Website Creation Options

After you register a domain name, you need a host in order to begin building your web pages.

There is never one hosting option that’s best for every website. Some of you may just want a small “About Me” personal website, others may want a larger, more interactive website for personal or business reasons.

Be sure you’ve made up your mind about the type of site you want to build because it has a great impact on the type of host you need.

Most web hosts don’t help you with the pre-planning process. They just want you to sign up so they can host your site and collect your money. I created this page so you don’t jump into the process too fast and make the wrong decisions.

“What is a web host?”

A web host is the backbone of any website and no site can exist without one. They are responsible for providing you with the space for building your web pages, setting up your email accounts (if any), giving you the option of setting up additional functionality for your site (message boards, shopping carts, games, feedback forms), etc.

Important: Not all web hosts allow you to add additional functionality and other interactive features, so that’s why it’s important that you read this page in its entirety.

You don’t want to start building your website and then discover you can’t accomplish what you want with the host you’ve chosen.

Google Can Help Pay For Your Website

As long as you don’t use a free web host, you can get accepted into Google’s free Adsense program and earn money with your site by displaying their text ads.

So if paying for a website seems ridiculous or out of the question for you, you may want to reconsider when you find out how lucrative this simple program can be. Read more about Adsense here.

This is the important part. Please make sure you read these next sections carefully. They type of site you plan to create will impact the type of host you should select.

Don’t forget before you can launch a website you must register a domain name (yoursite.com) and then you select your web host as described below.

1) A Personal / Fun Website

This is a favorite option for beginners. All you do is point and click to select your design, then type your text and add your pictures.

Update: The Website Tonight packages keep getting better and they lowered the price. At first these plans were great for very simplistic websites (text and a few pictures) but now you can add a message board, video, Flash intros and a ton of cool stuff!

The entire process is browser based so there is no software to install. You simply choose the best package for your site and within minutes you can start building your pages.

Don’t forget that you’ll still need to register a domain name (YourSite.com) first and then sign up with WST afterwards to begin building your site.

Read more about Website Tonight here.

2) A Personal or Business Site With Added Functions

What do I mean by “added functions?” Basically these are standard hosting features that will allow you to enhance your site: i.e. add message boards, chat rooms, order forms (shopping cart), games, forums, etc.

Most people fall into this category because they want to have the option of adding interactive functions even if they don’t plan on setting these up in the very beginning. This kind of host gives you the most freedom and it’s the most common used by website owners.

To create your web pages you’ll need to…

1) Use some kind of web page building software (CoffeeCup is a fantastic, easy-to-use editor and it comes with pre-created design templates. Read my review.)

I recently switched to Dreamweaver and love it. I would highly recommend the purchase, and you can download it instantly from Adobe.com after you buy.

2) Use the web host’s building tools (if applicable), or

3) Learn how to code your own HTML from scratch.

If you think this type of host is the method for you then there are two that I’ll recommend below…

a) Powweb Web Hosting With Free Page Builder

Powweb offers a ridiculous amount of space (more than anyone would ever need). And they keep increasing the space so I’ve stopped putting the numbers here because my article kept getting outdated. Check their site for the latest offers.

You’ll also have the capability of adding interactive features (games, message boards, shopping carts, etc.) if you wish.

Powweb also has a built-in web page builder so if you don’t own any software, you can use theirs.

I use them to host this site.

Read more about Powweb and see a screenshot of the page builder.

b) Turbo Charged Hosting

This is a very similar option to Powweb except there are no web page builders. You either have to use software as I did or code your own HTML from scratch.

The nice thing about this option is that there are three different packages to choose from and you can easily upgrade at a later time if you wish.

Read more about Turbo Charged hosting here.

3) A Business Site To Earn Money

HOW to Make Money With Affiliate Programs

An affiliate program, also known as “referral”, “associate” or “partner” program, allows web site owners to earn commissions from their web site by referring people to products and services.

If you don’t have a product of your own to sell, you can join affiliate programs to bring in additional revenue to your site.

Let’s say your site is about home improvement and you offer tips on various household projects, tools, etc. You would join affiliate programs from hardware companies and refer your visitors to their products from your own website.

How Do Affiliate Programs Work?

Most affiliate programs are free to join and easy to setup. The company will usually provide you with a special link to use that contains a tracking code inside it. Any time you send your visitors to the company’s web site, you’ll send them via the link so all your orders can be tracked and identified.

