How to make life from grass:
While Genghis Khan was on his conquest of the known world, he discovered that in many areas, the terrain made it very difficult to gather food and drink.
Initially, this was a minor issue as the army of Genghis had packed enough to last them. But over time resources started to deplete.
When another great conqueror, Alexander the Great faced a similar issue, he was forced to burn his treasury and order his officials to do the same to save space for resources.
However, Genghis did not have to do the same, because he realised that he could fuel his army with grass.
While the army of Genghis Khan starved, his horses were well fed on the grass around them. The Mongolians used this to their advantage. They fed themselves on the milk and meat of these horses. So, in a way, Genghis could not have built his vast empire without grass.
Genghis Khan is believed by most to be the most brilliant leader in all of history. In the words of British historian John Man - Genghis needed magic social skills, persuasiveness, and a high yet flexible sense of morality to sculpt himself as history's most successful conqueror.
Using just this and his vision for a world unified under his name, Genghis was able to in just 40 years from an outcast build the largest land empire. Four times the size of that of Alexander the great's and twice as big as that of Rome.
Today, Genghis's brutal ways and his superior skills, make us wonder whether building modern corporate unicorns or persuading thousands and millions to go into war can both be called leadership?
At the age of 32, Alexander the Great had conquered the entire known world at the time amounting to 2 million square miles. However, before he could conquer more, after falling ill he mysteriously died. Till today this has been history's greatest mystery.
Since then, historians have debated the causes of his death. Rumours of causes of his death include malaria, typhus, alcohol poisoning, and murder. However, in a new theory, it is believed that Alexander died due to a neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).
Guillain-Barre Syndrome occurs when the immune system attacks the nerves. This condition might be triggered by an acute viral infection. Many believe that because of this condition Alexander was paralysed and announced dead before he actually was.
How a mispronounced word re-named a country:
Marco Polo was an Italian explorer known for helping the Mongol emperor of China, Kublai Khan on expanding his realm.
He became the most important explorer in the court of Kublai Khan. Today, he is credited for being one of the most influential explorers of all time.
When Marco Polo visited the Island of Mogadishu, Somalia, he mispronounced Mogadishu as 'Madagascar'.
The word Algebra's history dates way back 825 AD to the Islamic golden age. The Islamic golden age was an intellectual primetime in the Middle East centred in Baghdad.
During this time, many great Arabic scholars rose. A library known as the House of Wisdom was established to translate essential works of literature from diverse languages, including Chinese and Sanskrit, into Arabic.
During this time, many of the greatest intellects in history rose to their peak. This included the great Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, who is known for translating the Greek philosopher Aristotle's works.
Happy International Tea Day! Tea was cultivated in China as early as around 4000 BC or 1500 years before the Great Pyramids of Egypt were built.
But before tea evolved to become the beverage it is today, it was initially eaten as a vegetable or cooked with grain porridge. Tea shifted from being food to a drink around 1500 years ago.
Later through history tea would evolve into different types and flavours like Masala tea, Lemon tea, Apple tea and even Chocolate tea. When fermented, tea became the refreshing and bubbly antioxidants rich Kombucha.
After Christopher Columbus reached the new world, native Americans are normally depicted as helpless victims swept away from society and civilization during the colonization.
However, the Americans might have actually been a part of the expanding global economy.
An example of this is the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. They developed a metalworking tradition, by using iron from Chinese and Japanese shipwrecks that washed up on the shore.