The earliest civilizations developed between 4000 and 3000 BCE, when the rise of agriculture and trade allowed people to have food and economic stability. Civilizations first appeared in Mesopotamia and later in Egypt, then in the Indus Valley by about 2500 BCE, in China by about 1500 BCE and in Central America (what is now Mexico) by about 1200 BCE. All civilizations have certain characteristics. These include large population centres, monumental architecture and unique art styles, shared communication strategies, systems for administering territories, a complex division of labour and the division of people into social and economic classes. Let’s find out some fun facts about the civilizations!!! MAYA CIVILIZATION:  They were chocolate eaters Over 3500 years ago, the Olmecs of Mesoamerica became probably the first to realize that with some additional work, you could consume chocolate, but the Maya turned it into an art form. Archaeological evidence suggests the Maya were processing cacao at least 2600 years ago. Anyway, the drink they produced was not anything like the hot chocolate we drink today. The Maya would mix cacao with water, honey, chili peppers, cornmeal, and other ingredients to make a foamy, spicy drink. Maya art and hieroglyphs suggest drinking cacao was an important part of celebrations and rituals. Their calendar, while complex, did not predict the end of the world There was a lot of talk, as the common belief was that what predicted by the Maya calendar would come on December 21, 2012. The date came and went and the apocalypse never materialized. December 21, 2012, in fact, just happened to coincide with the end of a full cycle of 5125 years in the Maya’s so-called Long Count calendar. This calendar was impressive because it used zero as a placeholder (one of the earliest uses of zero as a mathematical concept in history).  They may have domesticated turkeys  Nowadays turkey is a symbol of American Thanksgiving, but It is believed that turkeys may have first been domesticated by the Maya. Turkeys were not just used for food; the Maya also used the birds’ parts like bones and feathers to create fans, tools, and musical instruments. Mexican turkey bones dating to the Preclassic Maya period were discovered at the archaeological site of El Mirador in Guatemala. This location was well outside of the species’ range in the wild, leading archaeologists to conclude that the Maya had domesticated turkeys by this point. SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION:  The Sumerian city-states were often at war with one another “Even though they shared a common language and cultural traditions, the Sumerian city-states engaged in near-constant wars that resulted in several different dynasties and kingships. The first of these conflicts known to history concerns King Eannatum of Lagash, who defeated the rival city-state of Umma in a border dispute sometime around 2450 B.C. To commemorate his victory, Eannatum constructed the so-called “Stele of the Vultures,” a grisly limestone monument that depicts birds feasting on the flesh of his fallen enemies. Under Eannatum, Lagash went on to conquer the whole of Sumer, but it was just one of several city-states that held sway over Mesopotamia during its history. The infighting led to several military advancements—the Sumerians may have invented the phalanx formation and siege warfare—but it also left them vulnerable to invasions by outside forces. During the latter stages of their history, they were attacked or conquered by the Elamites, Akkadians and Gutians”.  (https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-ancient-sumerians).  The Sumerians were famously fond of beer Archaeologists have found evidence of Mesopotamian beer-making dating back to the fourth millennium B.C. The Sumerians prized their beer for its nutrient-rich ingredients and hailed it as the key to a “joyful heart and a contented liver.”  Sumerian mathematics and measurements are still used today. “The origins of the sixty-second minute and sixty-minute hour can be traced all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia. In the same way that modern mathematics is a decimal system based on the number ten, the Sumerians mainly used a sexigesimal structure that was based around groupings of 60. This easily divisible number system was later adopted by the ancient Babylonians, who used it make astronomical calculations on the lengths of the months and the year. Base-60 eventually fell out of use, but its legacy still lives on in the measurements of the both hour and the minute. Other remnants of the Sumerian sexigesimal system have survived in the form of spatial measurements such as the 360 degrees in a circle and the 12 inches in a foot”. (https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-ancient-sumerians)

Do you feel that you know everything there is to know about Disney animated movies? Try to think again.  Forget about deleted scenes, we are talking about characters that hit the cutting room floor and fun anecdotes about character names. Did you know these fun facts?   Radio City Music Hall in New York had to reupholster its theatre seats after so many kids wet their pants while watching the “terrifying” Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana wear opera gloves to signify that they married into royalty, whereas princesses who were born into royalty do not. Some scholars believe that Cinderella’s shoes were made of fur in the original fairy tale but were changed to glass as the result of a mistranslation. Critics have called The Lion King a «complete rip-off» of a 1960s anime series called Kimba the White Lion. Composers wanted The Beatles to voice the vultures in The Jungle Book, but their plan never panned out. Disney was able to make Robin Hood for only $5 million by reusing animations from other Disney movies. In the 113.760 frames that make up 101 Dalmatians, there is a total of 6.469,952 spots on the dogs. Ursula was inspired by the drag queen Divine. Tangled is the most expensive animated movie ever made. The real name of Boo from Monsters, Inc. is Mary. Disney animators use lime green as a signifier of evil. And finally Bruce, the great white shark from Finding Nemo, is named after the mechanical shark used in Jaws.  

