History
Statue of Liberty Large, copper statue of a woman, standing on Liberty Island, New York City harbour. A symbol of US democracy, it was a gift from France, and was built (1876) to commemorate the centenary of US independence. It was designed by Bartholdi on an iron framework designed and built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue's official name is Liberty Enlightening the World. It stands 45m (150ft) tall to the top of the torch in the goddess's raised right hand.
sphinx , mythical beast of ancient Egypt, frequently symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra . The sphinx was represented in sculpture usually in a recumbent position with the head of a man and the body of a lion, although some were constructed with rams' heads and others with hawks' heads. Thousands of sphinxes were built in ancient Egypt; the most famous is the Great Sphinx at Giza, a colossal figure sculptured out of natural rock, near the pyramid of Khafre . It was considered by the ancients one of the Seven Wonders of the World . Sphinxes, however, were not peculiar to Egypt; represented in various shapes and forms, they were common throughout the ancient Middle East and Greece. In Greek mythology and art the Sphinx was a winged monster with the head and breasts of a woman and the body of a lion. In the legend of Oedipus she acts as a destructive agent of the gods, posing the riddle of the three ages of man: "What walks on four feet in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening?" She killed all who failed to answer her question until Oedipus solved the riddle by saying, "Man crawls on all fours as a baby, walks upright in the prime of life, and uses a staff in old age." The Sphinx then killed herself.
Few other categories or areas of study offer as rich or as diverse a range of topics as history. Starting with ancient Greece and their rise, our content follows the empires that followed their dominance. The rulers of Greece include Alexander the Great, the thinkers include Socrates and Plato, and the achievements of Greece include art and architecture that can still be seen today.
The Roman Empi ... Read more
If we head to Africa and Asia, we’ll learn the stories of the pyramids of Egypt and the Pharaohs who ruled the lands, and the dynasties that ruled China and Japan for centuries. These areas are also home to the birthplace of Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. This category also covers the rich history of India, the legendary trading post of Timbuktu, the rest of the continent of Africa, and the Saudi Arabian Peninsula.
In the Americas, you’ll hear the stories of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Cherokee. As well as the discovery of the New World, the birth and rise of the United States of America, and political struggles in Central America. Important biographies from throughout history include everyone from Henry the VIII and Julius Caesar, to Ronald Reagan and Adolf Hitler.