For example, let’s say Home Depot has an affiliate program. Once you join, they may instruct you to send your visitors to a link that looks something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/?ID5004

The “ID5004″ is the part that is tracked by Home Depot. Any time someone goes to their site via this particular link and places an order, it is tracked back to you. Then you earn commission for that sale.

How Much Can I Earn?

How much you earn per sale depends on the company’s affiliate program model. Many programs pay a percentage of the total sale. Some will offer a fixed dollar amount ($50 per sale, for example).

The Big Myth!

Unfortunately, many people believe since many affiliate programs are free and that they are given a website, it will be much easier to make money than it would if they had to market their own product.

Not true at all.

Even if you are involved in an affiliate program, it’s very important that you develop your OWN site with a clear and solid theme. Then integrate related affiliate programs into your site. So if your site is about gardening, you would find companies that sell products related to what your visitors are interested in: gardening tools and furniture, lawn care, etc.

It’s important to make sure your own site is not just pages full of links to the company you’re affiliated with. You should have your own unique and well-organized content throughout your site. Aim for at least 20 pages of ORIGINAL content and prepare to keep building.

Staying with the Home Depot example, you could register the domain name, HouseHoldMistakes.com and develop a guide for common mistakes made when repairing household items.

Throughout that site you could make recommendations for various Home Depot products and earn commissions. The key is to join programs and recommend products and services that naturally compliment the theme of your web site.

Something to Remember

One thing you should keep in mind is that you should only join affiliate programs that relate to your website. If your site is about home employment, it makes no sense to advertise jewelry on it. People are coming to your site to look for jobs, not diamonds.

Although it’s tempting to join any and every affiliate program that sounds lucrative, more is not always better. You could do quite well simply promoting one or two programs if they are a good fit for your site’s audience and you present the products/services well.

Plastering banner ads all over your site is not a good way to earn money. Recommendations through useful editorial content is the best way to get the sale.

Another Example . . .

Let’s say you have a web site about child safety and you’re writing an article about burglar alarms. You belong to an affiliate program that pays you $100 for every burglar alarm you sell.

At the end of the article, you could include a recommendation for a burglar alarm system, and it’s important to note that the recommendation shouldn’t sound like an advertisement. It would just be a logical statement that flows with the rest of the article. For example:

One of the premiere burglar systems on the market is Burglar Alarm XYZ. We use it in our home and it has always given us top-notch performance. Click here for more information.

And of course when the visitor “clicks here” they’re taken to the company site via your unique affiliate web site address so you receive the commission if that person orders a product.

See how the recommendation just wraps up the article? It’s not a blatant advertisement that yells for the visitor to BUY NOW!!!!! Notice also that the recommendation includes a personal testimonial.

That’s a great touch. If you can tell your visitors that you’ve used a product and can provide feedback about it, that will add to your credibility.

First the article provides general, useful information about burglar alarms and then ends with a solid recommendation for a particular product that the web site owner endorses.

Build a Site With Lots of Content

Web sites that do the best with affiliate programs contain lots and lots of useful content that’s updated often and has its own developed theme with a targeted audience.

Don’t ever waste your time joining a couple of affiliate programs and then building a one or two-page web site to promote the products.

Build a web site with a clear, concise theme that is supported by tons of articles and information on your topic.

You need to build credibility to encourage people to respect your recommendations. It’s difficult to do that with a small site. One good way to build this credibility is by providing useful articles and helpful resources that gives your visitors confidence that you know what you’re talking about.

You want them to feel comfortable taking your advice. Remember they can’t see or talk to you so all they have to go on is the information you provide on your site – so make it good!

Also remember, there’s almost never a such thing as too much information. The more knowledge you can fill them with, the greater chance they’ll keep coming back to your site again and again.

This is another reason you should always choose a topic you are truly interested in. The more you know about a subject, the easier it will be to add content and keep your site updated.

Most people will not buy on the first exposure. They need to see the product more than once. If your site is lacking content, what reason would your visitors have to return again?

Updated, quality content encourages visitors to keep coming back for more. The more they’re exposed to what you have to offer, the greater the chance they’ll decide to purchase something based upon your recommendation.

Only Promote High Quality Products

Don’t hurt your web reputation by referring less-than-satisfying products and services. There are plenty of good products out there for you to offer. Don’t waste your time on the junk.

