Category Social Sciences

What is celebrated on 18 April?

International monuments day or world heritage day is celebrated every year on April 18. The day is observed to spread awareness about the dying culture and natural heritages. The International Day for Monuments was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on 18 April 1982 and approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983.

What are monuments?

Monuments are old constructions that were created to honour a person or event. These could be anything from pillars and statues to forts and palaces. In fact, many ancient places of worship are considered monuments too. Heritage refers to the several aspects that are tied deeply to a culture, region, group, or even a nation. These aspects include traditions, beliefs, buildings, rituals, etc. Some of these are intangible. meaning they are not “physical” entities. A few examples of intangible heritage are knowledge, customs, values, oral folklore, languages, etc. The tangible ones are those that can be seen, and these include structures, memorials, artefacts such as paintings and sculptures, objects, etc. So, monuments are part of heritage, and are tangible.

Why are they important?

The importance of heritage and monuments cannot be stressed enough. For one, they are great teachers, holding a mirror to our hoary past. They take us through the times of our ancestors – informing us about how they lived and what they did. In fact, they can be described as immovable history books, giving us glimpses of a world that was centuries or decades ago. And, in the process, help us see how different or similar we are. We can understand their native wisdom and use it today, or learn from their mistakes so we never repeat them, and both can educate us to make this world better.

How can you help?

• Educate yourself: With the help of elders, do a thorough research about the monuments in your vicinity. Pick one and find out everything you can about it when and why it was built, who it was built by, how it is now, who maintains it, if it houses any precious artefacts, books written about it, etc. The explorations are simply limitless!

• Talk to people: Once you have discovered a monument, have discussions with like-minded people from your family, neighbours, and friends. Even better if it’s a local historian. They are likely to share new insights with you. The result? The joy of learning!

• Make a visit: Nothing can match the thrill of visiting a place you’ve been reading up on or talking about to others. Imagine spotting engravings that offer a priceless peek into society from the 18th Century? In a language you’re vaguely familiar with? Some sort of Da Vinci Code in your own backyard, won’t you say?

• Be respectful: The urge to vehemently carve one’s name on the wall of an ancient monument or deface it some other way is perhaps not uncommon. But the one good thing to learn from history is that we evolve to become better. And that alone should be a reason to never damage structures that are a living proof of our valuable past.

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Who was Marie Curie?

Marie Curie (November 7, 1867-July 4, 1934) was a French Polish physicist and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium.  She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was also the first female professor at the University of Paris (La Sorbonne), and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Pantheon in Paris]

In 1867, Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland. She was a bright and curious child who did well in school. At the time, the University of Warsaw refused students who were women. But that didn’t stop young Maria! Instead, she learned in secret. She went to informal classes held in ever-changing locations, called the “Floating University.”

In 1891, the woman the world would come to know as Marie Curie made her way to Paris. There, she enrolled at the Sorbonne, a university that didn’t discriminate. Over the next few years, she completed advanced degrees in physics and mathematics. She also met French physicist Pierre Curie. The two married in 1895.

Marie and Pierre worked closely over the next decade. Marie’s biggest discoveries came from studying uranium rays. She believed these rays came from the element’s atomic structure. Curie created the term “radioactivity” to name the phenomena she had observed. Her findings led to the field of atomic physics.

Together, the Curies studied the mineral pitchblende. Through their experiments, they discovered a new radioactive element. Marie named it polonium in honor of her native Poland. The two later also discovered the element radium.

In 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. Marie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize. That same year, she also became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from a French university. After Pierre’s death in 1906, Marie took over his teaching job at the Sorbonne. She was the first female professor at the institution.

In 1911, Curie became the first person—of any gender—to win a second Nobel Prize. This time, she was recognized for her work in the field of chemistry. Curie’s scientific reputation was known around the world. In fact, she was invited to attend the Solvay Congress in Physics. There, she joined other famous scientists of the day, including Albert Einstein.

After World War I began in 1914, Marie used her scientific knowledge to support France’s efforts in the war. She helped to develop the use of portable X-ray machines in the field. In fact, the medical vehicles that carried these machines became known as “Little Curies.”

Marie Curie never knew the toll her work would take on her health. She died in France in 1934 from advanced leukemia related to prolonged exposure to radiation. Today, Curie’s notebooks are still too radioactive to be safely handled. They are stored in lead-lined boxes in France.

Marie Curie left a great legacy of accomplishment and scientific curiosity. Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, followed in her footsteps. Joliot-Curie received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1935, one year after her mother’s death.

