Karen Hill 
The word “civilization” is used to describe a society with a complicated political and social structure and distinguished by great achievements in art, architecture, scholarship, and technological know-how. The word civilization comes from the Latin civilis, meaning civil, related to the Latin civis, meaning citizen, and civitas, meaning city or city-state. The level of advancement … Read more
Mesoamerica is an area that includes central Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and portions of Honduras and Nicaragua. From about 1200 B.C. to A.D. 1500, the region was home to many of the greatest Indian civilizations, including the Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural … Read more
Before non-natives arrived in North America, Cahokia was the largest urban center north of present-day Mexico. Located near what is now St. Louis, Missouri, this Mississippian town was at its height in about 1100. It then stretched across more than 200 acres and was the home of nearly 40,000 people. The center also was visited … Read more
The Adena and Hopewell built mounds as sites to bury their dead. The Mississippians continued this tradition, but they also built a new type of mound, large pyramids with flat tops. The tops of the mounds were places where religious leaders lived and performed rituals. Some later mounds were made as fortifications to keep enemies … Read more
The Northwest Passage was a waterway rumored to run through northern Canada and connect the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans wanted to use the Northwest Passage as a short route to China, where traders could make a fortune selling European goods. In the late 1500s, the first of a series … Read more
Hernando de Sow was a Spanish explorer who came to the Southeast in 1539 looking for gold and other riches. He and his 600 men were the first non-Indians to meet most of the tribes there. The encounters were often violent. De Soto’s men tried to kill or enslave many of the Indians they came … Read more
The most famous and well-preserved effigy mound, called the Great Serpent Mound, is located near present-day Peebles, Ohio, where it can still be seen today. Dating from the time of the Adena Culture, the mound is about 5 feet tall, 20 feet across, and nearly a mile long. From the air, it looks like a … Read more
The Adena were the first Mound Builders. From about 500 B.C. to A.D. 200, they lived in a large area that covered much of present-day Ohio and Pennsylvania and portions of what are now Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New York State. They built villages of cone-shaped houses made from poles and bark and obtained … Read more
The Mound Builders were the people of three early Native American cultures, the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian, that grew up in what is now the central United States from between 500 B.C. and A.D. 1500. They are called Mound Builders because of the most spectacular feature of their villages, enormous structures made by piling earth … Read more
In about 1300, the Anasazi suffered a severe drought. Without enough rainfall to grow crops, small groups in search of food gradually left their large villages. Over time, many resettled along the Rio Grande and its tributaries. The descendants of these people are the Pueblo Indians, who still live in New Mexico and Arizona. Anasazi … Read more
The Anasazi were called Cliff Dwellers because some of their largest buildings were built into the walls of cliffs. The most impressive was at Mesa Verde in what is now southwestern Colorado. The great Cliff Palace there was home to about 250 people. One of the first non-natives to see the ruins of Cliff Palace, … Read more
The Anasazi lived in many villages separated from one another by deep canyons. Although the villages were fairly isolated from one another, the Anasazi built a great system of roads so that they could gather together at Chaco Canyon to trade. By about 1050, this massive village was the home of nearly 5,000 people. Much … Read more
The Anasazi developed the most advanced early Native American culture in the Southwest. Beginning in about a.d. 100, they lived in the Four Corners area, where the present-day states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. Archaeologists call the earliest stage of Anasazi culture the Basket Making period. During this time, the Anasazi learned … Read more
By about 1500, the Hohokam had abandoned their large villages. Although no one knows why for sure, a drought probably made it impossible to grow enough corn to feed large village populations. The Hohokam likely broke into smaller groups who became the ancestors of the Akimel O’odham and Tohono O’odham (also known as the Pima … Read more
Casa Grande, meaning “great house” in Spanish, was built by the Hohokam in about 1325. Located near what is now Florence, Arizona, it was a huge four-story building with a 35-foot tower in the center. The walls were made from bricks of clay called adobe, and the roof was reinforced with great wooden beams that … Read more
In about A.D. 300, people now known as the Hohokam first established large villages along the Gila and Salt Rivers in what is now southern Arizona. They became successful farmers by digging hundreds of miles of trenches to draw river water to their fields. Their crops included corn, beans, squash, and cotton. Originally, the Hohokam … Read more