If you’re looking for long-term success out here, start off on the right foot and only refer high quality products to your visitors. If you do this, chances are they’ll return to your site and respect your recommendations.

Take the Free Affiliate Masters Course!

This is the best source available online that will help you understand how to succeed with affiliate programs. You can download it for free by going here.

Need Help Finding Affiliate Programs?

Commission Junction is an affiliate network that you can join and it will give you instant access to hundreds of free affiliate programs in one place.

Simply search through the network and find affiliate programs that fit your site’s theme and apply to the ones you want.

Let’s say your site is about music and you want to find programs that pay you to refer people to buy CD’s. Simply search the CJ network and join the music affiliate programs that interest you.

CJ provides all the banners and links to help you promote the specific program. They also track sales and traffic for each program right from their online control panel.

At any given time you can login to CJ.com and check your traffic and earnings for the day, month or year. You can even break down the report by affiliate program so you can see which programs are performing the best for your site.

Commission Junction keeps track of all your earnings and sends you a payment once a month for any commissions you’ve earned.

Join the Commission Junction network today.

In Summary…

The key to finding success with affiliate programs is to build a website on a specific niche. It can be a topic you know a lot about, hobby or even a pastime.

Create at least 20 pages of unique content on your niche and always look to expand your site. The more information the better.

Once you start building that content, begin searching for affiliate programs that match your site’s theme. Then work on getting traffic to your site via the search engines, especially Google. Here’s a small tutorial on getting listed in the main engines.

If done effectively, you could earn enough income to drastically change your life. I’ve done it, and so can you.

7 Surefire Ways To Make Money Online

Are you looking for way to make money online?

You have come to the right place. Many people have taken the same path you are about to embark. And like you, they search for ways to create a cash machine, and possibly replace your J.O.B.

Below you will find 7 ways to start making money online today.
#1 Information Products

If you have read anything about running an internet business, then you have heard that information products is one of the best ways to earn income online. Ebooks, cds, dvds and online videos are some of the most popular ways for someone to get started online. It’s simple, you take your knowledge and experience put it together and make it available for purchase.

All you have to do is create product once & get paid for it over and over again.

#2 Affiliate Selling

Don’t have a product to sell? That’s OK you can get started online today with you your own product. There are tons of affiliate programs out there with people willing, ready and able to pay you a percentage of every new customer you send them. In fact there are programs that will pay you a fee every time you send them a new lead.

As I write this there are hundreds, if not thousands making a fulltime income form affiliate programs. And many do it without spending one red cent on advertising, because the affiliate programs are a backend or secondary income.

#3 Ebay

Many of the people searching on Google are looking for free information. However with Ebay that’s not the case. People are on Ebay right now with credit card in hand… Looking for something to buy. Granted the majority of Ebay shoppers are bargain hunters, but they are there to spend money like no other place on the Internet. Find the right product and you can become a powerseller or open you own Ebay shop.

#4 Freelance Work

You can offer your skills as a freelancer on sites like elance.com or Rentacoder.com. You can do copywriting, article writing, ghostwriting, or programming. You say you are not a writer or programmer. That’s OK, you can offer your Internet marketing skills as an online virtual assistant. If you need a higher level of income, then there are business owners searching and willing to pay for web site designers, marketing consultants
or business coaches.

#5 Buy and Sell Domain Names

There are people online who are in the online real estate business. Yep, they buy and sell domain names. And there are different levels to this business. Some people just buy and sell the domain name. Some buy the domain name, put up a website, get some incoming links and then sell it. And others will buy the domain name set up the website, create a product, drive traffic to the site, start making sales and then sell the domain.

It’s pretty obvious that this one has many different levels of profitability.

#6 Drop Shipping

Once you become an expert at selling online there are thousands of companies waiting to supply you with products you can sell for them. They will take care of the order fulfillment, shipping and customer service. You see products are not a problem. That’s easy. You will be in the business of building a list of buying customers. Once you develop this asset, you will have companies standing in line waiting to do business with you.

#7 Sell Advertising

You don’t even need a product to sell to make money online. You can sell advertising. And all it takes is 3 steps. Build a website, generate traffic and sell space on your website to advertisers’. You have probably heard of Adsense website, and that is one way to do this. But if you can generate quality traffic you can make significantly more money online by selling advertising directly to the companies who are trying to reach your market.