The world is big, very big: different people, places, habits and customs. Do you know any interesting facts that really help make our world a fun place to live? In Germany, for example, you could see people knocking on their table rather than clapping to applaud at the end of a master class or a really good meeting. In Beer-land, clapping is reserved for theatre and concerts! In France if you are drinking a red wine and want to change to white wine, please don’t pour it in the same glass without cleaning it beforehand… if you don’t want to be the laughingstock of the party. In some Asian Countries such as China, Korea or Japan, a sign of approval and appreciation of someone’s cooking is to slurp the soup loudly, what is considered rude in most western countries. However, in Japan don’t blow your nose loudly! It is considered very rude. If you need to clean your nose, do it in privately or turn your back to your companions before doing it. In England there’s a traditional Cheese rolling competition in Gloucestershire, the Southern England. This is an annual event on Cooper’s Hill: you try to run faster than the rolling cheese from the top of a relatively steep hill. Are you wondering if there is a possibility that people get hurt? According to the warning sign placed on the spot: «Cheese rolling is a dangerous activity for both participants and spectators». The New Years Eve is yet something even more special in the South of Italy. For example in Naples, people tend throw stuff (such as plates, glasses…) out of the window at midnight. In Latvia you should avoid giving shoes or socks for present. And why is that so? Generally, it’s believed the person to whom you give them would walk out of your life. Since we prefer to keep our friends and beloved ones close to us, it might be a better idea to choose something else for a gift to your Latvian pal. The Argentinians love to drink mate, a sort of a traditional and popular tea beverage. What’s weird about this is that several traffic accidents occur when people are driving a car with a special mate pot on their hands! The local government has even tried to set a law forbidding people to drink mate while driving. India is a large country with enormous cultural diversity and thus holds several types of interesting traditions and customs. Have you heard for example about smashing coconuts on the head at Aadi Festival in Tamil Naju? Priests can smash coconuts on the devotees heads to bring good luck and health. Are you planning your next trip? Do you know what were the most visited countries in the Word in 2019? France, 86.9 million people Spain, 81.8 million people The United States of America, 76.9 million people China, 60.7 million people Italy, 58.3 million people Mexico, 39.3 million people The United Kingdom, 37.7 million people Turkey, 37.6 million people Germany, 37.5 million people Thailand, 35.4 million people  

If you are a sports fan, then you probably know world records, player rankings and famous statistics. Nevertheless, do you know any fun facts about sports? During the Olympic Games in China, Usain Bolt ate only chicken nuggets. Ultimately, he won three gold medals with this diet. The boxing ring is called a “ring” because it used to be round. Instead of its present form, the spectators used to stand in a circle around the fighters when the sport first became popular. Professional US swimmer Michael Phelps has won more gold medals than 80 percent of all countries in the history of the Olympic Games. For car races, Nissan only uses the number 23 on their vehicles, since in Japanese number two is pronounced as “ni” and three as “san”. Together this gives “ni-san”. During the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, the American Frederick Lorz was the first to reach the finish line of the marathon race. It turned out, however, that he had covered about half the distance by car. The game “Quidditch” from the Harry Potter novels is now a recognized sport in our world. Finland has hosted the official “Wife Carrying World Championship” since 1992. In this competition, men carry their wives as fast as possible over a long obstacle course. In the end, the winner receives his wife’s weight in beer. Golf balls were once made of leather and feathers. Athletic shoes make up 20% of all shoe sales in the U.S. Adidas spent 2 ½ years designing the soccer ball for the 2014 World Cup. For soccer fans, the 2014 World Cup was a big moment during the summer. But for Adidas, the excitement started over two years before. The strings on tennis rackets used to be made with sheep intestines. When tennis rackets were first developed, sheep or goat intestines were used for the strings. Although it may sound a little gross, these materials were actually ideal for stringing rackets because of their soft, yet resilient nature. In fact, sheep and goat intestines have much better tension than most comparative materials. This means that the strings could be strung tightly in order to improve ball control and return power, without increasing shock impact. Of course, tennis rackets are now strung with a synthetic fibre, usually nylon.   Do you know any other curiosity? Let us know

