Tag: history

The Flag of Sicily | English Vocabulary Challenge

At Scrambled Eggs, we are a very international team. Our teachers come from the USA and the UK and our reception team are Italians! Therefore, we love to learn about different cultures and share our national and regional differences. If you come to our school, in our main classroom, you will find all of the flags of Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA proudly displayed. In fact, we are a bit obsessed with the flags of different countries! But, as you know, even within Italy, there are many cultural differences and different histories also throughout the regions. One very distinct region is the island of Sicily. So, we thought we would take a look at this proud region’s flag and give you the opportunity to learn some new vocabulary at the same time. Read the information below and then try our quizzes!

The island of Sicily has a long and interesting history. It’s certainly not straight-forward anyway! Humans lived on the island even as far back as 12,000 BC. Then the Greeks came and it became the site of the Sicilian and Punic Wars. After the fall of Rome, Sicily was ruled by many different kingdoms, from the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines and then eventually the kingdoms of Naples and of Two Sicilies. Italian reunification brought the region into the new nation of Italy and after World War Two it was recognised as an autonomous region of the Italian Republic.

As well as an interesting history, Sicily is well-known for its fantastic natural landscapes. The island is roughly in the shape of a triangle and from beautiful beaches, hills, rivers and even volcanoes, Sicily has it all. It has a typical Mediterranean climate, with mild and wet winters and with hot and dry summers. Because of the fantastic history of the island, there are many historic monuments left for tourists to see, such as Greek and Roman temples. The historic centres of cities like Palermo and Catania are very enchanting, and walking through you feel like you are stepping back in time. The Sicilan cuisine is delightfully diverse and features different dishes such as cannoli and arancine.

The flag of Sicily is extremely interesting. It is very colourful, with a red and yellow background which represents the colours of the two cities Palermo and Corleone. The flag also features the head of a medusa with three legs. This and the wheat ears symbolise the fertility of the island because it such a good place to grow fresh food. The flag has taken many different forms in the past but the version of today has been used since 1990.

We hope you enjoyed reading about Sicily and it’s flag… Now try the quizzes below to test your knowledge of the meaning and the words in bold!

Flag of Sicily | Definitions Quiz

Match the word with the correct definition

Flag of Sicily | True or False

Decide if the statement is true or false

History Time: On this day 1492 Christopher Columbus travels to America

On this day in 1492, the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus left Spain to sail across the Atlantic ocean. He thought he would find Asia, but instead he made the first European discovery of America…

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Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus is the name of a man most people know for his explorations during the 15th century. Columbus was an Italian explorer who was financed by the Spanish royalty to compete with the Portuguese in the “Age of Exploration”. During that era, ships sailing to Asia took long and dangerous routes. Explorers that were sent out to sea were also asked to find new lands and bring wealth back to the country they represented.

The Atlantic Ocean

Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean: 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. On one voyage he was searching for India, and when he landed in America, he thought it was India and called the people “Indians.” The 15th and 16th centuries were together called the “Age of Exploration,” and with newly designed ships, many countries were sending explorers out to find spices, gold, and other items from Africa and Asia. Spain and Portugal led the way with the most ships and explorers and it was during this time that Christopher Columbus was given ships to sail to unknown territory to claim land for Spain.

Early Years 

He was born on October 31, 1451, in Genoa, Italy, and began sailing when he was just a teenager. Columbus was married to Felipa Moniz Perestrelo, in 1477 who later died while giving birth in 1485. In his early life, Columbus studied cartography, mathematics, astronomy, and navigation. These lessons were valuable for his future voyages.

Columbus had different ideas

The Portuguese had figured out a way to make the sailing route to Asia shorter, but Columbus had a different idea. He believed he could sail across the Atlantic instead of around the African Cape of Good Hope, and then he planned his voyages. Columbus thought that the people who calculated the circumference of the Earth were wrong. He thought it was smaller than the experts said and that an easier journey was possible. Soon he realised he was incorrect, but it did bring him to other successes. Columbus approached both the Portuguese and the English to accomplish his ideas, but only Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, monarchs of Spain were interested. Their goal was more land, riches, and expansion of the Catholic religion, and they believed that Columbus had the right ideas. Columbus made an agreement with the Spanish monarchs to keep ten percent of the riches he could find as well as having a Spanish noble title, and to be the governor of any lands that he discovered.