In 1995, Marie and Pierre Curie’s remains were placed in the Panthéon in Paris. This is known as the final resting place of France’s most distinguished citizens. Marie Curie was the first woman to be interred there on her own merit.

Credit : Wonder Opolis

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A pointer to the predominant colour of many of its building, which Indian city is called the Pink City?

Known as the “Pink City of India” due to its distinctive pink coloured buildings, Jaipur is the largest city in the state of Rajasthan and one of India’s most stunning cities.

You may be wondering why it is called the “Pink City,” and this is all down to Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh who had the whole city painted pink in 1876, to entice Prince Albert and Queen Victoria to visit Jaipur as part of their tour of India, as pink was considered the colour of hospitality at the time.

There is so much to see in Jaipur and it has an amazing variety of palaces, forts, temples, monuments, museums, arts and crafts, and various market places to explore.

The city is known for its beauty, and it is unique in its straight-line planning. Its buildings are predominantly rose-coloured, and it is sometimes called the “pink city.” The chief buildings are the City Palace, part of which is home to the royal family of Jaipur; Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century open-air observatory that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010; Hawa Mahal (Hall of Winds); Ram Bagh palace; and Nahargarh, the Tiger Fort. Other public buildings include a museum and a library. Jaipur is the seat of the University of Rajasthan, founded in 1947.

The city is surrounded by fertile alluvial plains to the east and south and hill chains and desert areas to the north and west. Bajra (pearl millet), barley, gram (chickpeas), pulses, and cotton are the chief crops grown in the region. Iron ore, beryllium, mica, feldspar, marble, copper, and garnet deposits are worked. In addition to Amer, other nearby attractions include Sariska National Park to the northeast.

 

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Due to the many canals criss-crossing it, which city in the Netherlands is often called Venice of the North?

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. With more than one million inhabitants in its urban area (and almost two and a half million inhabitants in its metropolitan area), it is the country’s largest city and its financial, cultural, and creative centre.

Amsterdam derives its name from the city’s origin as “Dam” of river “Amstel”. In the past, the name was “Amstelredamme” which later changed as “Amsterdam”. Amsterdam is one of the most popular destinations in Europe, attracting over 7 million international travellers annually.

Amsterdam is colloquially known as Venice of the North because of its lovely canals that criss-cross the city, its impressive architecture and more than 1,500 bridges. There is something for every traveller’s taste here; whether you prefer culture and history, serious partying, or just the relaxing charm of an old European city.

Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important trading centres in the world during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, with the first stock exchange and the joint ventures that gave birth to modern day Capitalism. The city’s small medieval centre rapidly expanded as the Jordaan and the Canal Belt neighbourhoods were constructed; the latter’s cultural significance was acknowledged when it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded in all directions, with many new neighbourhoods and suburbs designed in modernist styles.

Amsterdam is not the seat of the government, which is in The Hague. It has always been a city that attracted many people from outside its borders. Nowadays it’s the city with the most different nationalities in the world (178 in 2010). The city has an informal atmosphere unlike other capital cities its size. In fact, Amsterdam has a history of non-conformism, tolerance and progressivism, all of which come together in its liberal policies concerning cannabis and teleiophilic prostitution. Other attractions include the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, the Flower Market, Albert Cuyp Market, and the Vondelpark.

 

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Where was the city of Troy?

Until the 1850s many historians thought that the great adventures described by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey were all fables which had existed only in the poet’s imagination. But between 1870 and 1890 excavations carried out by as German businessman, Heinrich Schliemann, established not only that the great city had actually existed but that nine different Troys had stood on the Spot. Each city had been destroyed and a new one rebuilt during a period of 3,000 years.

Later excavations by other archaeologists confirmed Schliemann’s belief that these ruins were really the remains of Troy. The archaeologists also found that the great battles and siege in which this city, ruled by King Priam, was destroyed. Today we are certain that Troy did exist and that its towers rose from the summit of a hill called Hsarlik that now stands in Turkey by the waters of the Hellespont.

 

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Which is the most beautiful city in Japan?

The cities of Japan have grown extremely rapidly since the Second World War mainly because of the spread of new industries which provided work for people but made the cities rather ugly. One city escaped this fate: Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan founded by the Emperor Kwammu in A.D 794. For a thousand years Kyoto was the capital of the Japanese empire. During this time it became rich in monuments and the architecture of its buildings resembled that of Chinese cities. Kyoto has stout walls built all round it as a defence against attackers and the city was approached through eighteen gates in the walls. Inside were many gardens and temples of the Buddhist and Shinto religions.

Kyoto is also famous for its works of art and craftsmanship, especially porcelain and silks, and is today visited by many tourists.

 

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