TED-Ed
The rise of the Ottoman Empire | Mostafa Minawi
In the late 13th century, Osman I established a small principality sandwiched between a crumbling Byzantine Empire and a weakened Sultanate of the Seljuk of Rum, in what is now Turkey. In just a few generations, this territory had...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Shunan Teng: The Chinese myth of the immortal white snake
The talented herbalist Xu Xian had just started his own medicine shop where he created remedies with the help of his wife, Bai Su Zhen. One day a monk named Fa Hai approached him, warning him that there was a demon in his house. The...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of the Sampo— an infinite source of fortune and greed | Hanna-Ilona Härmävaara
After a skirmish at sea and long days of being battered by waves, Väinämöinen— a powerful bard as old as the world itself— washed up on the shores of distant Pohjola. A cunning witch nursed him back to health but demanded a reward for...
TED Talks
TED: Hunting for Peru's lost civilizations -- with satellites | Sarah Parcak
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of lost ancient sites lie buried and hidden from view. Satellite archaeologist Sarah Parcak is determined to find them before looters do. With the 2016 TED Prize, Parcak is building an online...
TED Talks
TED: Who would the rest of the world vote for in your country's election? | Simon Anholt
Wish you could vote in another country's election? Simon Anholt unveils the Global Vote, an online platform that lets anybody, anywhere in the world, "vote" in the election of any country on earth (with surprising results).
TED-Ed
The myth of Loki and the deadly mistletoe | Iseult Gillespie
Baldur was the gentlest and most beloved being in all of Asgard. But lately, he had been plagued by gruesome visions foretelling his own imminent death. Determined to protect her son from these grim prophecies, Queen Frigg travelled...
TED Talks
Abigail Washburn: Building US-China relations ... by banjo
Abigail Washburn wanted to be a lawyer improving US-China relations -- until she picked up a banjo. The TED Fellow tells a moving story of the connections she's formed touring across the US and China while playing that banjo and singing...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: David Ian Howe: A brief history of dogs
Since their emergence over 200,000 years ago, modern humans have established communities all over the planet. But they didn't do it alone. Whatever corner of the globe you find humans in today, you're likely to find another species as...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Chris A. Kniesly: History through the eyes of a chicken
The Ancient Egyptian king Thutmose III described the chicken as a marvelous foreign bird that "gives birth daily." Romans brought them on their military campaigns to foretell the success of future battles. Today, this bird occupies a...
TED Talks
Daniel Bögre Udell: How to save a language from extinction
As many as 3,000 languages could disappear within the next 80 years, all but silencing entire cultures. In this quick talk, language activist Daniel Bögre Udell shows how people around the world are finding new ways to revive ancestral...
TED Talks
Kishore Mahbubani: How the West can adapt to a rising Asia
As Asian economies and governments continue to gain power, the West needs to find ways to adapt to the new global order, says author and diplomat Kishore Mahbubani. In an insightful look at international politics, Mahbubani shares a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: M Jackson: How to grow your own glacier
In the 13th century, Genghis Khan embarked on a mission to take over Eurasia, swiftly conquering countries and drawing them into his empire. But, legend has it that there was one obstacle that even he couldn't overcome: a towering wall...
TED Talks
Pico Iyer: Where is home?
More and more people worldwide are living in countries not considered their own. Writer Pico Iyer -- who himself has three or four “origins” -- meditates on the meaning of home, the joy of traveling and the serenity of standing still.
TED Talks
TED: every piece of art you've ever wanted to see -- up close and searchable | Amit Sood
What does a cultural Big Bang look like? For Amit Sood, director of Google's Cultural Institute and Art Project, it's an online platform where anyone can explore the world's greatest collections of art and artifacts in vivid, lifelike...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Taino myth of the cursed creator | Bill Keegan
Before the world of humans began, there was the world of the gods. Four brothers wandered this celestial realm. One day, the brothers snuck into a spirit's house and spotted a giant gourd hanging in the corner. But as they tried to look...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History's "worst" nun | Theresa A. Yugar
Juana Ramírez de Asbaje sat before a panel of prestigious theologians, jurists, and mathematicians. They had been invited to test Juana's knowledge with the most difficult questions they could muster. But she successfully answered every...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why doesn't the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall over? | Alex Gendler
In 1990, the Italian government enlisted top engineers to stabilize Pisa's famous Leaning Tower. There'd been many attempts during its 800 year history, but computer models revealed the urgency of their situation. The tower would topple...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Alex Gendler: Why should you read "Crime and Punishment"?
What drives someone to kill in cold blood? What goes through the murderer's mind? And what kind of a society breeds such people? Over 150 years ago Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky took these questions up in what would become one of the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Greek myth of Talos, the first robot | Adrienne Mayor
Hephaestus, god of technology, was hard at work on his most ingenious invention yet. He was creating a new defense system for King Minos, who wanted fewer intruders on his island kingdom of Crete. But mortal guards and ordinary weapons...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of the Celtic warriors | Philip Freeman
One summer evening in 335 BCE, Alexander the Great was resting by the Danube River when a band of strangers approached his camp. Alexander had never seen anything like these tall, fierce-looking warriors with huge golden neck rings and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Japanese folktale of the selfish scholar | Iseult Gillespie
In ancient Kyoto, a Shinto scholar found himself distracted from his prayers and sought to perform a purification ritual that would cleanse him. He decided to travel to the revered Hie Shrine; walking the path alone, ignoring any...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A day in the life of an ancient Peruvian shaman
The year is 1400 BCE. At the temple of the fisherman, the morning is unusually still and this is just the latest in a series of troubling signs for Quexo, the village shaman. The villagers live off the sea, but this year the winds have...
TED-Ed
The unexpected math of origami | Evan Zodl
Origami, which literally translates to "folding paper," is a Japanese practice dating back to at least the 17th century. In origami, a single, traditionally square sheet of paper can be transformed into almost any shape, purely by...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy? | Laura Wright
Set in a small town in India, "The God of Small Things" revolves around fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, who are separated for 23 years after the fateful hours in which their cousin drowns, their mother's affair is revealed, and her...