Discoveries in 1492

1492 is the famous year that Columbus launched the ships named the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, with the objective to find a shorter route to the East Indies. The first landing was on one of the islands in the Bahamas. Columbus and the three ships sailed for months from one island to the next in the Caribbean. At this point, they were searching for riches like gold, silver, precious stones and spices. By 1493 Columbus had to leave some of the men from the ships behind in a place they called Hispaniola; (today’s Haiti and the Dominican Republic) so he could return to Spain.

Detailed diary

Columbus kept a very detailed diary of the first voyage, writing about everything from daily life with the crew to animals they saw. The diary includes very racist impressions of local island people. Six months later Columbus began another voyage to America. His voyage to find riches was a failure but he brought 500 slaves back to Queen Isabella. To the surprise of Columbus, Isabella did not want to take the slaves as she thought these people were Spanish subjects.

What happened in 1498

By 1498 Columbus was on his third voyage and this time he stopped at the mainland of South America and Trinidad. When he sailed back to Hispaniola, the colonists had revolted and the native Taino population had all been killed. Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains, where he was cleared of charges in 1502 but lost his noble title. The last voyage for the old Columbus took his ship to Panama, only miles from the Pacific Ocean. After storms damaged two of the four ships, he abandoned them and returned to Spain where he died in 1506.

 

Thanks for reading. Now try the quizzes below to test your knowledge of the article and the words in bold.

Christopher Columbus | Definitions Quiz

Match the words to the correct definitions

Christopher Columbus | True or False Quiz

Decide if the statement is true or false

Adapted from https://www.historyforkids.net/american-history/new-explorers/columbus.html

History Time: The Italian Economic Miracle 1958- 1963

With the Italian economy currently paused due to the terrible outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, we take a look into a historical event that could provide some reasons to be positive and hopeful for the future after the crisis.

After World War II the Italian economy, similar to now, was in a terrible position. Fighting and bombing in the country had reduced many cities to rubble and foreign armies had been occupying the country for years. People were poor and mainly lived in rural areas. Following the war, the Americans and others were worried that Italy could become a communist country, so they pumped £1.5 billion into the economy between 1948 and 1954 as part of the Marshall Plan to make sure this would not happen.

This stimulated the economy greatly and Italian economy began to climb back to the level it was at before the war. Italy still had a big population and therefore a large and cheap labour force ready for action. Korean War in 1950 helped the steel industry and the manufacturing and export sectors continued to grow. Italy joined the European Common Market in 1957, bringing more investments and the possibility of Middle Eastern oil exploration and from then on the economy boomed. The economic triangle in the north became famous for producing fashionable clothes and shoes, typewriters, refrigerators, washing machines, scooters like the Vespa and Lambretta and cars which included the economical Fiats and the more luxury Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. Many people, approximately 9 million, moved from the South to the North to find jobs in the new factories and the cities of Milan, Turin and Genoa exploded with new metropolitan areas. For the first time many people were able to afford cars, televisions and washing machines. Between 1950 and 1962 the GDP of Italy doubled and the standard of living for the entire population increased dramatically.

This can surely be a lesson that out of the darkness there can come light. At the moment Italy faces a grave and serious situation indeed, as the inability of people to move and the collapse of tourism has greatly hurt the economy. Another economic boom could be the solution, although with climate change affecting the world also, perhaps this crisis will be the moment we are shaken from our sleep and the following decades will result in the real change that Italy and the rest of the world needs.

Bored of staying at home right now? Try our quizzes below on the Italian Economic Miracle

Italian Economic Miracle: Definitions

Think you know the words in bold? Have a go at this definitions quiz

The Italian Economic Miracle: True or False

How well did you understand the article? Try the true or false quiz!