Well, that is 7 of many ways to make money online. You could find many more ways to earn income. But my best advice to you would be this… Find one or two ways to earn money online. Stick to those, and resist jumping from fad to fad. Once you get them working and making money, then expand into other areas. My guess would be that if you do this right you will probably happy with the methods you choose.

About The Author: Robert Baumholder invites business owners to receive 4 Free Reports Worth a Total of $109.80… “10 Key Strategies for Any Business Owner to Earn More, Work Less, and Enjoy Life”. Learn How to Build Your Internet Business From the Pro go to http://www.monthlymentorclub.com

Amateur Blogs For Beginners

Most bloggers use amateur blogs as opposed to professionals, though I am not sure what a `professional’ blog is. If you are blogging for profit, whether as an amateur or professional, then you are best advised to run your blog from your own website. This involves downloading the blogging software to your web space.

This however is a personal opinion, and many people prefer the simplicity of operating their blog from a blog host such as Blogger, run from Blogspot, or WordPress from WordPress.com. There is little to do other than to register and make your posts. The only negative is a lack of individuality and formatting of the look of the blog and the tools that you can use on it.

The majority of people who use the internet for fun, as opposed to business, believe that they have few opportunities to make money from their blog. Their blog is to communicate with others, and to express their views online in a way that was not possible prior to around the turn of the millennium. Sure, blogs were in existence before then, but mainly in specialized applications, and it was sometime between 1998 and 2001 that blogging changed from personal diaries of internet `experts’ to what we now regard blogging as being.

However, anyone who has a blog (reminds me of a Cilla Black song) can use it to make money, or if that is against your ethos of using the internet for fun, then to `cover your expenses’ as our councillors, governors and other governmental individuals like to express it! As they do, you can cover your expenses very, very well if you utilize the monetization possibilities of blogs as they can be used.

To repeat, in order to do so to the maximum of your ability, you must run your blog from your own web host. Most amateur blogs are created using Blogger from the Blogspot site or WordPress from WordPress.com, but if you can run your blog from your own website, then you have a lot more flexibility in the content of your blog than otherwise.

In fact you get many more benefits other than the possibility of profit by uploading blogging software to your web space (I am now going to use the term `website’ for web space since that is more familiar to most people, though the terms mean different things). If your blogging software is to your own website rather than that that of a blog provider such as Blogger or WordPress, you have a lot more flexibility in how you want to format your blog, and in the features contained within it.

Let’s look at what you get if you upload WordPress, for example, to your own website. In order to do so you must have control over a MySQL database, that most good web hosts provide, and know how to use an ftp program. Otherwise it is plain sailing to upload the software. What you get is the ability to edit the CSS and HTML that determine the content and appearance of your blog posts, your sidebars, headers and footers. An immediate obvious benefit of this is the ability to add Adsense blocks that bring income to your blog.

Another is the possibility of adding links to any affiliate products you are promoting, and in fact links to anything you want your visitors to link to. These could include your websites or other blogs, in addition to adverts of various kinds. You can offer these in permanent pages, at the start or end of each individual post, or even within posts, though the most effective adverts and Adsense blocks are those included in the sidebars and footers of each post.

Another significant benefit that many bloggers find they get by downloading the software is that they can upload any of thousands of page templates for their blog that are totally editable. You can use Photoshop or a clone to edit the graphics, mainly the header, to customize it exactly for you, and can also edit the entire html to render the template unique to you. That is not possible with a blog hosted by the blog provider.

You can add any of thousands of widgets to your blog, another facility not open to you if you run a provider hosted blog. These widgets range from automatic SEO, thru auto XML site-map generation to blog pinging and literally any feature you could wish for. It is the ideal medium to advertise your product or service, and make money while you sleep or when you are on vacation. Imagine waking up in the morning, checking your bank balance, and finding a lot more there than when you went to bed!

That is blogging for profit, and it is not difficult. Amateur blogs can be used for profit as well as the professional blogs. There is no distinction if you are hosting your own blog.

Make You Money With Your Blog !!

Blogging has been around for several years now, and is more than a fad. Its not only the realm of pimply faced teenagers and internet addicts. If you seriously want to earn money online, you need to be blogging. Blog is the abbreviated version of “web log”. They were originally used as a type of online diary for people who wanted to record their thoughts for posterity sake, and share information with friends and the world in general. They are still used in that way but many in the business community see blogs as a way of developing true “content oriented” websites.

