EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO ACE WORLD HISTORY IN ONE BIG FAT NOTEBOOK Flexibound paperback 5⅞" x 8" 512 pages $14.95 U.S. Higher in Canada 978-0-7611-6094-6 No. 16094 Coming August 2016
WHERE FIRST HUMANS LIVED These first humanlike creatures are called HOMINIDS. Hominids had some human attributes, such as the ability to walk upright and OPPOSABLE thumbs (able to move toward and touch the other fingers on your hand). The earliest hominids lived in Africa four million years ago, evolving over time. EUROPE ASIA There are many different types of hominids, but here are a few famous types: AFRICA 4 AUSTRALIA HOMO H A BILIS HOMO ER ECTUS HOMO SAPIENS HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS Australopithecus (~4 million years ago): AUSTRALOPITHECUS means southern ape, which tells us that these humanlike apes were probably from eastern or southern Africa. LUCY is a famous Australopithecus hominid-she was discovered in 1974 and changed the way scientists looked at the evolution of humankind. It is believed that Lucy is a common ancestor for different types of hominids. She had a very small brain but walked on two legs, nearly two million years before other hominids would walk upright. Walking allowed Lucy to keep her hands free, but she used sticks and stones to dig or break open food instead of making tools. Archeologists once believed that the ability to walk upright led hominids to make tools, but Lucy showed this wasn t true. SHOW-OFF! LOOK MA, NO HANDS! 5
HUMAN MIGRATION ROUTES The GREAT MIGRATION The GREAT MIGRATION was a time of vast movement and long-distance travel for humans, who were beginning to explore other continents. Most humans followed the animals they hunted across the continents, often moving toward wet climates with lakes and fertile lands. The ICE AGE pushed humans toward warmer regions and connected 10 the continents through land bridges that were uncovered as sea levels lowered. Humans walked from Africa until they reached every continent except Antarctica. It took roughly one million years! The Ice Age was the most recent glacial period, when much of the earth was covered by ice and oceans were frozen over. It lasted about 100,000 years and ended around 10,000 BCE. 11
THE LAST 100,000 0,0 00Y0 YEARS IN HUMAN EVOLUTION 100,000 We hold burials and create tools to capture prey that runs faster than we do. UH-OH! 40,000 50,000 Humans have migrated far enough from Africa to settle in Europe and Australia. LOOKS LIKE HOME TO ME! 30,000 23,000 We begin using needles made from bone to sew clothes that fit us better. 8,000 The first written documents are created from symbols. During the next few thousand years, symbols will be replaced with words. IT SAYS, TURN LEFT AT THE BIG ROCK! NO, IT SAYS, LOOK OUT FOR BEARS! 77,000 The first evidence appears that shows we are making marks in objects to count or record information. 35,000 Music to our ears! Basic three-holed flutes provide entertainment and culture. We also continue drawing. 9,000 We start domesticating plants and animals, which leads to sedentary communities. 55 15 Human population doubles in just 40 years, from 3 billion to 6 billion people. OOF! 24 25
THE OLYMPIC GAMES The Olympic Games began around 776 BCE as a festival for the Olympians, where athletic games were a way of honoring the gods. According to some myths, Zeus defeated Kronos in a fight for the throne of the gods. Later, Herakles (also known as Hercules), a demigod, staged the games in honor of Zeus. The first real games were held on the ancient plains of Olympia. They were held for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius banned them in 393 CE because he believed they were a pagan ritual. The ancient Olympic Games included: RUNNING 200-meter and 400-meter footraces DISCUS THROW The techniques used in the ancient games are very similar to today s techniques. WRESTLING Matches ended only when one contestant admitted defeat. BOXING The fighters sometimes wrapped their hands in hard leather, which caused disfigurement to their opponents faces. PANKRATION This was a primitive form of martial arts, which mixed boxing and wrestling. The ancient Greeks believed it was founded when Theseus defeated the Minotaur. HORSE AND CHARIOT RACES Races were held in the hippodrome, which was a stadium built for horse racing. JUMPING Halteres (stone or lead weights) were used to increase the distance of athletes jumps. They held the weights until the end of their jump, then threw the weights backward. 112 113
THE Scientific Revolution 1507 1542: Nicolaus Copernicus publishes two books about how the solar system is heliocentric, which places the sun at its center. 1616: The Catholic Church bans Copernicus s books. 1632: Galileo s book is banned by the Catholic Church. 1630s: René Descartes studies mathematics to create analytic geometry. 1610: Galileo uses a telescope to look at the planets and the moon. He publishes his discoveries in Starry Messenger. 1628: William Harvey publishes a book on anatomy and shows that the human heart is what pumps blood through the body. 1633: Galileo is accused of heresy by the church and goes to trial. He is sentenced to life in prison and is closely watched by church authorities. 1687: Sir Isaac Newton publishes Philosopiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, where he describes his theory of gravity in the universe. 270 271