339.WHAT WERE THE MIDDLE AGES?
The story of mankind has been divided by historians into three great sections—ancient times, the Middle Ages, and modern times. The Middle Ages span the time between the fall of Rome and the beginning of modern times in the fifteenth century.
Of course, when you consider such a great period of time, it’s difficult to give exact dates for the beginning and for the end. One age merges gradually into the next. But the date most commonly used as the beginning of the Middle Ages is A.D.476, when the last of the Roman emperors was dethroned. Its end is usually marked at 1453, when Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire, fell to the Turks.
338.WHAT WAS THE RENAISSANCE?
Do you know what the word renaissance means? It is the French word for “rebirth.” The Renaissance was a period of rebirth that took place in Europe between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
During the Middle Ages which preceded it, a great many things in life had been neglected. During the Renaissance, learning was revived. Commerce, art, music, literature, and science flourished. The Renaissance changed the whole way of life in Europe.
337.WHAT WAS THE INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION?
Man has been around on this earth for a long, long time. Yet in all his long history, the biggest change in his daily life has taken place in only the last 200 years! This change in the way man lives and works is based mainly on the development of the machine. We call this exciting period the Industrial Revolution.
As far back as history goes, man has been making tools. But only after the year 1750 were real machines invented. A machine is like a tool, except that it does nearly all the work and supplies nearly all the power. This change, from tools to machines, was so important and so great, that it began to affect every phase of our lives. In tracing how one development led to another, you will see how this was so.
