed?
Comets have been known to mankind since eons, hence it cannot be said that comets were discovered by any single individual. A comet, like planets and asteroids, orbits around the sun – with the orbital period varying from a few years to thousands of years. A comet is formed of rock, ice, dust and a few frozen gases like carbon …
Read More »Who came up with the concept of vacuum?
In earlier civilizations, there was much doubt about whether vacuum can exist. Ancient Greeks also did not believe vacuum is possible. In the medieval Islamic world, physicist Ibn al-Haytham supported the existence of a void or vacuum. He mathematically demonstrated that place (al-makan) is the imagined three-dimensional void between the inner surfaces of a containing body. The first suction pump …
Read More »Who are the tallest and shortest people?
The Tutsi of Burundi and Rwanda, who are noted for their dancing and high jumping, are, on average, the world’s tallest people. Men over 183 cm (6ft) in height. The world’s shortest people also live in Central Africa. These are the pygmy hunters and gatherers in the forests. Pygmy women average only 135 cm (4ft5in) and men 137 cm (4ft6in)!
Read More »Who are NEO consumers?
The NEO consumers are new high-value consumers of the new economic order (NEO). It is a newly emerging segment of customers from all age groups, ethnicities, income bands, locations and have high propensity to spend their income on disposable goods. NEO consumers are valuable as they consume constantly and favour a sense of investment, discretionary choices and value added services. …
Read More »Which was the largest battleship ever built?
The greatest of the fighting giants of the sea was the Japanese Yamato. She gave her name to a class four battleships designed to be invincible. Yamato displaced 72,000 tons. Her main armament consisted of nine 45.9 cm guns in triple turrets – overwhelmingly superior to any other battleship in the world. The Yamato was completed soon after the Japanese …
Read More »Which was the first public railway worked entirely by steam locomotive?
On 15 September 1830 a train steamed slowly from Liverpool along the new ‘iron road’ to Manchester – the first in a procession of eight locomotives. The occasion was the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first railway in the world to carry goods and passengers. Cheering crowds greeted the Duke of Wellington as his luxurious coach was …
Read More »Which the deepest spot in the sea?
The Pacific Ocean has the greatest average depth which is 4,281 meter the deepest spot is also in the Pacific Ocean. It is 10,790 meters deep. The second deepest spot is in the Atlantic Ocean. It measures 9,219 meter. But as far as average depth is concerned, Indian Ocean has the second place with a depth of 3,963 meter.
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