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Ravenscraig steelworks
Near Craigneuk in Lanarkshire. Was the largest hot strip steel mill in Western Europe until it closed in 1992. One of 4 in the UK. At its peak, steel production in the UK employed about 300 000 people. Iron ore was brought in to the Clyde at Kingston until 1978, when it moved to West…
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Palaeontology for parents
Life evolved in the ocean. Lungs came from gills, hands and feet from fins. The hard shelled egg was the great advance which allowed amphibians to leave the water behind for good. Although amphibians have only primitive lungs (and usually rely on skin diffusion), there have been massive ones eg the 9m long crocodile-like Prionosuchus!…
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Marco Polo
Travelled aged 17yr with his father and uncle, merchants from Venice, in 1271 to see Kubla Khan in Peking. His father and uncle had already been there once, on a trip lasting 7 years, and were asked by the Khan to bring back learned men and oil from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Arrived after…
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Hokusai's Great Wave
Great wave off Kanagawa From 1830s. Seen as archetypal Japanese but actually not that old: Prussian blue used (ie synthetic dye from Germany), perspective is European! Japan was still closed to all but a few Chinese and Dutch traders until 1859 having closed its borders to trade for some 200yrs, but this shows how European…