Do you remember what life was like before Facebook, YouTube or Instagram? By 2025, we will lose over five million jobs to automation. While advancements in machinery and technology may combine to provide graduates with the tools to explore experiment and find interesting solutions to complex problems, they will also open up a world of new career opportunities. However, do you know that in the world there are already many unknown and even a little funny jobs to date? Let’s find them out together: Fake Mourner Some well-meaning relatives try to pack out funerals with suitably sorrowful looking “professional mourners” for fees of up to £50 an hour. The idea became popular in China but now it has spread to the UK and agencies are springing up around the country. Snake Milker In some countries, snake venom is in big demand and there are specialist milkers who risk life and limb on a daily basis. Snake venom is required to produce anti-venom, and the best milkers pride themselves on capturing the snakes by hand to minimise stress. Professional Sleeper It has to be said that most medical tests aren’t this easy, and others have been known to come with pretty severe side effects. But this test, run by NASA in the US, seemed like one of the easiest paydays going. The American space agency wanted to examine the effects of lying still for 70 days,so they paid willing volunteers $18,000, or £12,000 to do literally nothing. Professional Pusher Japan is indeed a hardworking nation. It makes sure that all its people reach work on time and that’s why Japan has employed people to push others onto trains so that nobody’s late for work. Deodorant Tester You have a habit of poking your nose into other people’s business. Well, these people poke their noses into other people’s armpits to test the odour-fighting powers of deodorants. Now that’s what you call a stinking job. Bicycle Fishers Amsterdam is the most bicycle friendly capital city of the world. It’s no surprise then that a lot of these two-wheelers end up in one of the canals. Each year Amsterdam fishes out around 14,000 rusty bikes from its waterways. Full-time Netflix viewer: Imagine being paid to watch TV all day! Well for one lucky employee this dream has become reality. Netflix has hired someone to watch all of their content before it is available to the public and his role is to review and assign each program its correct tag, which helps us viewers find exactly what we are looking for.

How will we be travelling in 10, 20 or 500 years? Will we be flying our cars from Salamanca to New York?  While we imagine, engineers and designers all over the world are testing out what could become the vehicles of the future. Some of them may never exist, but it is fun making predictions about the future. Technological advances have brought transportations usually found in science fiction to life. However, which are the potential solutions? SkyTran Currently being developed at NASA, it could be the future of city transportation. Said to move at 240km per hour and using only the amount of energy it takes to power two hairdryers, SkyTran carries passengers in personalised ‘pods’ using magnetic levitation tracks and is designed to have the passenger capacity of a 6-lane highway. (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/how-will-we-travel-in-the-future) Flying cars Chinese design students Pan Jiazhi, Zhu Wenxi and Lai Zexin have designed a super sleek solar-powered flying car they’ve called the ‘YEE’ that doesn’t need a runway to take-off. However, if you don’t want to wait for the YEE to become a reality, check out the Transition® Roadable Aircraft, created by US company Terrafugia. If you have about US$200,000 to spare you could own this vehicle soon. (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/how-will-we-travel-in-the-future)  Hyperloop The Hyperloop concept was introduced by prolific inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2012, when he announced engineers from his Tesla and SpaceX companies would begin work on a demonstrator. This promising, high-speed innovation is comprised of reduced-pressure tubes that contain pressurised capsules with the ability to transport passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a mere 35 minutes at speeds of up to 700mph. The entrepreneur decided to open source the concept to allow others to build on his work, which led to the creation of new businesses and groups dedicated to the advancement of this technology. Richard Branson-backed Virgin Hyperloop One successfully trialled a full-scale prototype of the system in 2017 and hopes to deploy a fully operational system within three years. As current systems have been designed to offer an on-demand service for travellers, capsules will be able to depart every couple of minutes, which is much more regularly than other high-speed rail networks and will reduce waiting times. (https://www.raconteur.net/business-innovation/five-futuristic-transport-modes)   However, do we know what will make the biggest impact on the future of transport?  Shared transport. Why shared transit will have a big impact on the future of transport: One of the big transport technologies for tomorrow isn’t really a technology, but it’s empowered by tech. Shared transport covers everything from car share, public transport, taxis, ride share, bike share, and carpooling. It helps lower our dependence on private cars, and lower our consumption as a society. The more people sharing their modes of transport, the less vehicles we will need in the first place. Sharing transport also helps changes our perception of transport overall. This model shift is a big focus of modern city planners. That will help reduce traffic and the need for car-only street space. That means more space for people, more liveable cities, and big reductions in carbon emissions. (https://www.goget.com.au/blog/future-transport-trends/) E-scooter & e-bike share. Why they will change the future: Trains, buses, and trams are awesome and great ways to move lots of people around. Nevertheless, they can’t always get us exactly where we need to go. Last Mile transport helps get you to those areas. Putting share cars, e-scooters, and e-bikes at transit hubs means people can travel that last mile without having to drive the whole way. For transport in our cities to become as efficient and sustainable as possible, the Last Mile challenge has to be solved. Scooter, bike, and car sharing are all great ways to solve it. Of course, adding an electric motor makes scooters and bikes even more convenient, and people will use it as a result. (https://www.goget.com.au/blog/future-transport-trends/)   In conclusion, new technology over the years has helped us on how we live and for our day to day activities. The transportation industry is one of the important areas where new technological advancement takes place. All the innovations that we have discussed above are not just a form of illusion; they are set to happen within the next coming years. The transport systems of tomorrow will be connected, data-driven, shared, on-demand, electric, and highly automated. Ideas are moving from conception, research and design, testbed to early adoption, and, finally, mass acceptance. According to projections, the pace of innovation is only going to accelerate.