The first Native Americans farmers lived in what is now Mexico. In about 5500 B.C., they learned how to grow squash, avocados, and beans. But their greatest achievement was crossing several strains of wild corn to create a new type of corn plant, one that could grow tall and strong in their hot climate. By … Read more
A culture is a collection of customs and beliefs that make up a group’s way of life. It includes the language the people speak, the beings they worship, the ways they obtain food, the houses they build, the clothing they wear, and the weapons they make to defend themselves and their culture from outsiders. People … Read more
As the final ice age came to an end, the weather in North America became warmer. Over many centuries, the descendants of the people who crossed the Bering land bridge traveled farther and farther south, then east. They were always searching for new animals to hunt, in part because the weather changes were causing the … Read more
According to the creation story of the Navajo tribe, the Navajo passed through three worlds, the Black World, the Blue-Green World, and the Yellow World, before coming to their southwestern homeland, the Glittering World. Some scholars believe this story confirms their own theory that these early people traveled through the Arctic to central Canada and … Read more
The first Native Americans in North America were hunters who roamed in small bands following their prey. North America then was the home of many huge beasts, including elephant-like mastodons, great woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed tigers. Humans became adept at chipping stones to make razor-sharp spear points and arrow points that could penetrate the rough … Read more
Scientists believe that the first Native Americans came from Asia about 12,000 to 60,000 years ago, when the earth experienced a series of ice ages. With each, much of the earth’s waters froze, and in some places the land underneath was exposed. One such area was the Bering Strait. Now a strip of water between … Read more
One source of information about the first Native Americans is the work of archaeologists and anthropologists (scholars who study human societies). Archaeologists digging in areas where the first North Americans lived have found bones, tools, and other things the Native Americans left behind. By examining these objects, archaeologists and anthropologists have been able to piece … Read more
Chocolate comes from the cacao tree which has been cultivated since 1100 BC in Mexico, Central and South America. We now know that the Aztecs made chocolate beverages called xocolātl, which means “bitter water” in Nahuatl. Chocolate was used in Maya and Aztec royal and religious rituals, and the oldest known cultivation of cacao was … Read more
The smallest planet in the solar system is the planet Mercury. Also the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is about 20 times smaller than Earth and orbits the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. Although bright, Mercury is not easily seen from Earth as it is normally lost in the glare of the Sun. … Read more
Japan’s population is expected to drop to 95 million by 2050. In 2011 about 127,960,000 lived in Japan, and in the 2010 census the population of Japan was 128,056,026. Yup, that means the country’s population decreased. The main reason for the decline can be blamed on a low birth rate, Japan’s birth rate has been … Read more
The domestic goat is a subspecies from the wild goat that came from Eastern Europe and Asia. One of the oldest domesticated species of animals, goats have been bred by humans for their milk, meat, skin, and fur. There are over three hundred different breeds of goat, and they are closely related to sheep. The … Read more
Apples are fruits that grow on small, deciduous trees. The cultivated apple species, also known as Malus pumila or the ‘sweet’ apple, originated in the Tien Shan mountain range in Asia. The fruit can still be found in the region and has been a favorite snack for brown bears for thousands of years. The apple … Read more
Typically, it is a chain of ganglia (aggregations of nerve cells) that extends from the head to the end of the abdomen, one ganglion per segment. The ganglia are joined by paired, longitudinal connectives that consist mainly of nerve fibers. The three most complex ganglia constitute the brain, located in the head above the esophagus. … Read more
Parasites of insects have evolved several ways, mainly biochemical mechanisms, to prevent their hosts from encapsulating them. It was also recently discovered that certain parasitic wasps that live in the body cavity of an insect as larvae have enlisted an outside agent, a virus, to do this job for them. This virus, specifically known as … Read more
Molts divide an insect’s life into stages that are known as stadia. Between hatching from its egg and its first molt, an insect is in the first stadium and is known as the first instar. Between the first and second molts, the second stadium, it is known as the second instar, and so on until … Read more
As do all other bees, including the solitary, subsocial, and eusocial species, adult honey bees eat pollen, nectar, and occasionally the honeydew produced by aphids and other species of Homoptera. They store both pollen and nectar, the latter in the form of honey, in their nests for future use. Pollen is their source of proteins, … Read more
