Tag Archives: Social Science Questions for Students

Probably the most important figure in modern Chinese history is Mao Tse-tung (1893-1976). Mao began organizing Communist groups in 1920. Fighting between Mao’s Communists and Chiang Kaishek’s Nationalists started in 1927 and continued until 1949 (though they did unite against the Japanese invaders in 1937). After the Nationalist forces had fled to Taiwan in 1949, the establishment of the People’s …

The most important holiday for Chinese around the world is undoubtedly Chinese New Year – and it all started out of fear. The centuries-old legend on the origins of the New Year celebration varies from teller to teller, but they all include a story of a terrible mythical monster who preyed on villagers. The lion-like monster’s name was Nian which …

Lohri celebrates fertility and the joy of life, and in the event of the birth of a male child or a marriage in the family, it assumes a larger significance wherein the host family arranges for a feast and merry-making with the traditional bhangra dance along with rhythm instruments, like the dhol and the gidda. The first Lohri of a …

Seventy percent of India‘s population lives in villages, and a vast majority of people solely depend on agriculture. As a result, we find that most Hindu festivals are directly or indirectly linked to agriculture and related activities. Pongal is one such big festival, celebrated every year in mid January – mostly in the south of India and especially in Tamil …

The custom of sending Christmas cards started in the United Kingdom in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a civil servant (Government worker) who was very interested in the new ‘Public Post Office’ and wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people.Sir Henry had the idea of Christmas Cards and with his friend John Horsley, who was …

There are many different reasons why candles are associated with Christmas, although no one knows when they first became connected!They were used during ancient winter solstice celebrations a way of remembering that spring would soon come.One of the earliest records of candles being used at Christmas is from the middle ages where a large candle was used to represent the …

No one knows the real birthday of Jesus! No date is given in the Bible, so why do we celebrate it on the 25th December? The early Christians certainly had many arguments as to when it should be celebrated! Also, the birth of Jesus probably didn’t happen in the year 1AD but slightly earlier, somewhere between 2BC and 7BC (there …

A hanukkiyah is a candelabrum with eight candle holders in a row and a ninth candle holder set a little above the others. It’s different from a menorah, which has seven branches and was used in the Temple before it was destroyed in 70 CE. A hanukkiyah is nevertheless a kind of menorah. The hanukkiyah is used during the Jewish …

A dreidel has one Hebrew letter on each side. Outside of Israel, those letters are: נ (Nun), ג (Gimmel), ה (Hay) and ש (Shin), which stand for the Hebrew phrase “Nes Gadol Haya Sham.” This phrase means “A great miracle happened there [in Israel].” After the State of Israel was founded in 1948 the Hebrew letters were changed for dreidels …

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), was the father of the Republic of India. He came from an upper class family and studied in England before returning to India in 1912. He became a close associate of Gandhi in the National Congress party which was devoted to gaining independence from Britain. Pandit (a title meaning ‘learned man’) Nehru, however, believed that socialism and …