These websites not only help the business earn money online, but also provide true content and value for people reading them. The other major reason blogshave become popular with businesses of all kinds, is that they are free. Google’s “blogger” site is free for anyone with a google account. They provide what amounts to unlimited storage space for all your thoughts, as well as a place to advertise without any cost. Savvy internet marketers earn money online by getting as many hits on their sites as possible.

Blogger blogs are indexed in search engines very quickly compared to standard page sites. The rapid indexing allows you to show up in search engine results pages (serps) far quicker than the standard method of search engine submission. Many blogger blogs are indexed within a few days. I have actually seen some indexed with a few hours and the faster your site shows up in the SERPS the faster you can start to earn money online.

Search engines love text. Pretty pictures and graphics are great, but the search engine spiders read text, they live for text. To the crawlers text is everything, and text is something blogs provide in abundance. Pumping up your visability in the search engine rankings gets you more hits, and blogs have plenty of “just plain words” for the search engines to read.

You can run a blog alone, or as a supplement to your existing website. many successful entrepreneurs earn money online with just a blog that promotes affiliate programs, or Google adsense or other chosen income streams. But the really savvy business owner uses the blog for keyword marketing, and to drive traffic to sales pages, or squeeze pages (more about that in another article).

The words in the blog give your overall site higher visability. You can use blogs as one accountant I know does and keep your customers and clients informed of accounting strategies, which in turn keeps them reading the blog, and keeps them linking to his sales page where he also provides other services like tax prep, bookkeeping, credit repair, etc.

You can use a blog to organize your own thoughts in a format that is accessible to you anywhere in the world. If your planning to earn money online, then you need to keep track of your business objectives. A blog is the perfect format for this. You expand your business plan, something you need to do anyway, and it is accessible so that they can read about your business also. The more information you provide, the more visible your site becomes. Its like automatic advertising in a format that search engines love.

Blogging platforms are generally free. Google’s Blogger is hosted on their servers, so you dont even need a hosting account yet. But you may want to get one. If you have your own domain, your blogger blog can be hosted on your account also. It gives you a little more control. If you want even more control over your blog, try using WordPress. Its a free blogging platform that you can host on your account, and you get all the code so its completely configurable. Go to google and use a search query like “powered by wordpress” and you can take a look at hundreds of WordPress blogs to see how they can be configured.

Now you have a brief introduction to blogging. This is an extremely powerful communication and marketing tool. Use it to your advantage and soon you will start to earn money online like hundreds of other blog marketers.

Wright Brothers

Wilbur And Orville Were The Sons Of Milton And Susan Wright And Members Of A Warm, Loving Family That Encouraged Learning And Doing. Milton Was A Bishop In The United Brethren Church, And Was Often Away From Home On Church Business. But He Wrote Hundreds Of Letters Home, And Often Brought Back Presents From His Trips, Exposing His Children To The World Beyond Their Horizon. In 1878, He Brought Home A Rubber Band-Powered Helicopter, And Young Wilbur And Orville Immediately Began To Build Copies Of It.

In 1884, Bishop Wright Moved His Family To Dayton, Ohio, The Political Center Of The United Brethren Church. About The Same Time, His Wife Susan Fell Ill With Tuberculosis. Wilbur, Just Out Of High School, Put Off College And Nursed His Sick Mother. Orville Began To Lose Interest In School And Learned The Printing Business. Susan Wright Died In The Summer Of 1889, The Same Year That Orville Dropped Out Of High School To Open His Own Print Shop.

In 1890, Wilbur Joined Orville In The Printing Business, Serving As Editor For The West Side News, A Weekly Newspaper For Their West Dayton Neighborhood. It Was Modestly Successful, And The Brothers Began A Daily, The Evening Item, In 1891. However, They Couldn’t Compete With Larger, More Established Daily Newspapers, And After A Few Months They Went Back To Being Simple Job Printers.

In 1894, Wilbur And Orville Were Caught Up In The Bicycling Craze That Swept The Nation. To Augment The Income From Their Printing Trade, They Began Repairing And Selling Bicycles. This Soon Grew Into A Full-Time Business, And In 1896 They Began To Manufacture Their Own Bikes. The Wright Cycle Company Returned A Handsome Profit, But The Brothers Cared Little About The Money. They Were Already Thinking About Trading Their Wheels For Wings.

