Showing results by author "iMinds" in All Categories

Learn about the story behind the tradition of Thanksgiving with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Thanksgiving is a North American festival. It commemorates the good fortune its founders encountered when they arrived in the New World. In Canada, Thanksgiving is held on the second Monday of October. In the United States of America, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Andy Warhol came to public attention as one of the leading lights of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. Since then his art and legacy have polarised art critics and the public alike. This thin, pale, asexual man in a silver wig has been described as both a genius and a charlatan. His art, and maybe more importantly his approach to art, took him out of the galleries and museums into the public arena.

Crop circles are geometric patterns found in agricultural fields, most often in Southern England. They consist of flattened plant stems lying in regular patterns, some of which are highly complex. Crop circles usually appear in fields of wheat, barley, canola and other common crops. Because of their size - hundreds of feet across - crop circles can only be truly appreciated from the air.

It is said that when Joan of Arc was born on January 6 in 1412, the roosters in her village all crowed, even though it was midnight. When Joan was 13 years old, something happened to change her life. She was working in the garden when she thought she saw a bright light coming from the church, and heard someone speaking French in a sweet, low, beautiful voice.

Learn about the condition of hemophilia with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The term "hemophilia" describes hemorrhagic, or bleeding, disorders. The most common of these disorders is caused by a deficiency of protein in the blood, known as the "blood-clotting factor". There needs to be at least 30% of the clotting factor for the blood to clot normally.

Learn about the US Triple Crown of Racing with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Triple Crown is the most esteemed horse racing trophy in North America. The Triple Crown trophy was introduced in 1930 after a journalist suggested that Gallant Fox's triumph in America's three biggest horse races, the Preakness Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, deserved a trophy of its own. He suggested the name, the Triple Crown, after the British Triple Crown trophy.

There's nothing like a good comeback. It's witty, snappy and completely devastating to your verbal sparring partner. But how many times have you gone completely blank when arguing with someone, only to think of the perfect comeback an hour later? More than anything, you wish you could wind back time and deliver your riposte at the perfect moment. That's l'esprit de l'escalier.

You probably would agree that the four weeks leading up to Christmas are a special time of year. For Christians this is a period of preparation. Many Christians call these four weeks 'Advent' and they prepare themselves for the celebration of Jesus' birth. The word 'Advent' comes from the Latin 'adveneo', meaning 'to come to' and refers to Jesus' coming into the world at Christmas.

A mountain is defined as any hill that reaches 600 metres or more. Mountains come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some have sharp, pointed edges; others slope more gently. The terrain of a mountain is made up of peaks, valleys, escarpments, and plateaus. And the collective name for a group of mountains is a mountain range.Two of the most famous mountain ranges in the world are America's Sierra Nevada and Africa's Atlas mountains.

In this volume, you will learn about: the story behind Guy Fawkes day, the history of Thanksgiving celebrations, the concept of trade, the development of in vitro fertilization, the science of astronomy, the use of forensics in solving crimes, the story behind the character of Sherlock Holmes, the history of cricket's greatest trophy, the story of infamous rogue traders, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, the history of Prohibition, and the development of burlesque performance.

Learn about the history of flight with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds. Have you ever wondered how a bird flies, or how a heavy airplane stays in the sky? Flight occurs when an object moves through the atmosphere instead of falling towards the Earth. This object can be an aircraft, a spaceship, a rocket, a balloon, a bird, or an insect. In order for something to fly, it has to be lighter than the air around it or powerful enough to defy gravity, which is the Earth’s pull.

Learn about the science of Wind Power with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Wind power is a limitless, non-polluting resource that currently contributes almost 2% of the world's energy supply. It's the fastest-growing resource market in the world and has become one of the biggest issues in the green movement. Importantly, there is enough of it in the atmosphere to meet the daily global energy demand five times over!

Learn about subprime lending with iMinds Money's insightful fast knowledge series. Originally, the term subprime lending described any loan that charged less than the prime, or base, rate of interest. This definition, however, has changed over the last twenty years to mean quite the opposite. Now subprime refers not to the interest rate charged, but to the credit worthiness of the loan taker.

iMinds Genius collection presents 72 iMinds knowledge grabs, offering six titles across each of the 12 main categories of knowledge. With iMinds, knowledge is on-demand to learn what you want when you want it. Whet your appetite and broaden your mind. Each title represents a self contained track of engaging information. Learn about a diverse range of topics from film noir to the Last Supper, déjà vu to the discovery of penicillin.

Learn about the process of immunisation with iMinds insightful audio-knowledge series. For many people, immunisation is their only hope at survival. It is responsible for saving millions of lives every year, eradicating some of the most horrific viruses, and increasing global health awareness. Without immunisation, historical plagues such as the "Black Death", "smallpox", and "Spanish influenza" would still be around. If we didn't have immunisation, many of us wouldn't be here.

Lehman Brothers Holding Co. was the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank before the firm's spectacular collapse in 2008. Lehman's global businesses previously generated more than $19 billion in 2007 from its vast capital markets, investment banking and investment management businesses. Lehman's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing on September 15, 2008 marked one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history.

Learn about the history of cricket's greatest contest, The Ashes, with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Ashes is a test-cricket series played between England and Australia. Throughout its long history, winning the Ashes has been seen as a matter of national pride for the two sporting rivals. Today, there is an Ashes series in both men's cricket and women's cricket. But the men's Ashes series is more widely known.

Which country separates the United States of America from Central America? Where, on average, do people eat half a kilo of tortillas every day? And, where is home to the cactus and the Chihuahua? Mexico, of course! Mexico, or the United States of Mexico, is a federation of 31 sovereign states. Its land mass is almost three times that of Texas, which it borders. In fact, Mexico is the world’s 14th largest nation.

He was a great leader of the ancient world. And still today, Julius Caesar is one of history’s most famous people. Caesar was born in 100 BC to the wealthy family of the Julii. His parents named him Gaius. “Caesar”, meaning “head of hair”, was a nickname he received later. Caesar began to assert his authority at a young age.

Christmas Day is a time of celebration for many people all around the world. Those who celebrate it see it as a joyous time. But Christmas is celebrated in many different ways in different countries. One country has a feast known as "reveillon". In another country people like to go to the beach on Christmas Day! Can you guess which countries these are?