Ancient Egypt has always fascinated people. Pyramids from that civilization still tower hundreds of feet into the air. Museums featuring mummies attract large crowds. Countless numbers of tourists flock to Egypt to view historical sites that date back thousands of years. These historical sites are in danger today. Some of the reasons are natural. For example, sandstorms rip across the desert, acting like sandpaper on the stone monuments. Others, such as air pollution and flooding, are the ...

Nineteenth century German composer Richard Wagner s Ring of the Nibelung consists of four separate operas. Also known as the Ring Cycle, it was the crowning point of Wagner's career. Wagner was somewhat of a late bloomer in music. His first major composition was performed when he was nearly 30, and the Ring Cycle premiered when he was 53. While Wagner was among the world's greatest composers, he was not a particularly good person. He didn't repay borrowed money, he bore grudges against peo...

When he was just 13 years old, a young Russian immigrant named Izzy Baline left his New York City home and had to support himself. It was a struggle for several years, as he sang for pennies and often slept in flophouses or on park benches. Soon after changing his name to Irving Berlin and writing a series of hit songs, he became rich beyond his wildest imagination. For several decades, he was the most successful composer of American pop music. He wrote White Christmas, which broke sales r...

Tells the story of the American Revolution in narrative form using primary source documents from this time period.

Paul Revere was an expert silversmith. He became one of America's first industrialists. He was active in the movement that led to American independence.Yet Paul Revere's fame rests almost entirely on the few hours that he sped through the Massachusetts countryside in the early morning of April 19, 1775. He was warning the inhabitants that the British regulars were on their way. It marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War.Few people outside the Boston area knew of his exploit. It took ...

Abigail Adams was the equal of her husband, President John Adams, in many ways. She had strong views about women's rights and slavery, and she let him know exactly how she felt. Her strength and wisdom left a lasting mark on the fledgling U.S.

In this gripping biography of Michelangelo, learn what influenced his art and his actions, and find out why he is still important today.

In 1868, Impressionist painter Claude Monet was desperate. Though he had been painting for a decade, he was living in poverty. He had to support his girlfriend and infant son on his meager earnings. His relatives refused to help him out, so he begged for money from his friends, telling them that his situation seemed hopeless.Yet just over two decades later, with brisk sales through an art dealer, Monet had become wealthy and famous. People came from all over Europe, and even a few from the...

Late in 1945, five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on a routine training mission. Soon the mission became anything but routine. Flight 19, as it was known, became hopelessly lost. Then the planes vanished. No one ever found a trace of them or the 14 men who had been aboard. Starting five years later, people began to notice a pattern of disappearances of ships and airplanes similar to Flight 19. These disappearances occurred within a triangle whose corners ...

Examines the life and work of John Adams, the second president of the United States.

From the time he was young, Robert Fulton liked to work with his hands. For a while he thought he wanted to be an artist, but it was hard to make a living as a painter. Fulton turned to inventing things, including a very early version of the submarine. He is most famous for building the first practical steamboat. Others had tried and failed, but his North River Steam Boat was successful. It sailed regularly between New York City and Albany, the capital of New York. The success of the North...

Julius Caesar is one of the most famous figures in ancient Rome. He was born into a turbulent era, when different factions were trying to control the government. He survived and began a steady rise in importance. He became a very successful military commander who added more than 200,000 square miles to the territories under Rome s control. But his triumphs created powerful enemies in Rome. They wanted to strip him of his power. He defeated those enemies in a civil war that made him even mo...