Considering that the known history of measuring extends at least as far back as five thousand years, it might be surprising to discover that the invention of tape measures is less than one hundred and fifty years old. A sophisticated form of measurement was used among the Indus Valley civilization from 3,000 to 1,500 BC, as well as among the ancient residents of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

In the Indus Valley, located in northwest India, people were known to measure length, mass and time, with tremendous accuracy, with the smallest unit of division, found on an ivory scale, being 1/16th of an inch, the smallest unit ever found in the Bronze Age . In fact, the units of measurement we know as the inch and the yard stick were also used in the Indus Valley, measuring 33 inches in length (although at the time is was called variously a hasta, a kishku, or muzam).

Most other means of measurement were based on parts of the body, the first real tape measure. Early records from Babylon and Egypt, as well as the Bible, tell us that these measurements were conducted using the finger, hand, or forearm. However, the first U.S. patent for a tape measure was in 1868, on July 24, in 1868, by Alvin J. Fellows. Gradually, a great variety of professional tape measures came into use, winning out over the collapsible ruler.

Minutes away from the Vegas Strip, you’ll find a few hours of calm and relaxation at the Marjorie Barrick Museum , located on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus, between Wright Hall and Lied Library.

Marjorie Barrick came to Nevada in 1951 along with her husband, a real estate developer named Edward Barrick, who was part owner of various casinos, including the Flamingo. She played an essential role in the arts, education and social programs throughout Southern Nevada. While Edward Barrick died in 1979, Marjorie Barrick lived to the age of 90, passing in 2007, leaving behind a rich legacy: She established an endowment at the UNLV, which funds the Barrick Lecture Series, named after her husband. She also was a founding member of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees and sat on many community boards, which includes the Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Variety Club. Over her lifetime, she received numerous honors, including “Woman of the Year” from the Nevada Dance Theater in 1999, an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 1985, and the renaming of the UNLV’s natural history museum after her in 1989.

The museum itself, though, was founded in 1969, twenty years prior, and is committed to helping people better understand life in the American Southwest, Mesoamerica, and their environment. The cultural collection at the museum includes materials that date from thousands of years ago to the present, including cultural artifacts from the American Southwest and Latin America. A Pre-Columbian collection began in 1979, ten years after the museum opened, from a gift by Dr. Michael C. and Mannetta Braunstein. Today, there’s a collection of objects from almost every culture of Pre-Columbian Latin America, in addition to Mexican dance masks and retablos (a Latin American devotional painting). You’ll see Guatemalan, Bolivian and Navajo textiles, Paiute and Hopi basketry, as well as Navajo jewelry.

Just outside the museum, you’ll discover a 1.5 acre garden, which features plants that are drought-resistant, seemingly perfect for the climate in Nevada, but which come from Australia, Mexico, the Mediterranean, and South America. Together, the garden and museum may act as a place to get away from the lights, bells and whistles of the Strip, and a place to gather your energy for another round at the excitement of the 4 star hotels in Las Vegas and casinos.

The museum is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. It’s closed state and federal holidays. Cost of admission is free, although there is a suggested contribution of five dollars for adults and two dollars for adults, 62 and older.

The Southwestern Company has generally not kept transcripts of sales school, but various members of the company and family members of people who have participated in the program have kept letters and these show that there are a lot of traditions that have been passed on for a long time. One of these lessons has been that there is a silver lining on every dark and stormy cloud. There are letters from a student in 1936 who had been selling books around LaFollette, Tennessee who had been having a hard time. The country side was in the middle of the worst drought in over fifty years and it had become so bad that some people were counting down to the minute the last time it had rained. All the crops were dying, which meant that no one had any money.

The locals did not like sales people , mostly because they had seen every kind out there and had been burned by a lot of them. If there was a fake cure with a traveling salesman, it had been out that way, if there was exercise equipment, or plants, insurance, magazines and just about everything else. They would see the sample case and shut down so tight that you couldn’t crack them open with the most charismatic person in the world.

Selling was a mental attitude though, and young Mr. Easley had it. He was reported to have believed that if it would only rain there then he could make a fortune. People would be so happy to get the rain that he would be able to make some sales. After all, what he brought with him were books and bibles, something they would love if only they could buy it. He was even known to have assured his bosses at the southwestern company that there was no way he was going to quit just because of what was happening in his area at that moment. He was going to continue doing his job, and he would later find that this payed off. His good attitude was what made him a good salesperson.

