History of Watches

History of Watches

1500s : Germany : Peter Henlein creates the first pocket watch.

1485 : Leonardo da Vinci sketches a fusee for a clock.

Early 1600s : Form watches becoming popular. Cases are shaped like animals and objects. Religious themes are popular.

1635 : Around this time that the fusee was adapted from clocks to watches.

1659 - 1675 : Christian Huygens invents the "Remontoire".

1687 : Daniel Quare patents the repeating mechanism that uses bells to sound quarter hours and the hours.

1704 : Peter and Jacob Debaufre, Nicolas Facio, are the first to use rubies in watch movements.

1750 : watch makers began using enamel on watch dials.

1759 : Thomas Mudge invents the English lever escapement.

1775 : Abraham Louis Breguet sets up his own watch making shop in Paris, France.

1780 : Abraham Louis Perrelet invents the self winding movement.

1786 : Breguet is the first to use guilloche on watch dials.

1791 : J.F. Bautte founded the watch company that would eventually become Girard-Perregaux.

1807 : Thomas Young invents the recording chronograph.

1809 : Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts is the first watch manufacturer in America.

1820 : Thomas Prest registers a patent for the self winding watch.

1833 : Antoine LeCoultre starts his own watchmaking business which later become Jaeger-LeCoultre.

1837 : First Tiffany store opens.

1843: Adrien Philippe develops a watch with winding and setting through the crown.

1844 : The start, stop, and reset chronograph is invented by Adolph Nicole.

1844 : Antoine LeCoultre invents the millionometre.

1848 : Louis Brandt opens his own workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds which eventually became the Omega watch Company.

1853 : Tissot makes the first dual time zone watch.

1858 : Minerva is founded.

1860 : Heuer is founded.

1865 : Zenith founded.

1881 : Movado founded.

1884 : Greenwich, England is officially named the zero meridian and used as the world wide recognized basis of time zones.

1886 : Geneva Seal established.

1894 : Universal Geneve established.

1905 : Hans Wilsdorf starts the Rolex watch Company.

1914 : Eterna introduces the first wristwatch with an alarm.

1918 : Japan : Shakosha watch Company opened. This would become Citizen in 1931.

1923 : John Harwood is the first to mass produce a self winding wristwatch.

1924 : Tokyo : Seiko brand name is launched by Kinttaro Hattori.

1926 : Rolex introduces the first waterproof case called the "Oyster".

1929 : First anti magnetic watch created by Tissot.

1933 : Ingersoll introduces the "Mickey Mouse" watch.

1956 : Rolex introduces their first model that displays the day and date.

1957 : Hamilton introduces the world's first battery driven watch.

1962 : Rado produces the world's first scratch proof watch called the "Diastar 1".

1962 : ETA of Switzerland develops the first quartz battery operated watch.

1970 : Hamilton releases the "Pulsar", the first electronic digital watch.

1972 : Longines and Seiko introduce the LCD, (Liquid Crystal Display).

1980 : Hublot founded.

1983 : SMH of Switzerland launches the Swatch brand.

1985 : Swiss Heuer Company merges with TAG to form TAG Heuer.

1986 : Audemars Piguet introduces the first self winding tourbillon.

1991 : Franck Muller founded.

1999 : Casio innovates with the first wristwatch with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS).

History of Earthquakes

History of Earthquakes

Earthquakes have been recorded as early as 1177 B.C. in China. Of course earthquakes have been a part of myth and legend since the dawn of man. In Greek Mythology, Posseidon (Neptune in the Roman pantheon) was "God of the Sea". Yet one of his powers was thought to be that of "earth shaker". As a tsunami is often the result of an earthquake, this was an appropriate power for a sea god.

In European history, the earliest recorded earthquake occurred in 580 B.C. In North America the great earthquakes of 1811-1812 occurred near New Madrid, Missouri. The magnitude of the quakes are not known, but they are estimated to have been about 8 on the Richter scale. There were actually three large quakes with aftershocks between and for months after. The quake was so wide-spread it was felt as far away as Boston.

The most destructive quake in U.S. history occurred in San Francisco in 1906, it caused the deaths of over 700 people. The great Alaskan earthquake of 1964 was twice as powerful, but less destructive due to the low population density of the area struck. The Chilean quake of 1960 was the biggest quake ever recorded. It came in at 9.5 on the Richter scale.

