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Leonardo da Vinci was an artist, scientist, and inventor during the Italian Renaissance. He is considered by many to be one of the most talented and intelligent people of all time. The term Renaissance Man (someone who does many things very well) was coined from Leonardo's many talents and is today used to describe people who resemble da Vinci.

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Christopher Columbus is the explorer who is credited for discovering America. Of course, there were already people living in America at the time who we call Native Americans. There even was a European, Leif Ericsson, who had been to the Americas before. However, it was Columbus' voyage that started the exploration and colonization of the Americas

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Young Caesar soon found himself in the middle of a power struggle between two factions in the government. The current dictator of Rome, Sulla, was enemies with both Caesar's uncle Marius and Caesar's father in-law Cinna. Caesar joined the army and left Rome in order to avoid Sulla and his allies.

When Sulla died, Caesar returned to Rome. He was now a military hero from his years in the army. He quickly rose up the ranks in the Roman government. He made allies with powerful men such as the general Pompey the Great and the wealthy Crassus. Caesar was an excellent speaker and the people of Rome loved him.

At the age of 40 Julius Caesar was elected to consul. Consul was the highest ranking position in the Roman Republic. The consul was like a president, but there were two consuls and they only served for one year. At the end of his year as consul, Caesar became governor of the province of Gaul. As governor of Gaul, Caesar was in charge of four Roman legions. He was a very effective governor and general. He conquered all of Gaul. He gained the respect and honor from his army and soon was considered alongside Pompey as the greatest general in the Roman army.

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He was walking in a storm when he got on his knees and begged to gd to let him live and he would devote his life to him.

Martin Luther becomes a monk but began to question the practices of the Catholic Church as he studied the Bible. He found many areas where he felt the Bible and the Catholic Church disagreed. On October 31, 1517 he took a list of 95 points where he thought the Church had gone wrong and nailed it to the door of a Catholic Church

The church brought him to court and had him excommunicated

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The Opium Wars were two minor wars fought between China and Great Britain (primarily) over the opium trade in China. They took place during the middle of the 1800s near the end of the Qing Dynasty. Some historians consider the Opium Wars to be the start of the modern era in China

What caused the wars.

During the end of the Qing Dynasty, China exported many goods to European countries including tea, silk, and porcelain. At the same time, China didn't import many goods. China mostly kept to itself and only allowed foreign traders to trade through certain ports.

In order to create a new market in China, British traders with the British East India Company started to import opium into China. Opium is a very addictive drug and was illegal in China. However, as more and more Chinese became addicted to opium, British traders began to make a lot of money selling opium to China.

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Life as a farmer

The majority of the people in Ancient China were peasant farmers. Although they were respected for the food they provided for the rest of the Chinese, they lived tough and difficult lives.

The typical farmer lived in a small village of around 100 families. They worked small family farms. Although they had plows and sometimes used animals like dogs and oxen to do the work, most of the work was done by hand.

Food

The type of food that people ate depended on where they were living. In the north the main crop was a grain called millet and in the south the main crop was rice. Eventually rice became the main staple for much of the country. Farmers also kept animals such as goats, pigs, and chickens. People that lived close to the rivers ate fish as well.

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The Empire of Mali was located in Western Africa. It grew up along the Niger River and eventually spread across 1,200 miles from the city of Gao to the Atlantic Ocean. It's northern border was just south of the Sahara Desert. It covered regions of the modern day African countries of Mali, Niger, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, and The Gambia.

Although there were many small tribes and cultural groups within the Mali Empire, most of these groups were considered part of the Mande peoples. The Mande peoples spoke similar languages and had similar cultures. People were divided into castes. One of the most respected castes were the farmers. Farmers were highly regarded because they provided food. Just below the farmers were the artisans. Other groups included fishermen, scribes, civil servants, soldiers, and slaves.

The religion of Islam was an important part of the Mali Empire. However, even though the kings, or Mansas, had converted to Islam, they did not force their subjects to convert. Many people practiced a version of Islam that combined Islamic beliefs with the local traditions.

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The Empire of Ghana was located in Western Africa in what is today the countries of Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali. The region lies just south of the Sahara Desert and is mostly savanna grasslands. Major rivers in the region such as the Gambia River, Senegal River, and the Niger River served as the means of transportation and trade.

The capital city of Ancient Ghana was Koumbi Saleh. This is where the King of Ghana lived in his royal palace. Archeologists estimate that up to 20,000 people lived in and around the capital city.

Around 1050 CE, the Empire of Ghana began to come under pressure from the Muslims to the north to convert to Islam. The Kings of Ghana refused and soon came under constant attacks from Northern Africa. At the same time, a group of people called the Susu broke free of Ghana. Over the next few hundred years, Ghana weakened until it eventually became part of the Mali Empire.