The city of Boston is one of the most important cities to the founding of the United States. In was once the most influential city until the country began to grow. This is were the wealth and founding fathers started it all. When visitors go to this city they can find a plethora of history and a great Boston hotel to plan their day trips from. This port city its peninsula was once called Trimountaine for the three peninsulas that it used to have. Two of them have been were leveled only one peninsula, Beacon Hill, still remains as an major feature to the city.

The first Bostonian was William Blaxton. He lived alone from 1625 until more settlers came in 1630 and bought land from Blaxton to start the water supplies and the settlement. They were mostly Puritans and of course they still had allegiance to the King. The Cambridge Agreement made this city self governing but still answering to the King. That is were John Winthrop came in to become the first governor of the settlement for the King. It is amazing to learn the many details of the earliest times of Boston because the key players are all intertwined by friendship, family and marriage. They want on to fight over the lands and the rights to govern as well as who is invited to stay or asked to leave.

The name Boston was given on September 7th in 1630. It was named after a town named Boston in the Lincolnshire of England. There were several influential colonists who came from there so they wanted to recreate it here. This area was also known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This city was believed to be a community of people that had a special covenant with God. Every thing was built and run around the Word of God. The values created a very stable and structured society which was base in of course moral righteousness, hard work and strong education. The first school in America was the Boston Latin School built in 1635. The first college in America was also built in this city in 1636, Harvard College, which of course is still the cream of the crop today.

Just this year, the companies of Halliburton and KBR, Inc. were charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.   They accepted, and made, payoffs in order to ensure the continuance of construction contracts.  Many other bits of evidence were found that further proved that they were committing acts of bribery, such as violations regarding the inner business workings which included the falsifying of accounting books and records.  The United States Securities and Exchange Commission required both of these companies to pay more than one hundred and fifty million dollars in fines.

This coincides with the more than four hundred million that the Department of Justice is requiring them to pay, making this the largest settlement to be be handed out in United States history since the inception of the FCPA.  The FCPA spokesperson has assured the American public that they will continue to deal with this corporate greed with the most severe of reactions and investigations.  Putting greed ahead of the law will just not be tolerated.  They are at work not only in America, but across the borders as well, keeping an eye on all of the transactions, business and financial, that affect the people of this country.  Illegal and illicit acts will be discovered and punished accordingly.

All the law enforcement agencies are coming together and collaborating on this effort.  No violations to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act will be tolerated in the US, and many other countries are adopting this stance as well.  Members of the Department of Justice, the SEC and theFCPA state that the end to this corruption in the form of bribery is their main focus, and they believe that the end is near.  Prosecution and penalties will be sought by these organizations, to the fullest extent of the law, as they try to put an end to this form of corruption on the American people and the people of the world.

Delhi is the current capitol of India, it has a very long history and has served as capitol for several empires through the years. Some of the earliest relics found by archaeologists date back to the Mauya period around 300 BCE. What is currently the Indian city of Delhi has been continuously occupied sine this time. In the year 1966 an inscription on a tablet was found near Srinivaspuri regarding the Mauryan Emporor Ashoka, 273 to 236 BCE. Two sandstone pillars were brought to the city of Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14th century which were inscribed with edicts from Emperor Ashoka. During the Gupta dynasty the famous Iron Pillar near the Qutub Minar was commissioned by emperor Kumara Gupta the first. This piller was subsequently removed from its original spot and placed in Delhi during the 10 century. There have been eight major cities located where Delhi occupies today. The first four of the earliest cities were located in the southern sections of today’s Delhi.

Acoding to Indian folklore Delhi was once the site of a magnificent and opulent city of Indrapastha the capitol of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. This city is said to have been founded in around 2500 BCE. According to Hindu texts the Sanskrit name for Delhi was Hastinapur which translates to Elephant City. The village named Indraprast occupied where Delhi currently sits until the beginning of the 19th century. The British demolished the ancient village to make way for the construction of New Delhi in the late 19th century. Archaeological evidence suggests this city once stood where the Old Fort sits today.

With such a rich and ancient past Delhi is a wonderful place to visit and discover the rich history of India. The crowded and polluted city can get to be much for foreign visitors so five star hotel Delhi accommodations are a must for a relaxing and quiet respite from the busy city.