The study of earthquakes is called seismology. The earliest seismologists were the Chinese who worked hard to record their quakes in detail. They even developed a means to predict earthquakes by filling a ceramic jar to the brim with water and leaving it set. If the water overflowed the jar, then an earthquake was imminent. Of course, this means of prediction was unreliable and uncertain.

History of Earthquakes

It is thought that some animals may feel vibrations from a quake before humans, and that even minutes before a quake dogs may howl and birds fly erratically. However, evidence for such sensitivity by animals is purely anecdotal.

Aristotle was one of the first Europeans to create a theory about the origin of Earthquakes. He thought that they were the result of heavy winds. Not much more study was concentrated on earthquakes until the mid-1700s when London was hit by a devastating quake and a tsunami struck Lisbon, Portugal shortly after. John Mitchell in England and Elie Bertrand in Switzerland began a comprehensive study of the timing and severity of earthquakes.

Soon scientists from several countries were exchanging observations and theories on earthquakes. In the 1820's Chile became an area of interest to seismologists. After an earthquake there, it was noticed that the elevation of the coastline had changed. This was substantiated by the Captain of the H.M.S. Beagle, Robert Fitzroy. (The ship also carried Charles Darwin who was studying the flora and fauna of the coast.)

In the 1850s Robert Mallet, figured out a means to measure the velocity of seismic waves. Meanwhile, in Italy, Luigi Palmieri invented an electromagnetic seismograph, one of which was installed near Mount Vesuvius and another at the University of Naples. These seismographs were the first seismic instruments capable of routinely detecting earthquakes imperceptible to human beings.

In 1872 a U.S. scientist named Grove Gilbert figured out that earthquakes usually center around a fault line. It was after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco that Harry Reid hypothesized that earthquakes were likely the result of a build-up of pressure along these faults.

It was about 1910 that Alfred Wegener published his theory of plate tectonics to explain volcanic and seismic activity.

Since then, seismologists have continued to work at a furious pace, building better instruments, computer models, theories and forecast to study the causes and effects of earthquakes.

History of Earthquakes

10 Oldest Mosques in the World

01. Quba Mosque, Saudi Arabia

First Built: 622

The designation of the oldest mosque in the world requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest mosque congregation. Even here, there is the distinction between old mosque buildings that have been in continuous use as mosques, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as mosques and those that were shuttered for many decades. In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence, and early congregations that ceased to exist (wikipedia). 09 More after the break...

02. Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, Saudi Arabia

First Built: 622

03. Masjid al-Qiblatain, Saudi Arabia

First Built: 623

04. Jawatha Mosque, Saudi Arabia

First Built: 629

05. Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia

First Built: 638

06. Great Mosque of Kufa, Iraq

First Built: 639

07. Mosque of Uqba, Tunisia

First Built: 670

08. Imam Hussain Mosque, Iraq

First Built: 680

09. Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem

First Built: 705

10. Al-Zaytuna Mosque, Tunisia

First Built: 709

Via—Link

The History of Java Technology

Since 1995, java has changed our world . . . and our expectations..

Today, with technology such a part of our daily lives, we take it for granted that we can be connected and access applications and content anywhere, anytime. Because of java , we expect digital devices to be smarter, more functional, and way more entertaining.

In the early 90s, extending the power of network computing to the activities of everyday life was a radical vision. In 1991, a small group of Sun engineers called the "Green Team" believed that the next wave in computing was the union of digital consumer devices and computers. Led by James Gosling, the team worked around the clock and created the programming language that would revolutionize our world – java .

The Green Team demonstrated their new language with an interactive, hand held home-entertainment controller that was originally targeted at the digital cable television industry. Unfortunately, the concept was much too advanced for the them at the time. But it was just right for the Internet, which was just starting to take off. In 1995, the team announced that the Netscape Navigator Internet browser would incorporate java technology.

java was created by engineers working at Sun Microsystems. The figure that stands out most of all is James Gosling, widely regarded as the "father" of java . James and his team were working on a language whose original name was Oak. Oak was designed for embedded devices, such as mobile phones. The first publicly available version of java , however, was as java applets, in the original Hotjava browser.  