“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” (Pablo Picasso) There are a lot of misconceptions about art. Some people think we need to be creating paintings or sculptures to be considered real artists. However, we are all born with an innate desire to express ourselves, and art encompasses a wider range of activities that can help us to express ourselves. Art, in addition, can be a useful means. Activities like painting, sculpting, drawing, and photography are relaxing and can lower our stress level, leaving us feeling mentally calm. Creating art provides a distraction, giving our brain a break from usual thoughts. When we get totally immersed in art, we may find ourselves in what’s known as “the zone”, a state of “flow.” This meditative-like state temporarily pushes aside all our worries. Leonardo da Vinci said that “Painting embraces all the ten functions of the eye; that is to say, darkness, light, body and colour, shape and location, distance and closeness, motion and rest.” Creating art trains us to concentrate on details and pay more attention to the environment. In this way, it acts like meditation. Creating art alto stimulates communication between various parts of the brain. In this way, creating art has been proven to increase psychological and emotional resilience and resistance to stress.  In fact, art is communication. Art, like language, is a medium to express ideas and to share information. It helps us to share thoughts, ideas and visions that may not be able to be articulated any other way. We need art to have a full range of expression. Art is also a shared experience. The creation of art is a collective activity. Art forms such as dance, theatre, cinema, all require a group of artists and an audience. Art offers us a reason to come together and share in an experience. We need art to keep us connected.

Riverside picnics, homemade hornazo, families enjoying the sunshine, students relaxing on benches and blankets, drinking vino and calimocho, while children run around, laughing and playing.  Welcome to el Lunes de Aguas in Salamanca! Spain has many traditions and many public holidays, but few festive traditions are so rooted in the population of Salamanca as el Lunes de Aguas. One week later the end of Semana Santa, on the next Monday after Easter, people are already prepared to celebrate and eat again.  So, let’s start digging into this tradition!!! What is it about and where does the name come from? The literal translation of Lunes de Aguas is Monday of Waters, but that does not make much sense. Yes, in fact that name comes from the petticoat that the prostitutes wore under their skirts, in Spanish enaguas.  The tradition dates back to the XVI century, during the reign of Felipe II, who arrived in Salamanca to marry María Manuela of Portugal. Despite being very young, Felipe was deeply religious and valued virtues such as chastity and restraint, on the contrary he despised those who sought earthly pleasures. He realized that sexual debauchery took control over the city of Salamanca, specifically regarding the student’s life. Therefore, he decided to enact a law, which was about forbidding prostitution during Semana Santa in the city and exile the prostitutes to the other part of the river Tormes, so that the man would not be distracted from the Holy Week. During that time, the Padre Putas was in charge of taking care of them, and afterwards, when Semana Santa had ended, of taking them back to the city on boats. After a week of deprivation, the whole city was happy to see them again, so people gathered on the riverbank to wait for the arrival of the prostitutes, which was later followed by a huge celebration, where they were drinking and eating together. Of course, the law itself does not exist anymore, but the people of Salamanca, and in the surrounding areas, still take the tradition very seriously.  Nowadays, the whole city celebrates this day with a picnic. Friends and families join the party to eat the typical hornazo of Salamanca, a kind of pie stuffed with pork, chorizo, boiled eggs (in Felipe II’s times, eggs were not allowed during Lent and they were collected and hard-boiled to be used later) or tuna.  Although el Lunes de Aguas is not an official public holiday, many smaller businesses shut early, and people who work or study rush out in the afternoon to join the celebrations. And, in true Spanish style, the party goes on until late at night.

