The History of the Parthenon

Classical Architecture

I love Greco-Roman Architecture:

By the way, if you compare the above temple with the Parthenon in the next post, you will how the designer of the Parthenon adjusted the column widths of the Parthenon so that the columns line up perfectly instead of appearing to lean outward, which is what straight columns looks like (as in this picture).

The Heroes of the Iliad

I really like this picture. It represents some of the heroes of the Iliad: Menelaus, Paris, Diomedes, Odysseus, Nestor, Achilles and Agamemnon

Checkers in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Checkers is called Draughts (pronounced "drafts"). In the UK, Checkers is the country home of the Prime Minister (Chequers):

Atlantis - Santorini

Santorini is a small island just north of Crete. Santorini is a dormant volcano. This aerial photo shows the circle (caldera) of the volcano and the island that sits in the middle of the circle:

On the the southern tip of Santorini, archaeologists found the buried ancient town of Akrotiri. The ruins of Akrotiri contain beautiful frescoes from the Minoan period. The following fresco shows a flotilla procession passing between a major island containing women in Minoan garb (like Crete) and a major city siting on an island in the middle of another island (like Santorini).

The following is the portion of the fresco that shows Crete:

The following is the portion of the fresco that shows Santorini:

Scientists say that the Santorini volcano erupted around 1600BC, and devastated Santorini. Many people believe that the Santorini eruption/devastation is the basis for the Atlantis tale. The following picture shows the buried ruins of Akrotiri:

Dinosaur Feathers

Scientists have found examples of dinosaur feathers in Canadian amber samples. HOLY JURASSIC PARK! The samples show the evolution of dinosaur feathers from slim hair-like feathers to full feathers that resemble modern bird feathers.

"We've got feathers that look to be little filamentous hair-like feathers, we've got the same filaments bound together in clumps, and then we've got a series that are for all intents and purposes identical to modern feathers," Mr McKellar told BBC News.

"We're catching some that look to be dinosaur feathers and another set that are pretty much dead ringers for modern birds."

Vikings' Route

Although this picture was designed to show the shrinking Arctic Ice Cap, I like it because I can visualize how the Vikings made their discoveries. They followed the old saying, "GO WEST YOUNG MAN, GO WEST". They followed a westward straight line from Scandinavia to Iceland to Greenland to Vineland (North America).