Today, java not only permeates the Internet, but also is the invisible force behind many of the applications and devices that power our day-to-day lives. From mobile phones to handheld devices, games and navigation systems to e-business solutions, java is everywhere!

A Brief History of Google

A Brief History of Google

Google began in 1996 as a project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Larry and Sergey were both studying at Stanford University California. In their research project they came up with a plan to make a search engine that ranked websites according to the number of other websites that linked to that site (and ultimately came up with the Google we have today). Before Google , search engines had ranked sites simply by the number of times the search term searched for appeared on the webpage, and the duo set out to make a more "aware" search engine.

The domain Google .com was registered on September 14th 1997 and Google Corporation was formed a year later in September 1998.

Google started selling advertisements with its keyword searches in 2000, and so Google Adwords/Adsense was born. These advertisements used a system based on the pretence that you only paid for your advertising if some clicked on your ad link – hence the term Pay Per Click (PPC) was born.

The term PageRank was patented in September 2001 – this term is actually named after co-founder Larry Page and not, as some think, named because it is the rank of a page (webpage).

Also in 2001 co-founder Larry Page stood down as the CEO of Google and former CEO of Novel. Eric Schmidt. was appointed as the new CEO of Google .

Google moved its offices to its large Google estate (nicknamed Google Plex) in Mountainview California in 2003, and is still based there today.

In 2004, Google launched its own free web-based email service, known as Gmail. This service was made to rival the free online mail services supplied by Yahoo and Microsoft (hotmail). This new free email service shook up the very foundation of free email with its enormous 1 GB of email storage which dwarfed its rivals' ten-fold.

In 2004 Google launched Google Earth. Google Earth is an amazing creation that is a map of the earth based on satellite imagery. This interactive globe of the world allows you to type in a search for any place in the world and you will automatically be taken to that part of the world. The cool part is that with Google Earth you can zoom right in to street level and actually see your own street and even your house!

An interesting fact in the history of Google is that in September 2005, Google made a new partnership with a very interesting company - NASA. This involved building a 1-million square foot research and development centre at NASA's Ames Research Center. This was interestingly followed a few months later by the launch of Google Mars and Google Moon: two Google maps style applications built on pictures of the moon and the planet Mars.

In 2006 Google launched Google Video. Google Video is a cool new search tool. As its title suggests Google video allows you to search the internet for videos. There are thousands of videos to make your search from; from personal homemade videos to TV shows made by the big television corporations.

In 2006 Google was added to the Oxford English dictionary as a verb – the verb "to Google " has become so popular that Google has even been worried that their brand name might lose their copyright and patent protections, and allow other companies to be able to legally use the Google brand in their own brand.

Today (Article written end of 2006) Google has a dominant controlling share of the search market. Google is the most widely used search engine on the internet with a 54% market share. Yahoo! Is Google 's closest rival with 23%,  less than half of Google 's share, and MSN even falls far short of Yahoo!, lagging far behind in 3rd place with a 13% market share. If these figures aren't impressive enough for Google , independent estimates say that more than 80% of search referrals come from Google - Google receives about a billion search requests per day – and with estimates that Google makes 12 cents for every search you perform, you can see that Google corporation is a very lucrative business!

With the many many applications and products that Google has
brought out, and the control it has over the internet it is
possible that Google will become a very very influential part
of all of lives in years to come.

A Brief History of Google-

Great Wall Of China (History)

Great Wall Of China (History)
The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall building by the time of the Spring and autumn, which began around the 8th century BC. During the Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, the states of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames.
Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders. It is estimated that over 1 million workers died building the wall.
The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty, following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper-hand over the Manchurian and Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Huang He.
Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications, the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong
During the 1440s–1460s, the Ming also built a so-called "Liaodong Wall". Similar in function to the Great Wall (whose extension, in a sense, it was), but more basic in construction, the Liaodong Wall enclosed the agricultural heartland of the Liaodong province, protecting it against potential incursions by Jurched-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall, most of it was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides.
Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Under the military command of Yuan Chonghuan, the Ming army held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming resistance, to establish the Qing Dynasty.
In 2009, an additional 290 km (180 mi) of previously undetected portions of the wall, built during the Ming Dynasty, were discovered. The newly discovered sections range from the Hushan mountains in the northern Liaoning province, to Jiayuguan in western Gansu province. The sections had been submerged over time by sandstorms which moved across the arid region.
Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia was annexed into the empire, so construction and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued.

