An Uncommon History of Common Things
An Uncommon History of Common Things

Author: Bethanne Patrick

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2015-09-16

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1426212275

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Pop culture fans and trivia lovers will delight in National Geographic’s highly browsable, freewheeling compendium of customs, notions and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history. Dip into any page and discover extraordinary hidden details in the everyday that will inform, amuse, astonish, and surprise. From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, this book features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields— when they weren’t busy flying kites to frighten their foes?

An Uncommon History of Common Things
An Uncommon History of Common Things

Author: Bethanne Kelly Patrick

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1426204205

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Presents the stories behind the origins of various everyday objects and consumer products, covering items ranging from clothing and tools to housing and games, complemented by informative timelines and sidebars.

An Uncommon History of Common Things, Volume 2
An Uncommon History of Common Things, Volume 2

Author: National Geographic

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2015-10-27

Total Pages: 724

ISBN-13: 1426216165

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This vivid, engrossing book reveals the fascinating stories behind the objects in your world, what you wear, what you eat, what entertains you, and more. Discover the history behind the world's tallest skyscrapers, find out when people first started drinking caffeine and why it wakes us up, and learn how GPS came to be. Short entries illustrated by full color photos will include quirky anecdotes about the history of everyday objects, including the personalities and pitfalls along the path to innovation and unusual facts behind things we frequently see and use. Smart, surprising, and informative, this book is the ultimate resource for history and trivia buffs alike.

An Uncommon History of Common Courtesy
An Uncommon History of Common Courtesy

Author: Bethanne Patrick

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1426208138

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With engaging and artfully presented text, including sidebars on media mavens throughout history, social gaffes, and archaic manners, this book is as entertaining as it is informative. Readers delve into cultural similarities and differences through lively passages, colorful photography, and sidebars on unique history. Topics include Courtesies and Greetings, Communication and Correspondence, Dining and Entertaining, Hierarchies and Protocol, Hospitality and Occasions, Amusements and Institutions, Boundaries and Cultural Differences, New Technology and Old Manners. Whether you are planning a trip abroad or just want a fascinating, browsable read, find out what is universal and what is merely a product of one's culture.

Uncommon Grounds
Uncommon Grounds

Author: Mark Pendergrast

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2010-09-28

Total Pages: 474

ISBN-13: 0465024041

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The definitive history of the world's most popular drug. Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of Starbucks. Mark Pendergrast reviews the dramatic changes in coffee culture over the past decade, from the disastrous "Coffee Crisis" that caused global prices to plummet to the rise of the Fair Trade movement and the "third-wave" of quality-obsessed coffee connoisseurs. As the scope of coffee culture continues to expand, Uncommon Grounds remains more than ever a brilliantly entertaining guide to the currents of one of the world's favorite beverages.

West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776
West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776

Author: Claudio Saunt

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2014-06-16

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 039324430X

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This panoramic account of 1776 chronicles the other revolutions unfolding that year across North America, far beyond the British colonies. In this unique history of 1776, Claudio Saunt looks beyond the familiar story of the thirteen colonies to explore the many other revolutions roiling the turbulent American continent. In that fateful year, the Spanish landed in San Francisco, the Russians pushed into Alaska to hunt valuable sea otters, and the Sioux discovered the Black Hills. Hailed by critics for challenging our conventional view of the birth of America, West of the Revolution “[coaxes] our vision away from the Atlantic seaboard” and “exposes a continent seething with peoples and purposes beyond Minutemen and Redcoats” (Wall Street Journal).

An Uncommon History of Common Things
An Uncommon History of Common Things

Author: National Geographic

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2015-10-27

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1426215843

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From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, "An Uncommon History of Common Things" features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields--when they weren't busy flying kites to frighten their foes? Every page of this quirky compendium catalogs something fascinating, surprising, or serendipitous. A lively, incomparably browsable read for history buffs, pop culture lovers, and anyone who relishes the odd and extraordinary details hidden in the everyday, it will inform, amuse, astonish--and alter the way you think about the clever creatures we call humans.

Oxford & Cambridge
Oxford & Cambridge

Author: Peter Sager

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 9780500512494

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A lighthearted reference to the two forefront institutions shares a wealth of historical facts, figures, and anecdotes that offers insight into their development of prime ministers, Nobel laureates, and other individuals of distinction, in a literary journey to their homogenized elite identity that provides complementary maps, a glossary, and a list of addresses.

Outside Lies Magic
Outside Lies Magic

Author: John R. Stilgoe

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2009-05-26

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0802719058

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Outside Lies Magic is a book about the acute observation of ordinary things, about becoming aware in everyday places, about seeing in utterly new ways, about enriching your life unexpectedly. For more than 20 years, John R. Stilgoe has developed and practiced the art of exploring the everyday world around us, where so much lies hidden just beneath the surface, offering uncommon knowledge if we but know what to look for. In this remarkable book, Stilgoe inspires us to become explorers on our own-on foot or on bicycle-and by so doing to reap the benefits of escaping, even temporarily, the traps of our programmed lives. "Exploration encourages creativity, serendipity, invention," he writes. And while sharing his insights on how to explore, Stilgoe provides a fascinating pocket history of the American landscape, as striking in its originality as it is revealing. Stilgoe dissects our visual surroundings; his observations will transform the way you see everything. Through his eyes, an abandoned railroad line is redolent of history and future promise; front lawns recall our agrarian past; vacant lots hold cathedrals of potential. From the electrical grid overhead to fences, malls, and main streets, Stilgoe offers a fresh understanding of the links and fractures in our society. After reading Outside Lies Magic, your world will never look the same again.