History

July 3, 2019

Mesmerizing Chinese Tea Ceremony Combines Kung Fu Moves with a Long-Spouted Teapot

There is an art to tea. You might imagine this artistry as being expressed in the blend of the leaves or through the tools in which a cup of it is prepared, but in the Sichuan province of China, there is a performative aspect to enjoying the drink that fuses it with martial art moves. Called kung fu tea or long spout tea performance, it incorporates these movements into how the tea is poured.

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May 30, 2019

7 Facts About Machu Picchu That Show How Incredible the Inca Empire Was

The powerful Inca Empire—the last of the great Andean civilizations—grew out of the Peruvian highlands in the early 13th century. Ruling over a population of 10 million people, they were the last fully formed, indigenous civilization prior to Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. And perhaps nothing is more symbolic of their culture than the great archeological site of Machu Picchu.

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May 15, 2019

These 400-Year-Old Rings Unfold to Reveal Astronomical Spheres

What if you could wear the entire universe on your finger? Since ancient times, astronomers around the world have used models of the sky to make calculations. With the advent of the armillary sphere, stargazers were given a physical model to better visualize the lines of celestial longitude and latitude. Created independently in ancient Greece and ancient China, these armillary spheres consisted of spherical rings centered on either the Earth or the Sun.

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April 23, 2019

Archeologists Discover a Perfectly Preserved 4,000-Year-Old Tomb in Egypt

In Egypt, the archeological discoveries never end. This was made all the more clear by the recent discovery of a colorful tomb in Saqqara, home to some of Egypt's earliest pyramids. The incredibly well-preserved tomb contains vibrant wall paintings that look like they were painted yesterday, when in reality the tomb was created over 4,000 years ago. To celebrate the discovery, Prof.

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