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A common definition of a "white person" is a person of primarily, or wholly, European ancestry. However, the term is sometimes used more broadly, so that it becomes similar to the concept of the Caucasian race or Caucasoid people, which includes people with ancestry from the Caucasus, Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and parts of Central Asia, who share certain physiological characteristics and genetics with Europeans beyond skin colour.

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Though naked skin is advantageous for thermoregulation, it exposes the epidermis to destructive levels of UV radiation that can cause sunburn, skin cancer and birth defects resulting from the destruction of the essential vitamin B folate.

Consequently strong natural selection in Africa favored increased levels of melanin in the skin, once homonids moved out onto the open savanah, and the hairless Hominina ancestors of modern humans developed the required adaptation of dark skin.

Light skin color would have been a severe disadvantage to those living under the bright African sun. However, when humans left Africa for less sun-intense regions of the world, the selective pressure against lighter skin would have relaxed. This probably explains the greater variety of skin color found outside sub-Saharan Africa. Lighter skin colors may have been advantageous at higher latitudes since they allow greater penetration of the sun's UV radiation, a requirement for vitamin D synthesis. This may have led to selection for lightly pigmented skin. Scientists have identified at least 100 genes associated with pigment processing. Though African populations are relatively dark, according to a recent study, they possess a greater diversity in skin complexion than all other populations. It is therefore likely that many of the alleles associated with light pigmentation were already present in an ancestral population in Africa prior to their dispersal. When humans migrated out of Africa, the lighter skin causing alleles may have accumulated in one population, either by genetic drift, natural selection, sexual selection or a combination of these effects. Since their effects are additive it is possible light skin could arise over several generations without any new mutations taking place.

According to Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, light skin probably arose in North Africa or both in the north and east.

A 2006 study provides evidence that the light skin pigmentation observed in Europeans and East Asians arose independently. They concluded that light pigmentation in Europeans is at least partially due to the effects of positive directional and/or sexual selection.

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The people who live here all read; all possess books. Their calendars predict the movements of the solar system. Their skills in mathematics, astronomy, art and language are highly developed. In fact, they are more advanced than any other civilization in the world at that time. Would you be surprised to know that this describes México? And that it describes México in the years B.C.? (100 B.C., to be exact?) Yes, it was here in México, that a civilization, more technologically and artistically advanced than anywhere else in the world at that time, thrived. The early settlers of México arrived more than 40, 000 years ago. They were migrants, who left Asia to walk across the Bering Straits of Alaska. They moved down the continent of North America, finally settling in México.

They were more advanced than their contemporaries in any other part of the world. All of México was literate. Most people possessed books, which were made of bark-paper or deer-skin, and folded like a screen. Hieroglyphic writing was used. Maps were highly developed; tabacco smoking was popular. The Maya made landmark scientific discoveries, such as the mathematical concept of zero. With an extensive knowledge of astromony, they developed a calendar that allowed them to predict eclipses and plot the movements of the solar system. They evolved a highly refined hieroglyphic writing system. Without the benefit of metal, monumental cities and ceremonial centers were built. Metal was unknown until 900 A.D. A fantastic number of buildings were built, decorated with beautiful frescoes, covered with sculpture. Pottery and figurines were produced in large quantities. The Mayan Empire was unique; nothing like it has ever been discovered by archeologists. Their buildings continue to elicit wonder. While Rome was collapsing, brilliantly-colored buildings were rising from the jungle floor. While Europe was suffering through the Dark Ages, Mayan civilization flourished.

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There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world.

It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins.

One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, and its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilization’s commerce extended from Latin America to China, and everywhere in between.

And this civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration.

Its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of courage, romance and magic. Its poets wrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such things.

When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others.

While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I’m talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent.

Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians. Sufi poet-philosophers like Rumi challenged our notions of self and truth. Leaders like Suleiman contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership.

And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population–that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions.

This kind of enlightened leadership — leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability, diversity and courage — led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.

In dark and serious times like this, we must affirm our commitment to building societies and institutions that aspire to this kind of greatness. More than ever, we must focus on the importance of leadership– bold acts of leadership and decidedly personal acts of leadership.

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The Wright brothers are officially the first people who invented the airplane. But there were many more people around the world who also contributed. For many centuries people have been fascinated by the thought of flying. Leonardo da Vinci designed a flying machine in the 15th century, and by the time the 19th century rolled around, humans were airborne in hot-air balloons, gliders, and huge kites.

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The first submersible or submarine was built in 1620 by Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel, a Dutchman in the service of James I of England. The design of the first submarine was outlined by William Bourne an English mathematician.

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In 1697, the first ship was built in Käsmu for the baron of Palmse. Boats and smaller ships have been built in Käsmu for almost 200 years (Käsmu, an Estonian-Finnish-Swedish village of captains has also been called Kesemo and Casperwiek at different times). The original fishermen village evolved into a sailors' village by the 19th century. Larger sailing ships have been built since the end of the 19th century. Käsmu men, however, bought their first ocean sailing ships from Finland for the money earned by smuggling salt. After that they launched their local ship construction business. In 1891 a light beacon and the first ocean sailing ship were built, for Käsmu bay was one of the major ports for wintering, in some years of 60-70 ships.

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Soul traces its roots to four different sources: racial, geographical, historical and economical factors. The 1950s recordings of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and James Brown are commonly considered the beginnings of soul music. Soul comes from a mixture of the sacred (i.e. gospel) and the profane (blues). Blues mainly praised fleshly desires, whereas gospel was more oriented toward spiritual inspiration. Soul music exploded in the 1960s and ruled the black music charts throughout the decade, and inspired many other music styles.

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He is commonly known as The King of Soul for his unmatched vocal abilities and impact and influence on the modern world of music.

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The camera obscura was first invented by the Iraqi scientist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) as described in his Book of Optics (1015-1021). English scientist Robert Boyle and his assistant Robert Hooke later developed a portable camera obscura in the 1660s.

The first camera that was small and portable enough to be practical for photography was built by Johann Zahn (German) in 1685, though it would be almost 150 years before technology caught up to the point where this was practical.

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The FIRST knights were the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (to give their full name) were formed long before their reign on Malta. The Order was originally established in 1085 as a community of monks responsible for looking after the sick at the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem. They later became a military order, defending crusader territory in the Holy Lands and safeguarding the perilous routes taken by medieval pilgrims.

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A graduate of Oxford University, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, an internet-based hypermedia initiative for global information sharing while at CERN (situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border), the European Particle Physics Laboratory, in 1989. He wrote the first web client and server in 1990. His specifications of URIs, HTTP and HTML were refined as Web technology spread.

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Origins of the WWW: The World-Wide Web began in March 1989 at CERN. (CERN was originally named after its founding body the "Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire," and is now called "European Laboratory for Particle Physics.")

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