Category: North America

Vikings in North America: The Norse Discovery of the New World

Vikings in North America Although they often do not receive their due accolades, the Vikings were actually the first Europeans to cross the Atlantic Ocean and discover and explore North America – almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The Viking sagas have long told of their journeys westwards across from their Greenland colonies around 1000 CE […]

Naming of America

The Naming of America In 1492 Christopher Columbus became the first European to reach the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, showing Europeans how to sail across the Atlantic and ushering in a wave of exploration and colonisation. But it was the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci who would be immortalised in the continent’s name. For […]

Spanish Exploration and Conquest of the Americas

In 1492 Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas searching for a more direct route to Asia. Little did he know that his voyage would spark a process of colonization and conquest over more than three centuries that would transform the Americas. In the process the Spanish Empire decimated the established civilisations and native peoples, plundering and extracting unheard of amounts of wealth.

Atlantic Packet Ships

Setting sail no matter what the condition, the Black Ball Line packet ships quickly became popular to businessmen and passengers alike, valued for their predictability. Other companies soon caught on to the revolutionary business venture, with scores of competing North Atlantic lines springing up in no time on the ports of New York.

Atmospheric Measurements at Mauna Lao & Cape Grim

Carbon Dioxide Measurements at Mauna Lao and Cape Grim In May 2013, the Mauna Lao Observatory in Hawaii recorded an historic milestone.  Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere had exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in 55 years of measurement – and possibly in the last 15 million years. Then […]

New York City: Architecture Styles Through the Ages

New York City: Architecture Styles Through the Ages What makes the Empire State Building different from the Haughwout Building in SoHo? How do the surrounding skyscrapers allow just the right amount of natural lighting for you to take that picture? The New York skyline is probably one of the first things you notice when you […]