The story of the Holy Grail is such an intricate tangle of European legends, oriental stories, literary narratives and conjectures, rooted not in the biblical source, as one might suppose, but almost in the pagan folklore motifs of the Celts.
The Holy Grail is most often identified as a serving dish or a chalice that was used by Jesus during the Last Supper.
The Provencal poet troubadour Chrétien de Troyes described the Grail in his novel Perceval or The Story of the Grail (1182). In this novel the Grail is presented in the form of a large dish with precious stones. However, in other works about this artifact – poems and novels – the Grail appears in the form of a bowl, a cup and even a stone. However, none of these works does not enjoy the reputation of an authoritative source of information.
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The triumphal flight of two dogs, Belka and Srelka, is widely known in the history of space exploration. But there were their predecessors, who paved the way to space and are now almost forgotten.
In 1946, the Soviet Union, barely recovering from the Second World War, adopted a program for the development of the country’s rocket and space industry. In addition to military-strategic tasks, scientists were required to verify the possibility of sending a person into space. But as in medicine, in the rocket and space industry, they first decided to conduct experiments on dogs.
The Americans chose the chimpanzee as the kind of animal closest to humans. And in the USSR, experts preferred the man’s best friends. According to the legend, the Soviet leaders believed that people liked dogs more than other mammals, so the dog-hero would glorify the Soviet Union quickly than a rat or a monkey. But it was not so.
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Thousands of questions, mysteries, versions entwined the name of this ship. And so far no one knows what actually happened almost a century and a half ago. This is the most mysterious story.
Mary Celeste was built at Spencer’s Island in New Scotland in 1862, however, then the ship was called Amazon. She was well done, but was notorious for the strange incidents and failures. For the first seven years of her navigable life the ship constantly changed the owners. In 1869 she was sold to the American owner Mr. Winchester, who called her Mary Celeste. Probably, he thought that the new name would save her from the old troubles.
On November 5, 1872 Mary went on her last voyage from the port of Staten Island, New York, to Italian Genoa.
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Trousers are loved by both men and women. However, they passed a long and thorny path before they won the hearts of the representatives of both sexes. And at the end of the XX century, they became the main unisex clothing.
Trousers have existed since ancient times and rank among the most fundamental pieces of clothing.
Trousers became known to Europeans, most likely, thanks to the nomads of Central Asia, perhaps the Scythians, inhabited the Black Sea steppes for many centuries before our era.
The only clothing of the very first riders was the skin of the animal wrapped around the body, and very soon they realized that it was uncomfortable to ride in such clothes.
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Since ancient times, Cairo has been called the city of thousand minarets. It is the most diverse among the megacities of Africa. It has the features of all the capitals of Egypt – the antiquity of Memphis, the divinity of Luxor, the Christian antiquity of Alexandria, the most ancient mosques of the East are preserved in it. And therefore the origins of Cairo’s greatness should be sought in the history of Egypt.
Approximately ten thousand years ago people began to populate the fertile valleys of the Nile, build dwellings along its shores, cultivate the land. It was the fertility of the Nile valley that provided the beginning of Egyptian civilization, its amazing creations – unique mosques with high minarets, majestic pyramids and mysterious sphinxes.
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It is difficult to imagine the wardrobe of a modern fashionista without high heels. But who was that first beauty who decided to become taller. It is only known that this happened long time ago. Ancient Egyptian frescoes of the IV millennium BC depict men and women in mid-heeled shoes. The Egyptian peasants used heels, which looked more like very high heavy platforms. They put on such shoes to work in the field. So it was easier for them to walk on loose ground.
In Ancient Greece and Rome, casual shoes of wealthy people were sandals and open boots with thick soles. However, fashionistas preferred models with two heels. Actors also used shoes with heels. The heels were up to 20 centimeters high, depending on the role. The gods and emperors were the tallest in the performances.
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The construction of the Berlin Wall, the most grandiose construction of the Cold War, began 56 years ago. Now you can see only a small fragment in the capital of Germany which was turned into a memorial. But the inhabitants of Berlin still remember with shudder this monster of concrete and barbed wire. This wall separated thousands of German families for 28 years.
Despite the fact that on May 2, 1945 the capital of the Third Reich was completely captured by the Soviet troops, at the Yalta conference it was decided to divide Berlin among the victorious countries. So the city, like a holiday cake, was cut into four pieces: the eastern one went to the USSR, the other three went to the United States, Britain and France.
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