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The war that shattered the World The world faced a watershed between the years 1914 and 1918. The war that took place was a war that was unprecedented in size, numbers and also destruction. Popularly known as the First World War this brought along with it the fall of some major empires in Europe. In this video we attempt to recapitulate the events that led to the war and the far reaching consequences it had on the world. What were the reasons of a war of this nature to occur is the first question that needs to be answered. Let us look at the causes of the war. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

The tale of the tea party The Boston Tea Party is a well known incident in the annals of American history. All that people know is that crates of tea were thrown out by Americans upset with the British colonial policy of taxing imported goods. That however is only one part of the story. There are some interesting facts attached to this episode. Here we look at the background to the incident and also the lesser known actual course of events. Why did the incident take place is the first question to be answered. It was well known that colonial exploitation was its height at this time and the British reveled in finding ways and means to augment their revenue especially that of the East India Company. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

The making of the calendar The Mayan civilization which existed in parts of South America and parts of Mexico is credited with the making of the calendar in the history of human civilization. Here we look at the making of the calendar and some interesting facts associated with it. The Mayan civilization was a Mesoamerican one with a clear script which came to be known as the hieroglyphic. This script was the starting point of the making of the calendar. The Mayan calendar was based with the alignment of stars and is said to have originated in the pre classic period. The calendar was more accurate than the previous ones created. It was based on the solar and lunar movements and also the eclipses and the movement of planets. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech on humanity. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy". Critic Harold Bloom listed it among Shakespeare's great comedies. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a founder of the Brahmo Samaj in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential social-religious reform movement. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

MALGUDI DAYS – A SYNOPSIS. ‘Malgudi Days’ is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan published in 1943 by Indian Thought Publications.The book wasrepublished outside India in 1982 by Penguin Classics. The book includes 32 stories, all set in the fictional town of Malgudi, and located in South India.It has a series of chronicleswhich talks about the lives of people in the fictional town of Malgudi. The stories share the lives of everyone from entrepreneurs to beggars, all take place in and near this Indian (fictional) village. Thus the heart and the soul of that village are on display and we find it is a place where most people are haunted by illiteracy and unemployment. Despite the ubiquity of the poor, many of the stories come across with humorous good-natured episodes of their lives. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

Beowulf, heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. Although originally untitled, it was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose exploits and character provide its connecting theme. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified. The poem did not appear in print until 1815. It is preserved in a single manuscript that dates to circa 1000 and is known as the Beowulf manuscript. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

The Lost City- Mohenjodaro The minute we talk of the Indus valley Civilization one city comes to mind. It is none other than Mohenjodaro. It was one of the first excavated sites of the civilization and holds most of the secrets of this civilization. It is also the first heritage site announced by the UNESCO in South East Asia. The site is said to have been built around the 26th century B.C. and went into ruins with the fall of the Civilization. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook

Martin Luther King Junior Martin Luther King is famous for his speech I have a dream. He modeled his civil rights agitations in line with Gandhiji’s non violence and made huge inroads into the colour discrimination policy of the US government of that time. Here we look at some of the unknown and interesting facts about this great leader. Born on January 15th 1929 he took up being a Baptist minister and was always inspired by Gandhiji. He was a devout Christian and that added to his values of taking up the cause of the blacks who were very shabbily treated by the white counterparts in the US. He became a civil rights activist very early in life and led many rallies to bring to notice the racial discrimination taking place and it was in one such march that he went ot Washington and delivered his famous speech I have a dream. For more info visit: https://www.youtube.com/theopenbook