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The Ancient Egyptians used picture words to write called hieroglyphics. It is a very old form of writing that they starting using as early as 3000 B.C. Hieroglyphics was a very complicated way of writing involving 1000s of symbols. Some of the symbols represented sounds, like our letters, and other's represented entire words.

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The ancient Egyptian civilization begins. The first pharaoh of Egypt, Menes, united the Upper and Lower parts of Egypt into a single civilization. He put the capitol at the midpoint of the two lands in a city called Memphis. During this time the Egyptians developed hieroglyphic writing which would be important for making records and running the government.

Near the end of the Dynastic Period and the start of the Old Kingdom, the first pyramid is built by the Pharoah Djoser and the famous Egyptian architect Imhotep.

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Roman sculpture played an important part of the Roman daily life. Sculptures took the form of full statues, busts (sculptures of just a person's head), reliefs (sculptures that were part of a wall), and sarcophagi (sculptures on tombs). The Ancient Romans decorated with sculptures in a number of places including public buildings, public parks, and private homes and gardens.

Roman sculpture was heavily influenced by Greek sculpture. In fact, many of the Roman sculptures were just copies of Greek sculptures. The wealthy Romans decorated their large homes with sculptures. A lot of times these sculptures were of themselves or their ancestors. Other popular subjects for sculptures included gods and goddesses, philosophers, famous athletes, and successful generals.

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Ancient Rome was a powerful and important civilization that ruled much of Europe for nearly 1000 years. The culture of Ancient Rome was spread throughout Europe during its rule. As a result, Rome's culture still has an impact in the Western world today. The basis for much of Western culture comes from Ancient Rome, especially in areas such as government, engineering, architecture, language, and literature.

Rome first grew into power as a Republic. This meant that Rome's leaders, such as senators, were elected officials that served for a limited amount of time, not kings who were born into leadership and ruled for life. They had a complex government with written laws, a constitution, and a balance of powers. These concepts became very important in forming future democratic governments, like the United States.

The Republic would rule Rome for hundreds of years from around 509 BC to 45 BC.

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The Greeks had numerous gods and many stories and myths that surrounded them. Greek mythology consists of all the stories and tales about the Greek gods, goddesses, and heroes. It is also the religion of Ancient Greece as the Greeks built temples and offered sacrifices to their major gods.

The Titans were the first or elder gods. There were twelve of them including the parents of Zeus, Cronus and Rhea. They ruled during what was called the golden age. They were overthrown by their children, led by Zeus.

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The Ancient Greeks had a unique style of architecture that is still copied today in government buildings and major monuments throughout the world. Greek architecture is known for tall columns, intricate detail, symmetry, harmony, and balance. The Greeks built all sorts of buildings. The main examples of Greek architecture that survive today are the large temples that they built to their gods.

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The French Revolution lasted 10 years from 1789 to 1799. It began on July 14, 1789 when revolutionaries stormed a prison called the Bastille. The revolution came to an end 1799 when a general named Napoleon overthrew the revolutionary government and established the French Consulate (with Napoleon as leader).

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Monarchy is a political system in which supreme authority is vested in the monarch, an individual ruler who functions as head of state. It typically acts as a political-administrative organization and as a social group of nobility known as “court society".

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The Catholic Church became very rich and powerful during the Middle Ages. People gave the church 1/10th of their earnings in tithes. They also paid the church for various sacraments such as baptism, marriage, and communion. People also paid penances to the church. The wealthy often gave the church land.

Eventually, the church owned about one third of the land in Western Europe. Because the church was considered independent, they did not have to pay the king any tax for their land. Leaders of the church became rich and powerful. Many nobles became leaders such as abbots or bishops in the church.

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A monk named Martin Luther began to question the practices of the Catholic Church as he studied the Bible. He found many areas where he felt the Bible and the Catholic Church disagreed. On October 31, 1517 Luther took a list of 95 points where he thought the Church had gone wrong and nailed it to the door of a Catholic Church. Afterwards they brought him to court and he was excommunicated

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The Renaissance was a period of time from the 14th to the 17th century in Europe. This era bridged the time between the Middle Ages and modern times. The word "Renaissance" means "rebirth". The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy and spread to other city-states in Italy. Part of the reason it began in Italy was because of the history of Rome and the Roman Empire. Another reason it began in Italy was because Italy had become very wealthy and the wealthy were willing to spend their money supporting artists and geniuses.

City-states played a big role in the rule of Italy at the time. They were often ruled by a powerful family. Some important city-states included Florence, Milan, Venice, and Ferrara.

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Hinduism  is an Indian religion or dharma, a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus.