Social Science Questions & Answers

In 1939-1940, a brutal invasion and occupation by the Soviet Union decimated Estonia. But in 1991, after several years of aggressive political manoeuvring, bold demonstrations and large singing protests, where thousands of Estonians gathered publicly in an effort to end decades of Soviet occupation, Estonia declared its independence. The revolutionary songs they created anchored Estonia’s non-violent struggle for freedom.

The pawnbrokers’ symbol is three spheres suspended from a bar. The three sphere symbol is attributed to the Medici family of Florence, Italy, owing to its symbolic meaning of Lombard. This refers to the Italian province of Lombardy, where pawn shop banking originated under the name of Lombard banking. The three golden spheres were originally the symbol which medieval Lombard …

Navratri is celebrated to worship the goddess Durga. She is the embodiment of Devi, or the supreme goddess. This form of the goddess has nine aspects. Navratri therefore is dedicated to the worship of these aspects. Each form or aspect of the goddess has its own day dedicated to it. The Navratri celebrations are devoted to the worship of the …

Jerusalem Day, called Yom Yerushalayim by the Jews, is the festival celebrated by Israel every year on the 28th day of the Iyar month of the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem by Israel during a sixday war in 1967. Many sites, including Temple Mount, considered holy by the Jews, are located in the …

The term avante garde refers generally to art for the sake of social progress. But sometimes, the term is also used to refer to experimental and innovative art without any specific social purpose. The term is used with the former meaning in Russia, which experienced a great art reform in the period 1917-1932 in the wake of the Russian revolution. …

The Priory of Sion is a very obscure group whose presence has not been established with concrete evidence. Papers relating to their existence were found in 1975 at Paris Bibliothhque Nationale, which named Da Vinci and Isaac Newton among its Grand Masters. According to the most popular theory, it is believed that the priory started out as an administrative wing …

Prague Spring refers to the period of liberalisation in Czechoslovakia from January 5, 1968 to August 21, 1968 under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek who controlled the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In April 1968, agricultural and industrial reforms were instituted, a new constitution with a guarantee of civil rights and greater freedom of press was introduced with the announcement of …

A homo erectus species, Peking Man fossils were discovered between 1929 and 1937 in the Lower Cave at the Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian, near Beijing, in China. They included 14 partial craniums, 11 lower jaws, teeth, some skeletal bones and many stone tools. Archaeologists date them between 500,000 and 300,000 years old. A number of fossils of modern humans …

The word cocktail was used in 1806 and is of American origin. Bartenders would drain the dregs of all the barrels and mix them together, serving the resultant muddle at a reduced price. Cock was another name for spigot, and tailings is the last bit of alcohol, so this drink was called cock-tailings, quickly shortened to “cocktail”.

The term horse trading, which came into usage around 1820, owes its origin to the notorious shrewdness of horse traders who bought and sold horses. As per Macmillan English Dictionary, it means difficult and sometimes dishonest discussions between people who are trying to reach an agreement. In political parlance, it implies any long drawnout negotiation characterised by hard bargaining and …