Cricket History

Thomas Edison first developed direct current for New York City, but was challenged by Nikola Tesla, who believed his alternating current was a better solution.

Although pioneers faced danger and sickness as they journeyed west, their children often found moments of delight.

For thousands of years, people have been using the engineering design process.

An overview of how French Colonies have retained French traits. This article covers France's legacy in Cambodia, Canada, Laos, Morocco, and Vietnam.

Before radio, television, and movies, expositions or world fairs such as the World's Columbian Exposition, the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, and the St. Louis World's Fair offered glimpses into faraway cultures and people.

Wanda Wheel presents the captivating history of wheels, and their influence on civilization.

Two Frenchmen set out to change the world with a revolutionary idea of collecting all the world's knowledge.

The mythic origin stories of the Grand Canyon and the Native American tribes who live in and near it.

King Olaf of Sweden and King Olaf of Norway let the dice decide the new ruler of Hising Island.

Did you know that a newly-designed boat helped win World War II? Learn about Andrew Higgins and his amphibious boat design that revolutionized the war effort. See how Higgins adapted his boat design to help carry soldiers and supplies onto Normandy Beach on D-Day. His craft was amphibious—it worked on land and water. See how one American's invention helped changed the tide of the war.

Have you ever looked into the night sky and wished that you could walk on the Moon? Find about what it is like from the astronauts that were first to do it! Learn about how Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins traveled into space and created history in 1969, and what it was like to take those famous first steps that made “one giant leap for mankind."

When Thomas Edison was a boy, he loved performing experiments and coming up with new inventions. His curiosity sometimes got him in trouble, though, like when he accidentally burned down his dad’s barn! By the time he turned 12, he had found ways to make a living by learning how to print newspapers and send telegraphs in Detroit, Michigan. Imagine what he did as an adult!

On a chilly day in 1947, a Japanese inventor named Momofuku Ando observed people waiting out in the cold for a hot meal. He dreamed of bringing fast-cooking noodles to the whole world. And he did—with ramen noodles! Sometimes the simplest inventions are the best!

Did you know that in the late nineteenth century, the United States military used bikes to travel from one place to another? They were a new invention and a quicker way to travel than walking. Lieutenant James Moss and twenty soldiers tested the durability of bikes by traveling through six states from the West to the Midwest to prove its usability in the military.

How did forgetting to wash a jar make cars safer? A scientist named Édouard Bénédictus accidentally dropped a plastic-coated flask that did not break. This invention was tested and engineered to help today's windshields protect drivers better.

Injured by a cannonball, James Edward Hanger was the first amputee of the Civil War. Determined to find a better solution than a peg leg, he worked to develop his own artificial limb company. He even continued working past retirement, providing Hanger Limbs for victims of World War I.

Since ancient times, people have been recording information. Books—as we know them today—took many centuries to evolve.

Have you ever heard about the "Hello Girls" of World War I? These heroic women worked as telephone switchboard operators for the U.S. military. Despite the dangers of war, they kept American officers in contact with their soldiers during battle, and spoke in French and English. Yet, "Hello Girls" weren't recognized for their wartime service. What historic year did women win the right to vote?

In 1963, the West Indian Marxist C.L.R. James posed the deceptively benign question: "What do they know of cricket, who only cricket know?" A challenge to the public to reconsider cricket and its meaning by placing the game in its true social, political, and economic context. Different Class does not simply challenge the widely accepted orthodoxy of English cricket, it demonstrates how the values and belief systems at its heart were intentionally developed in order to divide the English along class lines at every level of the game.

This audiobook will, in a concise way, give you all you need to know on the subject of cricket. It is a simple guide to the rules, history, controversies, famous players, exciting characters, beautiful grounds, and some of the wonderful anecdotes associated with the great game of Cricket.