A Ton of Crap (104 page)

Homo Erectus
Homo erectus
existed 1.89 million to 70,000 years ago.
Homo erectus
are the first humans to feature the body structure of modern humans, with shortened arms and elongated legs (however, their brains were 2∕3 the size of ours). This indicates that humans were no longer tree climbers but adapting to life on the ground, and could walk and perhaps even run.
Homo erectus
began to travel past Africa, migrating to other continents.
Homo erectus
were also the first to make and control fire, and were the earliest hunters.

SWAHILI

Spread of Swahili
Swahili was the language of the people living on the East African coast for centuries. As interactions with countries around the Indian Ocean, such as Comoro or Madagascar, and trade and migration increased, the Swahili language spread. During the nineteenth century, the language spread to Tanzania, and it also made it to Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Mozambique, and even as far as South Africa. Christian missionaries learned the language, and also helped spread it by translating the Gospel into Swahili.

LANDING ON THE MOON

Apollo 9
On March 3, 1969,
Apollo 9
was launched. The manned mission successfully used all of the
Apollo
lunar hardware in orbit and it was also the first use of the lunar module, a separate part with the purpose of landing, in a manned flight. The operations lasted ten days, and the crew was able to demonstrate all of the mission maneuvers. While in orbit, the crew simulated a landing using the lunar module and safety maneuvers. One of the safety maneuvers, in which the command module is inoperable and the lunar module is used as a lifeboat, was actually used during the recovery of
Apollo 13
.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

The Globe Theatre
Shakespeare’s most well-known plays were performed at the Globe Theatre in London. The theater was built by the brother of Richard Burbage, one of the actors that worked with Shakespeare, who wrote for the troupe. From 1592 to 1593, an outbreak of the plague caused the theater to shut down, and it is during this time that William Shakespeare turned to poetry. In 1594, the Globe Theatre reopened, and Shakespeare and the troupe became extremely popular. The Globe Theatre could seat two to three thousand people, and performances were held in the afternoon using daylight. During a performance of
Henry VIII
on June 29, 1613, a cannon was fired and it set the roof on fire, burning the Globe Theatre to the ground.

PASCAL’S TRIANGLE

Patterns and Properties
The first diagonal row of Pascal’s triangle is made up of ones and the next diagonal row is counting numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc). The third diagonal row is made up of triangular numbers, which follow the rule
xn
=
n
(
n
+ 1)/2. The fourth row is made up of tetrahedral numbers. If you add up the horizontal rows, you get multiples of 2:

EARLY HUMANS

Homo Sapiens
Homo sapiens
, literally meaning “wise man,” began to appear 250,000 years ago and came out of Africa. These humans had much larger brains, and as a result, their skulls extended forward. Homo sapiens is the genus that we are currently in, and these are considered the earliest “modern man.”
Homo sapiens
were hunters and gatherers, created tools from stone, and even sewed clothing. During this time,
Homo sapiens
lived side by side with another species,
Homo neanderthalensis
, who behaved much like
Homo sapiens
.

SWAHILI

The Written Language
Swahili is an extremely easy language to learn because pronunciation is as simple as sounding out the letters. The oldest form of the written language dates back to the eighteenth century. Due to contact with Arab traders, the language was originally written in Arabic script. In the 1930s, the British attempted to standardize Swahili. The dialect found in Zanzibar, called Kiunguja, would be the standard written and spoken language, written with the Latin alphabet.

LANDING ON THE MOON

Apollo 10
Apollo 10
was launched on May 18, 1969. The mission of the
Apollo 10
was to perform a staging of what the
Apollo 11
mission would be like, with the only exception being it would not actually land on the Moon. The
Apollo 10
mission was the first time that the complete spacecraft traveled to the Moon, making it to around 14 kilometers above the surface of the Moon, and it was the second mission that orbited the Moon. The mission lasted a total of eight days, and the crew was recovered in the Pacific Ocean.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare’s Sexuality
Though William Shakespeare married at the age of eighteen, his sexuality has constantly been an issue of controversy. It is believed that Shakespeare had several affairs with women and showed an interest in men, but the only evidence is circumstantial and is taken from analyzing his sonnets. His book of sonnets that was supposed to be private, was a collection of love poems about a young man he referred to as “Fair Lord,” in which he expressed his love for him, and his book was dedicated to “Mr. W.H.”