KHOWLEDGE ZONE

People ran and hid when they saw Viking ships coming. “From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!” they prayed. The Vikings were daring, skillful sailors and frightening warriors. For 300 years, from ad 800 to 1100, they terrorized much of northern Europe.

HARSH HOMELAND

The Vikings came from Scandinavia, an area in northern Europe that now includes the countries of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The climate there is harsh, with bitter winters and short summers. Viking families struggled to survive. They grew oats and barley during the short growing season. They also hunted deer, bear, and wolves in the woods and caught fish, seals, and whales from the ocean.

RAIDERS AND SETTLERS

Viking warriors sailed in fast, sleek drakkar (dragon ships). They had a single sail but the warriors also rowed them with oars.

The Vikings sailed south to attack villages and churches around the coasts of Europe. They seized valuables and kidnapped men, women, and children to sell as slaves. The Vikings demanded danegeld (money for protection) from towns and threatened to attack again if they weren’t paid. Boatloads of Vikings landed in Scotland, Ireland, England, and France. They killed local rulers and set up their own kingdoms. Vikings also took control of parts of Russia and the Ukraine.

Brave Viking adventurers headed west across the Atlantic to settle in Iceland and Greenland. About ad 1000, they became the first Europeans to land in North America. They called the new land Vinland and built a settlement there, but the settlement did not survive.

SKILLED AND CIVILIZED

Wherever they traveled, the Vikings brought violence. But they also brought their own rich culture. They were expert craftspeople, carving wood, stone, bone, and antlers into useful everyday objects. They forged sharp iron axes, swords, and spears. They made the best ships in Europe, and the best jewelry. They were also shrewd traders. They traveled long distances to sell amber, furs, and slaves in such cities as Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) and Baghdad (in Iraq).

Viking people were proud of their highly developed society. They held community meetings, called things, to punish criminals and make laws. They set up carved memorial stones to honor respected leaders. Viking poets memorized stories and histories of brave deeds.

Viking traditions survive throughout northern Europe, and Viking tales of gods, heroes, and monsters still inspire stirring works of art.

They called him “the man with a million stories.” People flocked to Marco Polo’s home to hear him tell exciting tales about his travels in distant lands.

Marco Polo won fame for his journeys across Asia. He wrote a book about his travels that became one of the most famous travel guides in history.

EARLY LIFE

Marco Polo was born in 1254 to a family of merchants. His home was Venice, Italy. Venetian merchants bought and sold valuable Chinese goods, including precious silk cloth. Such goods were brought to Europe along an ancient route known as the Silk Road. The merchants also used the route to travel east on trading missions.

Marco’s mother died when he was a young boy. His family taught him to be a merchant. He learned how to read, write, calculate, and use foreign money.

In 1269, Marco’s father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, returned to Venice after visiting China. In China, they had met the Mongol conqueror Kublai Khan. The khan invited the Polos to return. He asked them to bring Christian scholars to explain the Christian religion to him.

TRIP TO CHINA

In 1271, Niccolò and Maffeo set out for China again. Marco, then 17 years old, joined his father and uncle for the trip. Two priests also traveled with the Polos. But the route was dangerous, and the priests soon turned back.

It took the Polos four difficult years to reach China. The journey led across deserts and high mountains. They passed through wild countryside where bandits lurked, ready to rob and kill. They braved heat and cold, floods, deep snowdrifts, and blinding sandstorms. At last they reached the summer palace of Kublai Khan at Shangdu.

The khan welcomed the Polos warmly. He offered Marco a job. Marco accepted, and the Polos lived in China for the next 17 years. Marco traveled on many special missions across the khan’s kingdom and to distant lands. When Marco returned from his missions, he told the khan vivid stories about the people and lands he visited.

Over time, the Polos worried that Kublai Khan would not allow them to leave. Several times they had asked the khan for permission to return to Europe. But the khan enjoyed his visitors so much that he would not grant their wish. Finally, the khan changed his mind.

RETURN TO VENICE

In 1292, Kublai Khan asked Marco to escort a Mongol princess to Persia. The Polos traveled by ship from China to the Persian Gulf. Then the Polos headed for Venice, finally reaching home in 1295. Marco had been away so long that nobody recognized him!

