Monthly Archives: April 2014
275.WHEN DID THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BEGIN?
English is the native language of about two hundred million people. Chinese is the native language of about four hundred million people. Yet English is by far the most important language in the world today.
This is because it is spoken in more different parts of the world than any other language, it is the language of commerce; and it is the second language of many countries.
274.WHAT IS THE TAJ MAHAL?
The Taj Mahal is a love story, a sad and beautiful one. If it didn’t exist, we could easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale.
Three hundred years ago, there lived in India an emperor called Shah Jahan. His favorite wife was a beautiful and intelligent woman whom he loved greatly and made his counselor and constant companion. Her title was Mumtaz Mahal; its shortened form, Taj Mahal, means “pride of the palace.”
273.WHAT IS THE NOBEL PRIZE?
Every year, when the Nobel Prizes are announced there is a great deal of publicity about the winners. They are interviewed and articles are written about them. This is because winning the Nobel Prize is considered by most people the highest honor that can be achieved in certain particular fields of work such as chemistry, physics, medicine, and literature.
There is also a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for efforts on behalf of peace. The curious thing about these prizes is that they were started by a man who did a great deal to help the science of destruction! Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm and lived from 1833 to 1896. Among the things which he invented and patented were dynamite, blasting gelatin (more powerful than dynamite), and a new kind of detonator for explosives.