In 1896, The Newspapers Were Filled With Accounts Of Flying Machines. Wilbur And Orville Noticed That All These Primitive Aircraft Lacked Suitable Controls. They Began To Wonder How A Pilot Might Balance An Aircraft In The Air, Just As A Cyclist Balances His Bicycle On The Road. In 1899, Wilbur Devised A Simple System That Twisted Or “Warped” The Wings Of A Biplane, Causing It To Roll Right Or Left. They Tested This System In A Kite, Then A Series Of Gliders.

They Made Their First Test Flights At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, On The Shores Of The Atlantic Where The Strong Winds Helped To Launch The Gliders And The Soft Sands Helped To Cushion The Fall When They Crashed. Their First Two Gliders, Flown In 1900 And 1901, Failed To Perform As The Wrights Had Hoped. The Gliders Did Not Provide Enough Lift Nor Were They Fully Controllable. So During The Winter Of 1901-1902 Wilbur And Orville Built A Wind Tunnel And Conducted Experiments To Determine The Best Wing Shape For An Airplane. This Enabled Them To Build A Glider With Sufficient Lift, And Concentrate On The Problem Of Control. Toward The End Of The 1902 Flying Season, Their Third Glider Became The First Fully Controllable Aircraft, With Roll, Pitch, And Yaw Controls.

During The Winter Of 1902-1903, With The Help Of Their Mechanic, Charlie Taylor, The Wrights Designed And Built A Gasoline Engine Light Enough And Powerful Enough To Propel An Airplane. They Also Designed The First True Airplane Propellers And Built A New, Powered Aircraft. Back In Kitty Hawk, They Suddenly Found Themselves In A Race. Samuel P. Langley, Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, Had Also Built A Powered Aircraft, Patterned After A Small, Unmanned “Aerodrome” He Had Flown Successfully In 1896. To Add To Their Frustrations, The Wrights Were Delayed By Problems With Their Propeller Shafts And The Weather, Giving Langley Time To Test His Aircraft Twice In Late 1903. Both Attempts Failed Miserably, However, And Langley Left The Field To The Wrights. On December 17, 1903, Wilbur And Orville Wright Made The First Sustained, Controlled Flights In A Powered Aircraft.

Back In Dayton, Ohio, The Brothers Found They Had Much To Do To Perfect Their Invention. While The 1903 Wright Flyer Did Indeed Fly, It Was Underpowered And Difficult To Control. They Established The World’s First Test Flight Facilities At Huffman Prairie, Northeast Of Dayton (Today, The Site Of Wright Patterson Air Force Base). For Two Years They Made Flight After Flight, Fine Tuning The Controls, Engine, Propellers, And Configuration Of Their Airplane. At First, They Could Only Fly In A Straight Line For Less Than A Minute. But By The End Of 1905, They Were Flying Figure-Eight’s Over Huffman Prairie, Staying Aloft For Over Half An Hour, Or Until Their Fuel Ran Out. The 1905 Wright Flyer Was The World’s First Practical Airplane.

Marco Polo

In 1260, The Brothers And Venetian Merchants Niccolo And Matteo Polo Traveled East From Europe. In 1265, They Arrived At Kaifeng, The Capital Of Kublai Khan’s (Also Known As The Great Khan) Mongol Empire. In 1269, The Brothers Returned To Europe With A Request From Khan For The Pope To Send One Hundred Missionaries To The Mongol Empire, Supposedly To Help Convert The Mongols To Christianity. The Khan’s Message Was Ultimately Relayed To The Pope But He Did Not Send The Requested Missionaries. Upon Arriving In Venice, Nicolo Discovered That His Wife Had Died, Leaving The Care Of A Son, Marco (Born In 1254 And Thus Fifteen Years Old), In His Hands. In 1271, The Two Brothers And Marco Began To Trek Eastward And In 1275 Met The Great Khan.

Khan Liked The Youthful Marco And Conscripted Him Into Service For The Empire.

Marco Served In Several High-Level Government Positions, Including As Ambassador And As The Governor Of The City Of Yangzhou. While The Great Khan Enjoyed Having The Polos As His Subjects And Diplomats, Khan Eventually Consented To Allow Them To Leave The Empire, As Long As They Would Escort A Princess Who Was Scheduled To Wed A Persian King.