We know about Marco’s travels because, in 1298, he became a prisoner of war. He shared his cell with a writer named Rustichello, who helped Marco turn his stories into a book. Rustichello added some details of his own. But much of Marco’s book seems to be true!

Marco Polo returned to Venice after his release from prison. He died in 1324. But his book remained popular for centuries. Merchants, mapmakers, and explorers all looked to the book for information about Asian lands. Even the navigator Christopher Columbus owned a copy!

Captain James Cook was one of the world’s greatest explorers. He sailed around the world twice. He was the first European to reach Hawaii and New Zealand, and he sailed farther south than any European had ever gone.

People marvelled over the places, people, and things Cook described. Before Cook, nobody in Europe knew about penguins or kangaroos!

EARLY LIFE

Cook was born in 1728 on a farm in northern England. At the age of 18, he went to work for a shipping company. In 1755, Cook joined the British Royal Navy. His ship was sent to Canada, to make maps of land that Britain had conquered from France.

FIRST VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC

In 1768, Cook sailed to the South Pacific Ocean, with artists and scientists. Officially, their task was to observe the planet Venus. But Britain also hoped that Cook would find a mysterious “Southern Continent” that some sailors claimed to have seen. Cook wanted to take control of it for the British king.

Cook reached New Zealand in 1770. No other European had been there. He sailed around New Zealand and then explored eastern Australia.

A SCIENTIFIC EXPLORER

Cook drew many detailed maps and kept careful records of all he had seen on his voyage. He described native peoples of the South Pacific and their cultures. His artists sketched wildlife, and his scientists collected unusual plants and animals to take back.

Cook’s careful work caused a sensation when he arrived home in Britain in 1771. No other expedition had gathered so much information, so thoroughly and scientifically.

Cook also won fame for keeping his sailors healthy. He wondered if a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables caused scurvy, a fatal disease common among sailors on long voyages. He stocked his ship with sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and forced his crew to eat it. During stops at port, he ordered his crew to eat fresh foods. As a result, few of his sailors became seriously ill.

SECOND VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC

From 1772 to 1775, Cook made a second voyage to the South Pacific Ocean. This time, he sailed farther south than anyone before him. He saw penguins and icebergs. He sailed all the way around Antarctica. But he found no land where people might live.

FINAL VOYAGE

In 1776, Cook set off on a third voyage. This time, Cook wanted to look for the Northwest Passage. This was a possible sea route north of Canada linking Europe and Asia. Before sailing north, he explored several islands in the Pacific. He landed in Hawaii in 1778, becoming the first European to do so.

From Hawaii, Cook sailed to North America. He was the first European to set foot on Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia. Throughout 1778 he explored the northwest coast of North America, but he failed to find the Northwest Passage. In 1779, Cook returned to Hawaii, where he was killed in a quarrel with natives over a stolen boat.

Christopher Columbus tried to take a shortcut, and ended up somewhere he never intended to go. He discovered two continents that people in Europe didn’t even know existed. By crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, Columbus opened contacts between lands and peoples that were unknown to each other.

Columbus’s voyage to the Americas opened an exciting period in history. Animals, plants, and new ideas were exchanged between continents. But it also caused terrible tragedy. Millions of Native Americans died as Europeans rushed to take land and riches for themselves.

MASTER SAILOR

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He became a sailor at the age of 14. In 1476, he was shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal. Portugal was Europe’s top seafaring nation at that time. Columbus settled there.

Columbus studied geography and navigation, the science of figuring out where things are on Earth’s surface. He became a master sailor. He met explorers who had sailed along the coast of Africa seeking an eastward sea route to the rich lands of Asia. Europeans called these lands “the Indies.” Europeans wanted to bring gold and other treasures from the Indies back to Europe.

DARING DREAM

Columbus began to think about a wonderful adventure, which he called the “Enterprise of the Indies.” He dreamed of reaching the Indies by sailing west! This was not a new idea, but no one had ever managed to make the voyage. Columbus thought the trip to the Indies west across the ocean would be much shorter than sailing around Africa.

