"Veni, vidi, vici" means "I came, I saw, I conquered". Caesar used it in 47 BCE to announce victory against Pharnaces II. Caesar was in Egypt with Cleopatra during their son's birth
Alphabet is a set of characters representing language's phonemic structure. Each character represents consonant or vowel, not syllable. A language with 30 consonants and 5 vowels needs only 35 letters
Bizet's Carmen shocked audiences with wild story of single-minded woman. Verdi's Il trovatore premiered in Rome in 1853 with memorable Anvil Chorus. Puccini's La bohème tells story of young Paris lovers in 19th century. Verdi's Rigoletto almost premiered in Vienna despite Austrian censorship. Puccini's Madam Butterfly completed after three months of rehearsal
Periodization categorizes past into discrete, quantified blocks for analysis. Sumerian King List (2nd millennium BC) is earliest known periodization. Hesiod divided history into five ages: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, Iron
Empire style emerged in France during Napoleon's First French Empire (1800-1815). Created by architects Percier and Fontaine, who studied in Rome. Replaced austere Directoire style with ostentatious richness. Spread from France to Europe and United States
First human inhabitants arrived in Japan around 38-39,000 years ago. Jōmon period (13,000-1,000 BC) featured cord-marked pottery. Yayoi people introduced iron technology and agriculture around 3rd century BC. Japan gradually unified under centralized government between 4th-9th centuries