Most of them, like many other insects, are poisonous and make any animal that eats them ill. While some insects synthesize their own poisons, monarchs sequester poisons, cardiac glycosides, from the milkweed plants that they eat in their caterpillar stage. Cardiac glycosides, which are related to digitalis, a drug used to treat heart problems, are … Read more
The individual butterfly that is eaten does not, of course, benefit directly from its toxicity, but other members of a victim’s species do benefit from its sacrifice. Poisonous species are generally warningly colored, as is the orange and black monarch butterfly, and may present other warning signals that predators learn to associate with an unpleasant … Read more
In a series of masterful experiments, Lincoln Brower and his colleagues proved that monarchs obtain poisons (cardiac glycosides) from their food plants, that these poisons make birds ill, and that birds that have been sickened by eating a monarch thereafter reject monarchs on sight. He raised some monarchs on a species of milkweed that does … Read more
Isaiah Berlin developed the distinction in his 1958 inaugural address as Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford University. Negative liberty is the absence of constraints or interference with individual action, as in a person being free to vote, write a book, or study ballroom dancing. Positive liberty is the human capacity for … Read more
Parents of a preschooler know that games are not always fun. A young child often insists on playing by her own rules and gets upset if she loses. This typical preschool behavior can make it difficult for you and your child to genuinely enjoy playing games. It takes time, often not until the kindergarten years, … Read more
“Look! I’m jumping off the diving board.” “Dad, watch me ride my bike.” “Watch me do a cartwheel.” Children constantly ask their parents to pay attention. Even in the car, a child will ask a parent who’s driving to look at a picture in his book or watch him make faces in the mirror. He … Read more
Young children generally follow their parents’ lead when it comes to believing in imaginary characters. If parents encourage their child to believe the tooth fairy is real, she’s likely to go along with them. And if parents tell their child there’s no such thing as the tooth fairy, she’ll probably accept that as fact. Of … Read more
Everyone likes to touch interesting and attractive objects. Adults in stores are drawn to gadgets they can manipulate and products they can pick up and feel. Children also want to handle what they see in stores, but many store owners and parents are too impatient or fearful to let children touch. Touching is one of … Read more
If you are worried about aluminum in your child’s vaccines, you can ask your doctor which brand of certain vaccines he or she carries. For example, the Infanrix brand of the DTaP vaccine contains 625 micrograms of aluminum, while the Daptacel brand only contains 330 and the Tripedia brand only contains 170. As for the … Read more
Unfortunately, some vaccines are not as effective in infants as they are in older children. For example, if the HiB vaccine is given to infants, you need a series of two or three doses to provide adequate protection. However, if the HiB vaccine was not given to an infant but is then given to a … Read more
Several vaccines were developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Waldemar Haffkine, a Russian microbiologist who spent much of his time in India, developed a vaccine for cholera in 1892 and a vaccine for bubonic plague in 1897. Given the millions of people who have died over the centuries from these diseases, these two … Read more
A microorganism is a living entity that is so small it can only be seen with the aid of a microscope. A pathogen is an organism that causes disease. Examples of pathogens include bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Note that a pathogen does not have to be a microorganism; some parasitic worms cause disease and … Read more
You’ll find that the rice flours are as common to gluten-free baking as wheat flour is to traditional baking. There are subtle differences between these three flours, primarily with respect to baking performance. From a dietary fiber and protein perspective they are similar to each other, except that brown rice flour has approximately forty fewer … Read more
Not widely recognized in the United States, sorghum is the world’s third largest grain crop. As a whole grain, sorghum is also known as milo or kafir and is a key ingredient in regions of India and Africa. Sorghum grains are small and bead-like with a beige color. Like millet, sorghum is bland and dry, … Read more
Once again, a gluten-free diet has the power to bring international flavor, tradition, and culture into the North American gluten-free kitchen with ingredients that you may never have otherwise discovered. One of the lesser known gluten-free ingredients, ragi is a gluten-free cereal grass that is not regularly mentioned in the lineup of gluten-free grains that … Read more
Well loved for its nutrition, taste, texture, and culinary versatility, quinoa is a gem in the repertoire of gluten-free grains. A time-honored food staple of South America and an essential food of the ancient Incas, quinoa is packed with cultural significance and history. Scientifically speaking, quinoa is a seed, but it’s commonly referred to in … Read more
Gluten is a funny-sounding word, but it will become one of the most important words in your vocabulary. It sounds like glue, and it acts like glue. Most people, unless they are a chef or baker, don’t know what gluten is. So, if you have never heard of gluten before, you’re not alone. But this … Read more
Weddings are happy occasions, but the physical and emotional demands of a wedding can provoke your body’s stress reaction, releasing damaging stress hormones into your brain and triggering your depression. Some other pleasant occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, and vacations can initiate the stress response as well. It really does not matter whether an event is … Read more
Prozac (generic name: fluoxetine) was one of the first new antidepressants classified as an SSRI, and it is still popular. Prozac helps the body increase serotonin at low doses and norepinephrine at higher doses. Research has also demonstrated that, like most antidepressants, Prozac helps the brain produce more of the natural neurochemicals that heal brain … Read more
Cultural beliefs about mental illness can significantly impact how an individual, and his family, views bipolar disorder. In some Asian cultures, the stigma of mental illness is quite severe, and having a mental illness can be viewed as shameful (loss of face). Certain religious groups will have strong beliefs against the taking of medications (Christian … Read more
Just as going away to college coincides with a high-risk, high-stress period for developing bipolar disorder, so too is enlisting in the military in the late teens and early twenties a recipe for a susceptible individual to have their first episode. The stresses of: boot camp, sleep deprivation, communal living, new surroundings, possibly leaving home … Read more
The recovery model, or philosophy, has much in common with the harm reduction approach. Fueled by dissatisfaction with the status quo and the paternalistic “trust me, I’m a doctor” medical model, the recovery model is about giving control back to the person with the psychiatric disability and/or coexisting substance disorder. In the recovery model, the … Read more
Every medication is unique in terms of how long it stays in the body. The term “half-life” is used describe the length of time it takes the body to clear/eliminate/metabolize 50 percent of a dose. This concept leads to the goal of a “steady state,” which is where the daily dose equals what the body … Read more
Periodic blood work is a fact of life with lithium, as with many other medications. Prior to starting lithium, it’s typical to check the following: Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate) Thyroid function tests Measures of renal function (blood urea nitrogen/creatinine, aka BUN/CR) A complete blood count Pregnancy test in women of child-bearing age (Lithium can … Read more
The answer to this question seems obvious: homework helps children learn. However, this simple answer is incomplete and not exactly accurate. Homework should serve different purposes, depending on your child’s grade level and individual abilities. For primary grades, homework is largely used to improve reading and to review skills taught in class. Intermediate grade students … Read more
Picasso did smoke, and he credited cigar smoke with saving his life. The story that he told was that he had been born grey and wasn’t breathing. The midwife thought he was dead, but luckily an uncle, who was a doctor, decided to try something desperate, he blew cigar smoke into the infant’s nose. The … Read more
Pablo Picasso was an amazing and prolific painter. However, unlike Michelangelo, who was also an accomplished poet, or Leonardo, who dabbled brilliantly in the fields of science, math, philosophy, and music, Picasso’s genius in painting did not overlap into other fields. For example, when he tried his hand at writing plays, he took just four … Read more
Of the world’s famous painters, Rembrandt painted the most self portraits, with 62 self-portraits. Vincent van Gogh is number two, with 40. He had a good excuse, though, while institutionalized for madness, he didn’t have models or landscape views available. One of his portraits is Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, painted in the mental institution not … Read more
The Buick Motor Company originated as the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company in 1899, and was named after David Buick. He had the bad luck and poor business sense to found two successful companies and sell them both before reaping the rewards. By the end of his life, he couldn’t even afford a telephone in … Read more
It’s true that the Ford Company was offered the Volkswagen plant for free after World War II, but turned it down. The occupying British army offered the Volkswagen factory and car model first to British firms and then to the Ford Motor Company. They all turned it down. Company president Henry Ford II wanted to … Read more
To get a one year assignment as a hotdogger, you have to be a recent college graduate, preferably in the field of communications, journalism, advertising, or public relations. Be aware, though, that competition is stiff. The company gets about 1,000 applicants a year. For the 1999-2000 year, they hired 21 hotdoggers, 15 of them women. … Read more
Most early cars could barely beat a man on foot. But the Stanley Steamer, invented by daredevil twin brothers Francis and Freelan Stanley, could go quite a bit faster. In fact, the two men risked their lives regularly by partaking in knuckle whitening speed trials. At a time when gas powered cars were rasping and … Read more
Two different studies indicate that bright yellow and bright blue are the most visible colors for a car. The University of California found that of the two colors, yellow shows up best at night, blue in fog and daylight. A test by Mercedes-Benz same conclusion, but came up with the suggested that white might be … Read more
The statistic that 75% of all fatal auto accidents occur within 25 miles of home is quite alarming. It does make it sound like there’s a bubble of danger around your own home, or that you’ll be safe if only you’re willing to stay more than 25 miles from your house. The truth behind the … Read more
The love story surrounding the Taj Mahal is true, but certain facts are generally left out. Here’s the oft-told romantic tale: Indian mogul Shah Jahan was deeply in love with his one of his four wives, whom he called Mumtaz Mahal, or “Ornament of the Palace.” In 1631, Mumtaz, on her death bed, asked Shah … Read more
The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. has 365 steps, one representing every day of the year. If you’re patient, you can count as you climb to find the step that represents your birthday. Unless, of course, you were born on February 29, sorry. The word “Capitol” comes from Latin, meaning city on a hill and … Read more
There are several bridges over the Thames, which flows through London. In fact, the bridge in question is only one of several bridges that have been named London Bridge through history. After the wooden London Bridge was torn down by the Danes in 1014, city leaders were determined that the next London Bridge would be … Read more
The Sphinx is the giant statue of a lion with the face of the pharoah Khafre that guards the pyramids. You may have heard a story of what happened to the Sphinx’s nose, that somebody or other shot it off. But this is just an old legend, and with each telling the culprit changes. Some … Read more
Neither the popcorn nor the peanut is the Jack in Cracker Jack. F. W. Rueckheim was a German immigrant who’d made a name for himself in Chicago as a popcorn vendor. His little shop on Federal Street dealt in popcorn, taffy, marshmallows, peanuts, caramels, and other treats. When he decided to mix various popular ingredients … Read more
Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson on Mount Rushmore all have the biggest faces, and win by a nose. The boys on Mount Rushmore each have faces about 60 feet tall. The Sphinx’s face is about half that size, and Liberty’s is only about two-thirds the size of the Sphinx’s face. The … Read more
In 1923, South Dakota’s tourism board got the idea to carve western heroes Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and John Colter into a mountain to attract out-of-state tourists. They approached John Gutzon Borglum, who had just accepted a commission to carve Robert E. Lee on the side of Georgia’s Stone Mountain. Borglum hated the idea of … Read more
Ritzy was what the National Biscuit Company had in mind back in 1934 when the Ritz cracker was invented. The company took a regular cracker recipe, took out the yeast, and added more shortening. When the cracker was finished baking, it was slathered with coconut oil and dashed with salt. Because it looked shinier and … Read more
Pork rinds, or pork cracklin’s, are made from pig skin left over from processing pork. They are dropped into a deep fat fryer until they are crispy and crackling. Most of the fat from the pork rind is melted when fried. Pork rinds can also be cooked with beans or used in soups and stews … Read more
Chitterlings, or “chitlins,” are pig intestines. Seen in Southern stores alongside pig snouts and pig feet, either pickled in jars or fresh at the butcher counter, this homey ingredient has recently made its way onto the menus of upscale restaurants in Europe and New York. Like so many soul food dishes, it’s become quite trendy … Read more
They have pommes frites (pronounced “pum fritt”) in France, which are basically what Americans call “French fries.” The American term French Fries reportedly came, it is believed, from Thomas Jefferson. He brought a recipe for fried potato sticks back to the colonies and referred to them as “Potatoes, fried in the French manner.” The phrase … Read more
The orange stuff on Cheetos is a combination of various dyes and seasonings, and it’s the only part of Cheetos that has any cheese whatsoever in it. Like similar products, the main part of these “cheese” coated chip products is not cheese but a cornmeal concoction. The cornmeal, with whey and oil added, is mixed … Read more
Pepsi got its name from one of its main ingredients, pepsin, a substance used to relieve indigestion. When pharmacist Caleb Bradham concocted the kola nut, pepsin, sugar, and vanilla mixture in 1893, he called it Brad’s Drink. When it became popular, he changed the name in 1903 and began the PepsiCola company. Bradham, who was … Read more
The double stick Popsicle was introduced during the Depression so that a Popsicle could be shared. Deliberately breaking a double down the middle produces two single Popsicles. Although there aren’t too many Americans who can’t spring for their own Popsicle these days, the idea of sharing this icy treat is still appealing.