Semana Santa is the Spanish name for Holy Week. The celebration of Semana Santa dates back to the 16th century, when the Catholic Church decided to present the story of the Passion of Christ in a way that the layperson could understand. From that point on, every year in Spain, scenes from the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are displayed through a series of processions on the streets. At present, Semana Santa is still celebrated in all the pomp and circumstance of 16th-century Spanish Catholicism in cities across Spain. Andalusian cities like Seville and Malaga particularly shine in this regard, but some Spaniards argue that «true Semana Santa» takes place in the region of Castile and León, in cities like Zamora, Valladolid, Salamanca, Avila, and Segovia. Even if the style of Semana Santa in Spain changes from city to city, the basic components remain the same. Each day there are a number of processions, one from each religious brotherhood in the city, made up of floats that are carried from their church to the town’s central cathedral and back again. Most brotherhoods carry two floats, one with Christ and one with his mourning mother, Mary the Virgin. Each procession is different and has its own particular followers, either due to the location of the church or the exact nature of the procession. Being the floats really heavy, strong men carry them. Even though, with the procession lasting many hours, they feel the pain. The suffering experienced is likened to that experienced by Christ and the men, known as costaleros, consider it a great honor to carry the float, despite the pain involved. In Andalusia, specifically Seville, you can also expect to witness several saetas during Semana Santa. These performances of flamenco are sung from one of the balconies in the narrow streets of the city. Best Places to Experience Semana Santa in Spain Depending on what type of celebration and how long do you want to enjoy the festivities, there are many options and cities in Spain to experience Semana Santa. Castile and León cities for example, celebrate longer and feature more events. Although the time of Semana Santa processions varies, most cities across Spain carry on similar traditions, and while some cities may offer fewer processions than other may, they offer other events and celebrations during this period. The mass of Easter Sunday, the last day of Semana Santa, is also important. The hoods that have been worn throughout the week to signify mourning at the death of Jesus Christ are taken off to celebrate the resurrection.  

April Fools’ Day, celebrated on April 1 each year, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, though its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as poisson d’avril (April fish), said to symbolize a young, “easily hooked” fish and a gullible person. Generally, nowadays, April Fools’ Day traditions include playing hoaxes or practical jokes on others, often yelling “April Fools!” at the end to clue in the subject of the April Fools’ Day prank. Classic April Fools’ jokes include caramel covered onions or fake doggy doo-doo in inconvenient places. Businesses launch impractical or unbelievable products for the fun of the day and newspapers print incredible headlines catching readers off guard. Are you curious to discover any of the most noted fooleries in history? • In 1950, The Progress in Clearfield Pennsylvania published a picture of a UFO flying over the town. Claiming to have “scooped” larger publications of the first-ever published picture of a real flying saucer. • Times of London reported in 1992 that Belgium was negotiating to join Holland. • In 1993, a radio station in San Diego, California told listeners that the Space Shuttle had been diverted to a small, local airport. Over 1,000 people drove to the airport to see it arrive in the middle of morning rush hour. There was no shuttle flying that day • In 2000, the Triple J breakfast show hosted by Adam Spencer announced that the International Olympic Committee had stripped Sydney of its right to host the 2000 Summer Olympics, including a phone conversation with then-New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. • In 2008, the BBC presented a documentary on flying penguins. April fools across the world April Fools’ Day is celebrated all around the world. Because who doesn’t like playing a friendly prank on their loved ones? Here are some examples: In France, the fooled party is called the poisson d’avril, which literally means “April fish.” France’s customary prank involves pinning a paper fish to a friend’s back. In Scotland, April Fools’ Day was traditionally called Gowk Day, gowk being another name for the cuckoo, a common symbol of the fool. Pranks continued into April 2, Tailie Day, when celebrants traditionally attach a “paper tail” (or a “kick me” sign) to their friends’ backs. Brazil celebrates April 1 as Dia da Mentira, or “Lie Day,” in which people try to fool their loved ones. Always for comedic effect, of course.