The Three Polos Left The Empire In 1292 With The Princess, A Fleet Of Fourteen Large Boats, And 600 Other Passengers From A Port In Southern China. The Armada Sailed Through Indonesia To Sri Lanka And India And Onto Its Final Destination At The Strait Of Hormuz In The Persian Gulf. Supposedly, Only Eighteen People Survived From The Original 600, Including The Princess Who Could Not Wed Her Intended Fiancee Because He Had Died, So She Married His Son Instead.

The Three Polos Returned To Venice And Marco Joined The Army To Fight Against The City-State Of Genoa. He Was Captured In 1298 And Imprisoned In Genoa. While In Prison For Two Years, He Dictated An Account Of His Travels To A Fellow Prisoner Named Rustichello. Shortly Thereafter, The Travels Of Marco Polo Was Published In French.

Though Polo’s Book Exaggerates Places And Cultures (And Some Scholars Believe He Never Went As Far East As China But Only Described Places Other Travelers Had Been To), His Book Was Widely Published, Translated Into Many Languages, And Thousands Of Copies Were Printed.

Polo’s Book Includes Fanciful Accounts Of Men With Tails And Cannibals Seem To Be Around Every Corner. The Book Is Somewhat A Geography Of Asian Provinces. It Is Divided Into Chapters Covering Specific Regions And Polo Delves Into The Politics, Agriculture, Military Power, Economy, Sexual Practices, Burial System, And Religions Of Each Area. Polo Brought The Ideas Of Paper Currency And Coal To Europe. He Also Included Second-Hand Reports Of Areas That He Had Not Visited, Such As Japan And Madagascar.

A Typical Passage From Travels Reads:

Concerning The Island Of Nicobar

When You Leave The Island Of Java And The Kingdom Of Lambri, You Sail North About One Hundred And Fifty Miles, And Then You Come To Two Islands, One Of Which Is Called Nicobar. On This Island They Have No King Or Chief, But Live Like Beasts. They Go All Naked, Both Men And Women, And Do Not Use The Slightest Covering Of Any Kind. They Are Idolaters. They Decorate Their Houses With Long Pieces Of Silk, Which They Hang From Rods As An Ornament, Regarding It As We Would Pearls, Gems, Silver, Or Gold. The Woods Are Filled With Valuable Plants And Trees, Including Cloves, Brazil, And Coconuts.

There Is Nothing Else Worth Relating So We Will Go On To The Island Of Andaman…

The Influence Of Marco Polo On Geographic Exploration Was Enormous And He Was Also A Major Influence On Christopher Columbus. Columbus Owned A Copy Of Travels And Made Annotations In The Margins.

As Polo Neared Death In 1324, He Was Asked To Recant What He Had Written And Simply Said That He Had Not Even Told Half Of What He Had Witnessed. Despite The Fact That Many Claim His Book To Be Unreliable, It Was A Sort Of Regional Geography Of Asia For Centuries. Even Today, “His Book Must Stand Among The Great Records Of Geographic Exploration.”

Joan Of Arc

St. Joan Of Arc Was Born At Domrémy, France Circa 6 January 1412. Citing A Mandate From God To Drive The English Out Of France, She Was Eventually Given An Escort To Bring Her Before Charles Of Ponthieu (Later Known As King Charles Vii). After Gaining The Approval Of The Church Scholars At Poitiers In March Of 1429, She Was Granted Titular Command Of An Army Which Quickly Lifted The Siege Of Orléans On 8 May 1429, Captured Jargeau, Meung-Sur-Loire, And Beaugency In Mid-June, And Defeated An English Army At Patay On June 18. After Accepting The Surrender Of The City Of Troyes And Other Towns, The Army Escorted Charles To The City Of Rheims For His Coronation On July 17. An Unsuccessful Attack Was Made On Paris On September 8, Followed By The Successful Capture Of St-Pierre-Le-Moutier On November 4.

As A Reward For Her Service, Charles Vii Granted Her Noble Status Along With Her Family On 29 December 1429. She Returned To The Field The Following Year, Despite Predicting Her Own Defeat. Captured At Compiègne On 23 May 1430 And Transferred To The English, She Was Placed On Trial In Rouen By A Selected Group Of Pro-English Clergy, Many Of Whom Nevertheless Had To Be Coerced Into Voting For A Guilty Verdict. Convicted And Executed On 30 May 1431, She Was Subsequently Declared Innocent By An Inquisitorial Court On 7 July 1456 After A Lengthy Re-Trial Process Which Was Initiated Shortly After The English Were Finally Driven From Rouen, Thereby Allowing Access To The Documents And Witnesses Associated With Her Trial. The Presiding Inquisitor, Jean Bréhal, Ruled That The Original Trial Had Been Tainted By Fraud, Illegal Procedures, And Intimidation Of Both The Defendant And Many Of The Clergy Who Had Taken Part In The Trial, And She Was Therefore Described As A Martyr By The Inquisitor. After The Usual Lengthy Delay Associated With The Sluggish Process Of Canonization, She Was Beatified On April 11, 1909 And Canonized As A Saint On 16 May 1920.

