PERCHED ONthe slopes
of Mount Parnassus in
central Greece, Delphi
was determined by
the god Zeus to be the
center of the world—the
omphalos, or navel. Delphi
was first settled in the
Bronze Age and grew
to great significance in
ancient Greece as home
to the oracle of Apollo,
the Pythian Games, and
splendid architecture.
After successive pillaging
over the centuries, Delphi
all but disappeared until
excavations in the 19th
century revealed the glory
of the ancient site.Life in a Stone Age City
Çatalhöyük, an archaeological site in modern Turkey, was one
of humanity’s earliest urban centers, built about 9,000 years
ago when people first began living in honeycombs of houses.Egypt’s First Christians
In the early years of the Roman Empire, Mark the Apostle
founded a church in Alexandria that would combine a new
faith’s teachings with the rich culture of ancient Egypt.Copernicus’s Scientific Revolution
In 1508 Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus had an idea,
one that he would finesse for more than 30 years before
publishing a theory that would reinvent the heavens.The Composer and the Emperor
In early 1804 Ludwig van Beethoven was one of Napoleon
Bonaparte’s biggest fans, but after the French consul turned
tyrant, the composer changed his tune.Next Issue
THE CITY AT
THE CENTER
OF THE WORLDWHEN THE DRUMBEATS OF WAR began to sound
between the United States and Spain in 1898,
American newspapers quickened the tempo.
During a heated circulation battle between
publishing titans William Randolph Hearst
and Joseph Pulitzer, the New York Journal and
the World churned
out story after story
about Cuba, then an
outpost of the Spanish
Empire. After the
U.S.S. Maine sank in
Havana Harbor, the
imperial ambitions of
the United States rose
as yellow journalism
pushed the two
nations toward war.THE THOLOS (CIRCULAR
TEMPLE) OF DELPHI WAS BUILT
IN THE FOURTH CENTURY B.C.
ORGAD NAVÈ/FOTOTECA 9X12ORONOZ/ALBUMA TALE OF TWO EMPIRES:
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR