Did you know that the game of chess originated in India?
It originated before the 6th century AD. From India, the game spread to Persia. When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Southern Europe. In Europe, chess evolved into its current form in the 15th century.
Where does the name India come from?
It is derived from the river Indus.
The decimal code along with the place value system was an original Indian development.
Budhayana an Indian mathematician was the first to calculate the value of "pi" mathematically and explained the concept of Pythagorean Theorem in the 6th century.
The Indian railway is the largest employer in the world, over a million people work for it.
Ups! It´s not only in Miramar that the weather is not helping the holiday makers. In Paris there is no ocean, but there is an artificial beach, similar to the one in Mangualde,Portugal.
Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 – 1884) was born in Austria. He was a scientist and Augustinian friar who gained fame only after his death as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance. Although the significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century, the independent rediscovery of these laws formed the foundation of the modern science of genetics.
Nevertheless, it was William Bateson, born in Robin Woods Bay, in England, who coined the term genetics (1905) to describe the study of heredity and biological inheritance, and he was the main populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel.
Yesterday Nelson Mandela celebrated his 93rd birthday. He is pictured here surrounded by family at his home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
Nelson Mandela has spent 67 years making the world a better place, so he is asking everybody for 67 minutes by acting on the idea that each person has the power to change the world.
The call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and its sister organisations for the creation of an official global Mandela Day, to be celebrated annually on 18 July, Mandela's birthday, is gaining momentum.
The celebration of Mandela Day aims to serve as a global call to action for people to "recognise their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better", the Nelson Mandela Foundation said at the launch of the campaign in April.
"Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years, beginning in 1942 when he first started to campaign for the human rights of every South African. His life has been an inspiration to the world."
Now, the Mandela Day campaign is calling on people around the world to commit 67 minutes of their time "to make an imprint and help change the world around them."
I wish all my students all the luck! Don't get nervous before the exam, relax taking a deep breath and think that everything will be fine. And ...it's just one more small effort and you'll be on holiday following the
Writer: Melissa Mathison Stars: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong and Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin.
Storyline
The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala (India) ever since.
Some Curiosities about this movie:
- Director Martin Scorsese, writer Melissa Mathison and her then husband Harrison Ford (yes, its the famous actor...) were added to the list of over 50 people banned from entering Tibet because of this film.
- Features only non-professional actors.
- The Dalai Lama and his family were portrayed by actual relatives of the Dalai Lama himself, now living in refugee in Dalamsala as well as abroad. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong who played the adult Dalai Lama is his grand nephew.
Notes:
- Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
- For certain periods of time between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female.
- Tenzin Gyatso won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
- Tenzin Gyatso is the religious name of the 14th Dalai Lama, shortened from Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso.
I've seen this movie a few days ago, I found it very interesting, so I decided to share with you friends.
Basically, it tells the story of the 14th Dalai Lama (called Tenzin Gyatso), since his chilldhood to his Exile to India. It also tells a lot about Tibet's culture and a very important period in this country's history.