Columbus had high hopes, but no money. Who would pay for his expedition? He asked the king of Portugal, but the king refused. Columbus didn’t give up. He went to the rulers of Portugal’s neighbor, Spain. At first they also refused. Eventually, however, the Spanish king and queen agreed to provide three small ships—the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María. They also paid for crews and supplies for the voyage.

HISTORIC VOYAGE

Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain, on August 3, 1492. He stopped at the Canary Islands southwest of Spain, then headed west into unknown seas. He had no idea what lay ahead, but he had faith in his sailing skills and his bold idea. A swift current carried his ships along, and on October 12, the crew sighted the islands of the Bahamas. Columbus thought he had reached Asia. He called the islands the Indies.

Columbus was greeted by the Arawak people who lived on the islands. They offered food, but had only a little gold. Columbus was disappointed not to find Asian treasures, but still felt sure he had reached Japan in Asia. He spent two months exploring, then headed home. One of his ships sank in a storm, but back in Spain he was hailed as a hero. The king and queen offered rich rewards and made him “Admiral of the Ocean Seas.”

THREE FAILURES

Columbus made three more voyages to America. None went well. He was a skillful sailor, but his greed and stubbornness made him a bad leader and created enemies.

During his second voyage (1493-1496), Columbus claimed land for Spanish settlements. He fought against Caribbean peoples who lived on the land he claimed and forced them to work as slaves.

On the third voyage (1498-1500), Columbus quarreled with Spanish settlers so violently that he was sent back to Europe as a prisoner in chains.

On his fourth and final voyage (1502-1504), Columbus was marooned on an island for more than a year. He had to be rescued. He was very ill by the time he returned home to Spain.

AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPLORER

Columbus died in 1506. He quarreled with the king and queen right up until his death. He wanted authority over Spanish colonies and a larger share of the riches that were brought back from America. It was a sad end to an extraordinary career that still shapes our lives today. When Columbus crossed the Atlantic, he changed the world forever.

In the 1930s, American pilot Amelia Earhart set speed and distance records for airplane flight. Today, Earhart is remembered as an adventurous pioneer during the early days of long-distance aviation.

EARLY YEARS

Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897. She worked as a military nurse in Canada during World War I (1914-1918). In 1920, Earhart moved to California and began taking flying lessons. She bought her first airplane at the age of 24.

In 1928, two American pilots invited Earhart to join them as a passenger on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip made Earhart famous. She was the first woman in history to cross the Atlantic by air! Earhart tasted the thrill of long-distance flight, and she wanted more.

EARHART'S FLIGHT ACHIEVEMENTS

In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo (alone) across the Atlantic Ocean. She made the trip in 13 hours and 30 minutes, setting a new speed record for the flight. For her achievement, Earhart won special honors from the American and French governments.

Then, in 1935, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo over the Pacific Ocean. She took off from Honolulu, Hawaii, and landed in Oakland, California.

Earhart set another record in 1935 by flying from Mexico City, Mexico, to New York City in a record time of 14 hours and 19 minutes.

HOW DID EARHART PREPARE FOR A FLIGHT?

Earhart spent months preparing for each flight. All of her airplane’s mechanical parts were tested. She carefully calculated how much gasoline and oil she would need for a trip. She mapped out different navigational charts in case foul weather forced her off course.

WHAT WAS A FLIGHT LIKE?

Earhart wore warm clothes on her flights since the cockpit of her airplane grew cold at high altitudes. The hardest part was battling exhaustion on the long, lonely flights. Earhart admitted to being so tired in a flight’s final hours that she was “likely to see illusions of land.”

EARHART'S LAST FLIGHT

In June 1937, Earhart began what she hoped would be her greatest achievement: a flight around the world. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Miami, Florida, flying east. On July 2, with over half of the trip behind them, their airplane left New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and headed for the Howland Islands.

But somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Earhart’s airplane disappeared. Navy airplanes and ships searched for Earhart and Noonan, but they found no trace of their airplane. To this day, the fate of America’s golden girl of flight remains a mystery.