Potala Palace

We just learned about the Forbidden City.

Another famous palace is the Potala Palace, built in 1645 AD in Tibet.

This palace is 1,300 feet by 1,150 feet wide, and the palace goes 980 feet high where it is built on top of a big hill called "Marpo Ri" which means Red Hill.
It has over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues.

The spiritual ruler of Tibet is known as the Dalai Lama, and for about 300 years the Dalai Lamas lived in this palace, until there was a war.
Now it is a museum where people can visit and go inside.

The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, which some people believe is a hidden magical mountain somewhere in India.

The main part of the palace is called the "Red Palace" where the main halls and shrines are where the Dalia Lama lived.



(from: wikipedia - potala palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Baja California

Christian Name

We just learned about the Split of Christianity and Judaism.

Another part of Christian hisorty is the Christian Name.

The word Christian wasn't a word until Jesus came around. Christian comes from Christ, which comes from the Greek word χριστός (christos) which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ‎ (māšîaḥ) which means the messiah, the savior and liberator of the people.

After Jesus came around and had some followers, people started calling them Christians, but it wasn't always used as a nice word.
This mostly started in a town called Antioch, where they called the Apostles Christians.
There were many people who didn't like the followers of Jesus, so calling someone a Christian meant they were trying to call them names, or say that they weren't good people.
Later on some very important Christians like Ignatius of Antioch took on the name with honor, and it became a good word to use.

People also sometimes called Christians Nazarenes, because Jesus was from the town of Nazareth.
Other times people would talk about the Christian belief as "The Way" because of Jesus talking about "I am the way, the truth, and the life."


(from: wikipedia - christians)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mount Athos

Seated Yuima - Jōkei

We just learned about the Amitabha Triad of Jōdo-ji - Kaikei.

Another ancient Japanese sculpture is the Seated Yuima - Jōkei.

Yuima was another name used for Buddha long ago.

Jōkei was also from the Kei school, like Jōchō, Kōkei, Unkei and Kaikei.
He worked alongside Unkei, and some people believe that he may have also been Kōkei's son, just like Unkei was.

Jōkei carved this statue over 56 days out of colored wood, using a type of wood-block sculpture called yosegi.
You can see the chair that the Yuima is sitting in is made out of many small colored blocks.
The sculptures eyes are made out of sculpted crystal.



(from: wikipedia - jōkei (sculptor))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Character Heads - Messerschmidt

Norwegian - Dog, Cat

We just learned that to ask if someone speaks Norwegian you say Kan du norsk?.

To say dog in Norwegian, you say hund and it sounds like hoo-un-d  

To say cat in Norwegian, you say katt and it sounds like kah-t  



(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: σκύλος (skýlos), γάτα (gáta)

ASL: dog, cat

Italian: cane, gatto

German: Hunt, Katze

Spanish: perro, gato

French: chien, chat

Jules Verne - From the Earth to the Moon

We just learned about the HMS Erebus Rockets.

Another part of rocket science history is the book Jules Verne - From the Earth to the Moon.

In the late 1800s the famous science fiction writers Jules Verne and H. G. Wells wrote books about things that might happen in the future like rockets or space travel.

Because of some of these books, many other people came up with scientific inventions that helped make better science for how to shoot rockets.


(from: wikipedia - de la tierra a la luna)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Megathrust

Cephalopod - Suckers

We just learned about the Cephalopod Tentacle Hooks.

Another part of cephalopods is the Suckers.

Octopuses, squids and cuttlefish have suckers along the inside of their arms, and squids and cuttlefish have suckers at the end of their tentacles.

The outside of the suckers are usually shaped like a circular bowl.
The cephalopods have muscles below their suckers, that they use to make the suckers grab their prey.








(from: wikipedia - cephalopod limb)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Square Marked Toad

Amelogenesis

We just learned about the Tooth - Bell Stage.

Another part of a tooth growing is the Amelogenesis.

This is also called the Crown Stage or Advanced Bell Stage, and it is when the bell of the tooth starts to actually make the enamel that will be the hard outside of the tooth.


(from: wikipedia - human tooth development)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Posterior Sacroiliac Ligament