including headings Senet in Egypt, Backgammon in Mesopotamia, Egyptian sports, Greek athletics, Olympic games, ...
These activities evoke a warm response, particularly among middle-class Irish families in the towns. The number of branches increases from fifty-eight in 1898 to 600 (with a membership of about 100,000) in 1906. The leag...
Pipes of varying sorts are among the earliest of musical instruments, and pipers must often have imagined a pipe too large for human lungs. A scientist in Alexandria, by the name of Ctesibius, is credited with being the...
Within a mere eighteen months Alexander has cleared the Persians out of Anatolia, which they have held for two centuries. The conqueror now moves south along the coast through present-day Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The p...
At the Hindu new year in 1699 Guru Gobind Singh initiates five of his followers into a fraternity which he names Khalsa ('pure'). Each of them is given a new name, to be followed by Singh ('lion') - a last name shared by...
Icelandic sagas of the 13th century give various versions of how Leif, a son of Eric the Red, comes to spend a winter at a place west of Greenland which he names Vinland (the root vin in old Norse could imply eith...
Napoleon declares in 1806 that Holland is to be a kingdom, with his 28-year-old brother Louis Bonaparte as king. Much to the surprise of the emperor, Louis takes his royal responsiblities seriously and attempts to rule i...
