Tag: travel

Alberto Santos-Dumont vs The Wright Brothers: Giants of Aviation

Back in 2016, Rio de Janeiro hosted the Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony featured bossa nova, capoeira, and laser-lit choreography depicting key points in Brazil’s history. Among these theatric renditions was a curious biplane aviator that the Olympic announcer noted Brazilians claim to have beaten the Wright Brothers in their claim to fame. Are there any merits to this assertion? Has history snubbed this Brazilian inventor?

UNESCO World Heritage: 10 Travel Sites and How They Were Selected

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has several branches and initiatives aimed at promoting the subjects in its name across the globe. One of these is the World Heritage Committee which, among other things, decides what locations are worth preserving for various reasons. These reasons are grouped together in a list of ten selection criteria, each denoted by a Roman numeral. To explain the Committee’s selection criteria and World Heritage sites more broadly let us go through this list and examine an illustrative example for every criterion.

Manifest Destiny: US History

Manifest Destiny in US History: During the 19th century, the term Manifest Destiny was coined – a belief that America was readily destined to expand its territory across the continent. In this lesson, we explain important events and people that influenced Manifest Destiny, including Mountain Men, Lewis and Clark, Mormons, and the Gold Rush.