Hostess Sno Balls are spongy half-domes of cake and marshmallow, and traditionally come in white and pink. But the Hostess company isn’t beyond surprising consumers with special colors on holidays or for special events. For example, when the Broncos made the NFL play-offs, the Hostess bakery in Denver filled each package with one orange and … Read more
Moxie soda, which originated as a patent medicine called “Moxie Nerve Food”, is bitter tasting because it contains Gentian Root. The soft drink has a shockingly bitter aftertaste, credited with leading to the noun moxie, meaning “spunk”, as in “you’ve got moxie.” Some describe the taste as being “like Dr. Pepper with a wicked after … Read more
Unlike Dr. Brown, Dr. Pepper was very much a real person, Dr. Kenneth Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia. The story goes that the founder and creator of the Dr. Pepper Company, Wade Morrison, got his first job at Pepper’s pharmacy in the 1880s. Morrison eventually left and settled in Waco, Texas, where he opened his … Read more
It has been a rumor since the 1930s that Dr. Pepper is made out of prune juice, but it’s not true. Prune juice has never been in Dr. Pepper. So what is the flavor? According to inside sources, the original soda jerk who concocted the brew was looking to duplicate the sweet smells of a … Read more
The extract from the yucca plant makes root beer foam more than other soft drinks. Not all commercial root beer companies add this, though. Some are downright ornery when it comes to the subject of froth. Barq’s, for instance, decided to focus more heavily on carbonation instead of worrying about frothiness. Rick Hill, a Barq’s … Read more
Here is the order in which Snoopy’s brothers and sisters were introduced in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip: Spike, Belle, Marbles, Olaf, and Andy. Once, Snoopy’s father received a Father’s Day card from “all eight” of his kids, so there are two more whose names we don’t know. The original drawings of Snoopy were inspired … Read more
Postum is a drink made of bran and molasses that was originally concocted as a substitute for coffee and a digestive aid. C. W. Post created Postum in 1895, then had to convince people to buy and consume Postum instead of coffee. So he did what every desperate businessman would do: scared the bejeebers out … Read more
You would think that Chock Full o’Nuts would be called Chock Full o’ Beans, wouldn’t you? Chock Full o’ Nuts coffee got its name from the fact that the company used to be a nut business. William Black sold nuts from a street pushcart in the mid-1920s, but sales slowed to the point where he … Read more
You would think Fruit Smack would have been a better name for Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins and his wife Kitty in Hastings, Nebraska, United States. Perkins wanted to do what Jell-O had done, so he kept concocting until he came up with a powdered concentrate for his fruit-flavored drink. He named it … Read more
Duke Ellington’s real name was Edward Kennedy Ellington, a successful big-band leader and composer of more than 2,000 musical works, got his noble nickname because he had a dignified bearing. The name may have been influenced by its similarity to “the Duke of Wellington,” who was famous in schoolbooks for defeating Napoleon in the 1800s. … Read more
