Here are your second semester facts of the day for World History. Enjoy!
1. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. Oprah Winfrey
2. Rome developed a tripartite government, or a government with three parts.
3. Latin was the language of the Romans.
4.Checks and balances is a system that balances the distribution of power in a government.
5. The Punic Wars were a series of wars against Carthage, a city in northern Africa.
6. Spartacus led a slave revolt against the Romans.
7. He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. ~Benjamin Franklin
8. Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader of the civil rights movement.
9. Cicero was a gifted speaker who called on upperclass Romans to improve Rome.
10. Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls and became the dictator of Rome.
11. Octavian was the first Roman Emperor.
12. Pax Romana was a period of general peace and prosperity in the Roman Empire.
13. An aqueduct is a raised channel used to carry water from mountains into cities.
14. The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the president to congress.
15. Virgil wrote a great epic about the founding of Rome called the Aeneid.
16. Latin is the basis for the Romance languages.
17. Civil law is a legal system based on a written code of laws.
18. The outlying areas controlled by Romans were called provinces.
19. At the beginning of the first century AD, a new religion appeared in Judea called Christianity.
20. People who die for their religious beliefs are called martyrs.
21. Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada.
22. Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into two parts.
23. Emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into two parts.
24. Attila the Hun raided the Roman Empire in the east.
25. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity.
26. All roads lead to Rome.
27. St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers.
28. The Hagia Sophia was a church built by Justinian.
29. An oasis is a wet, fertile area in a desert.
30. A caravan is a group of desert traders that travel together.
31. Muhammad is the founder of Islam.
32. Followers of Islam are called Muslims.
33. The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam.
34. A pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place.
35. A mosque is a building for Muslim prayer.
36. Muhammad's departure from Mecca in 622 is known as the hegira, or journey.
37. The Five Pillars of Islam are five acts of worship required by all Muslims.
38. Jihad refers to the inner struggle people go through in their effort to obey Allah.
39. The Sunnah is a collection of writings about the way Muhammad lived that provide a model for Muslims to follow.
40. The Qur'an and the Sunnah form the basis for Shariah, or Islamic law.
41. Caliph is a title that Muslims used for the highest leader of Islam.
42. Abu Bakr became the leader of Islam after the death of Muhammad.
43. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
44. Muslims generally practiced religious tolerance, or acceptance, with regard to people they conquered.
45. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.
46. Most Muslims are Sunni Muslims.
47. The Mughal Empire was located in India.
48. Ibn Battutah traveled to Africa, India, China, and Spain in the 1320's.
49. Rich Muslim rulers became great patrons, or sponsors, of architecture.
50. The hadith is the written record of Muhammad’s words and actions.
51. The Ottoman were Sunni Muslims.
52. It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. ~J.K. Rowling
53. Islam is the fasted growing religion in the world.
54. Strive always to excel in virtue and truth.
55. Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.
56. Kindness is a mark of faith and whoever hath not kindness hath not faith.
57. "He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior."
58. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
59. Africa is the earth's second largest continent.
60. The Sahara Desert covers one-fourth of Africa.
61. Kente is a brightly colored garment worn in West Africa.
62. A rift is a long, deep valley formed by the movement of the earth's crust.
63. The Sahel is a semiarid region in Africa just south of the Sahara that separates the desert from wetter areas.
64. A Savannah is an open grassland with scattered trees.
65. Animism is the belief that bodies of water, animals, trees and other natural objects have spirits.
66. Silent barter is a process in which people exchanged goods without contacting each other directly.
67. The empire of Ghana reached its peak under Tunka Manin.
68. The Almoravids were Muslims who attacked Ghana and cut off trade routes.
69. Mali's rise to power began under a ruler named Sundiata.
70. Mali's most famous ruler was a Muslim named Mansa Musa.
71. Songhai became a powerful kingdom under the leadership of Sunni Ali.