The 10 Oldest Churches in the World

The 10 Oldest Churches in the World

1. Dura-Europos church

The Dura-Europos church  is the earliest identified Christian house church. It is located in Dura-Europos in Syria and dates from 235 AD. The site of Dura-Europos, a former city and walled fortification, was excavated largely in the 1920s and 1930s by French and American teams. Within the archaeological site, the house church is located by the 17th tower and preserved by the same defensive fill that saved the nearby Dura-Europos synagogue.

The designation of the oldest church in the world requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest Christian church congregation. Even here, there is the distinction between old church buildings that have been in continuous use as churches, and those that have been converted to other purposes; and between buildings that have been in continuous use as churches and those that were shuttered for many decades. In terms of congregations, they are distinguished between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence, and early congregations that ceased to exist.

2. Megiddo church

Megiddo church in Tel Megiddo, Israel is one of the oldest church buildings ever discovered by archaeologists, dating to the 3rd century AD. In 2005, Israeli archaeologist Yotam Tepper of Tel-Aviv University discovered the remains of a church, believed to be from the third century, a time when Christians were still persecuted by the Roman Empire. The remains were found at the Megiddo Prison, which is located a few hundred meters south of the Tel. Among the finds is an approx. 54-square-metre (580 sq ft) large mosaic with a Greek inscription stating that the church is consecrated to “the God Jesus Christ.” The mosaic is very well preserved and features geometrical figures and images of fish, an early Christian symbol.

3. Monastery of Saint Anthony

The Monastery of Saint Anthony is a Coptic Orthodox monastery standing in an oasis in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Hidden deep in the Red Sea mountains, it is located 334 km (207 miles) southeast of Cairo. It is one of the oldest monasteries in the world, and was established by the followers of Saint Anthony, who is considered to be the first ascetic monk. The Monastery of St. Anthony is one of the most prominent monasteries in Egypt and has strongly influenced the formation of several Coptic institutions, and has promoted monasticism in general. Several patriarchs have been pulled from the monastery, and several hundred pilgrims visit it eachday.

4. Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains basilica

Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains basilica is a historic church building in Metz, France that was built in 380 AD and is one of the oldest churches in Europe. The building was originally built to be part of a Roman spa complex, but the structure was converted into use as a church in the 7th century becoming the chapel of Benedictine monastery. A new nave was constructed in the 1000s with further interior renovations. In the 16th century the building became a warehouse and remained so until the 1970s when it was restored and opened for concerts and exhibitions.

5. Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion

Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important church in Ethiopia. The original church is believed to have been built during the reign of Ezana, the first Christian emperor of Ethiopia, during the 4th century AD, and has been rebuilt several times since then. The church is in the town of Axum in the Tigray Province. Its first putative destruction occurred at the hands of Queen Gudit during the 10th century. Its second, confirmed, destruction occurred in the 16th century at the hands of Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, after which it was rebuilt by the Emperor Gelawdewos, then further rebuilt and enlarged by Fasilides during the 17th century.

6. Cathedral of Trier

Cathedral of Trier is a church in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest cathedral in the country. The edifice is notable for its extremely long life span under multiple different eras each contributing some elements to its design, including the center of the main chapel being made of Roman brick laid under the direction of Saint Helen, resulting in a cathedral added on to gradually rather than rebuilt in different eras. Its dimensions, 112.5 by 41 m, make it the largest church structure in Trier. Since 1986 it has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

7. Church of Saint Simeon Stylites

The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites is a well preserved church that dates back to the 5th century, located about 30 km northwest of Aleppo, Syria. It is built on the site of the pillar of St. Simeon Stylites, a famed hermit monk. It is popularly known as Qalat Seman the ‘Fortress of Simeon’.

8. Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1934, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

9. Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai

Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinaiies on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai in Saint Katherine city in Egypt. The monastery is Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the UNESCO report (60100 ha / Ref: 954), this monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world together with the Monastery of Saint Anthony, situated across the Red Sea in the desert south of Cairo, also lays claim to that title.

10. Church of the Nativity

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus it is considered sacred by Christians. The site is also revered by followers of Islam.

Src: Wikipedia