'Anything the mind of man can believe it can achiev'’ - a wonderful homily that has led man to conquer the most amazing summits in this wonderful life of ours. But perhaps one of the most significant was the ultimate desire to fly to the moon. Songs were written about this and ever since humankind was aware of the 'man in the moon' he must have wondered what it was like up there.

This must have been one of the catalysts that spurred on Leonardo Da Vinci to design his first flying machine in 1487. At first his designs were based on the way birds flew. Later, he realised this was impractical and produced drawings of machines with fixed wings. He also experimented with what later became known as gliders.

The history of flights in all sorts of craft is littered with the most inspirational events. Francesco de Lana is credited as being the first person to design a lighter-than-air craft based on definite scientific principles. In 1670 he used this information to design a flying boat. The machine was propelled by a sail and lifted by 4 copper spheres from which all the air had been pumped. He speculated that the climbing speed of his airship could be regulated by using small sacks of sand for ballast. Imagine how the first flight of this machine ended! (more...)

The origin of many ancient sports can be difficult to pinpoint or even estimate. When did the sport become the one we know today? The truth is that most sports change with the times and as a technology improves it often has a noticeable effect on sports. In this article we are going to discuss the history of skiing, a sport that we fortunately know a bit about.

Though skiing is easily the most popular winter sport with over forty million new participants each year, it wasn’t an instant success. In fact, it took thousands of years. That’s right. Historians believe that skiing began in Europe over five thousand years ago. We know this because skis from this period were recovered in France and Switzerland.

Of course, skiing was not a sport at the time, but rather a form of transportation. As you might expect, if you lived up in the French Alps and you had to get downhill, then you would use skis to go down the hill and snowshoes to climb back up. Fortunately, they now have ski lifts guests can use on Ski Holidays, France . (more...)

Buying a pre-owned vehicle has always been a risky proposition. Even when the car was sold by a reputable dealership, it was possible to purchase a lemon. While these concerns have been allayed a bit with the introduction of dealer warranties, there is still the private market to consider.

The reason people purchase cars in the private market is because they receive cheaper prices than at a dealership. Of course, it is much more risky to buy a car from a private seller. After all, once you sign the contract, the vehicle is yours and all repair costs are your responsibility. That is why it is imperative that all car buyers, especially those who are shopping in the private market check a used cars for sale uk history.

Why is this necessary? If a car has been damaged in the past, either in an accident or a flood, it is easy enough to conceal the damage with some fast auto body work. But sooner or later these problems will start to have serious and expensive effects on the vehicle. (more...)

If you were to judge anything by the way in which the popularity of tattoos has exploded over the past thirty years or so, you may very well believe that this form of body art has only been around since the twentieth century. You would be oh so very wrong!

In actual fact, tattoo history is known to have been around for millennia and mummified early homo sapiens have been unearthed adorned with intricately tattooed patterns on what would have been their skin. Tattoos may date back to tens of thousands of years ago and it is interesting to note the fact that tattooing has appeared independently in many separate cultures across the globe. This is indicative of the fact that it was invented by many different cultures and this makes it difficult to identify the official culture that first started to practice this art.

For centuries now people and cultures have expressed a love hate relationship towards tattoos. Indeed, the art was banned from many cultures, with Japan and the United States falling within this category of intolerant societies. Most bans have now been lifted as civilised countries realise that they do not have a right to stop someone from tattooing their own bodies. (more...)

Everyone knows Las Vegas for its opulence, its sheer scale, and of course, the world famous casino industry. But where did this city come from? How and when did it all begin? Read on, for a brief history of Las Vegas !

Although Las Vegas was established in 1905, it was still a dry, barren and dessert town in 1911. People mostly came to the town on account of massive railroad works and Vegas were actually a popular rail road town. However, the town lacked character, appeal and was just a small and dusty town.

All this changed in 1920, when the first casino was founded in Vegas. This paved the way for Vegas to become not only the most populous city in the state of Nevada, but the gambling capital of the entire world. By the 1940s several casinos had sprung up, and this industry owned it success to the American organised crime syndicate, aka, the ‘mob’. Names like Bugsy Siegal and Meyer Lansky spring to mind. (more...)

Romans keep retaining their popular culture, and the intriguing personality of the working class is celebrated in numberless Italian movies. You don't find anymore emperors planning to rule the world, haughty aristocrats, and plebeians asking bred and gladiatorial combats.

In fact, Romans are renowned for their bonhomie, their hospitality, and a peculiar character for which they are passionate, friendly and indolent at the same time.

A Rome visit arguably makes sense if you don't immerse yourself in the local culture, shopping in the popular markets, and embracing the vibrant and sweet night life, in which Rome becomes magic. We recently thought about renting a flat in Rome and we were able to interact closely with the Romans, who love their homes and who consider their district or "rionee" as their community, around which life revolves. When in Rome... (more...)

There is a great deal of lively debate about whether video and PC games are detrimental to the youth of today. Some say that they are killing the imagination of our children and are preventing them from engaging in other tasks such as reading, conversing and studying.

I prefer to look at it another way though. By carefully choosing, together with your child, a historically based game such as Smash the Castle 2, you are actually drawing them into a world of imagination – and often historical fact!

History is considered by many to be a dry subject due to the way that it has been taught in many schools over the years. Largely learned by rote and based on dates and events rather than really trying to understand our ancestors; how they lived, what they did in their real lives, and how they thought. (more...)

While I do not profess to be the type to dedicate my holidays to the pursuit of history and culture, I do find that one of the most interesting parts of any holiday is to help understand better about the historical events that have shaped the country and scenery that I am visiting.

This is especially true in countries where the history is well documented and where there are still places of interest to visit that teach us about certain periods in the country's history. Rome apartments are a perfect example of this as the city is full of Roman sites that are relatively intact, so you can really feel a sense of history as you visit the sites.

There are so many places of interest in Rome such as the Roman forum, where you can wander around and imagine life two thousand years ago, or the Colosseum, that feat of engineering and design, where you can almost picture the crowds and the massive outdoor events. (more...)