Alexander Graham Bell

In 1876, At The Age Of 29, Alexander Graham Bell Invented His Telephone. In 1877, He Formed The Bell Telephone Company, And In The Same Year Married Mabel Hubbard And Embarked On A Yearlong Honeymoon In Europe.Alexander Graham Bell Might Easily Have Been Content With The Success Of His Telephone Invention. His Many Laboratory Notebooks Demonstrate, However, That He Was Driven By A Genuine And Rare Intellectual Curiosity That Kept Him Regularly Searching, Striving, And Wanting Always To Learn And To Create. He Would Continue To Test Out New Ideas Through A Long And Productive Life. He Would Explore The Realm Of Communications As Well As Engage In A Great Variety Of Scientific Activities Involving Kites, Airplanes, Tetrahedral Structures, Sheep-Breeding, Artificial Respiration, Desalinization And Water Distillation, And Hydrofoils.

With The Enormous Technical And Later Financial Success Of His Telephone Invention, Alexander Graham Bell’s Future Was Secure, And He Was Able To Arrange His Life So That He Could Devote Himself To His Scientific Interests. Toward This End, In 1881, He Used The $10,000 Award For Winning France’s Volta Prize To Set Up The Volta Laboratory In Washington, D.C. A Believer In Scientific Teamwork, Bell Worked With Two Associates, His Cousin Chichester Bell And Charles Sumner Tainter, At The Volta Laboratory. Their Experiments Soon Produced Such Major Improvements In Thomas Edison’s Phonograph That It Became Commercially Viable. After 1885, When He First Visited Nova Scotia, Bell Set Up Another Laboratory There At His Estate, Beinn Bhreagh (Pronounced Ben Vreeah), Near Baddeck, Where He Would Assemble Other Teams Of Bright Young Engineers To Pursue New And Exciting Ideas.

Among One Of His First Innovations After The Telephone Was The “Photophone,” A Device That Enabled Sound To Be Transmitted On A Beam Of Light. Bell And His Assistant, Charles Sumner Tainter, Developed The Photophone Using A Sensitive Selenium Crystal And A Mirror That Would Vibrate In Response To A Sound. In 1881, They Successfully Sent A Photophone Message Over 200 Yards From One Building To Another. Bell Regarded The Photophone As “The Greatest Invention I Have Ever Made; Greater Than The Telephone.” Alexander Graham Bell’s Invention Reveals The Principle Upon Which Today’s Laser And Fiber Optic Communication Systems Are Founded, Though It Would Take The Development Of Several Modern Technologies To Realize It Fully.

Over The Years, Alexander Graham Bell’s Curiosity Would Lead Him To Speculate On The Nature Of Heredity, First Among The Deaf And Later With Sheep Born With Genetic Irregularities. His Sheep-Breeding Experiments At Beinn Bhreagh Sought To Increase The Numbers Of Twin And Triplet Births. Bell Was Also Willing To Attempt Inventing Under The Pressure Of Daily Events, And In 1881 He Hastily Constructed An Electromagnetic Device Called An Induction Balance To Try And Locate A Bullet Lodged In President Garfield After An Assassin Had Shot Him. He Later Improved This And Produced A Device Called A Telephone Probe, Which Would Make A Telephone Receiver Click When It Touched Metal. That Same Year, Bell’s Newborn Son, Edward, Died From Respiratory Problems, And Bell Responded To That Tragedy By Designing A Metal Vacuum Jacket That Would Facilitate Breathing. This Apparatus Was A Forerunner Of The Iron Lung Used In The 1950s To Aid Polio Victims. In Addition To Inventing The Audiometer To Detect Minor Hearing Problems And Conducting Experiments With What Today Are Called Energy Recycling And Alternative Fuels, Bell Also Worked On Methods Of Removing Salt From Seawater.

However, These Interests May Be Considered Minor Activities Compared To The Time And Effort He Put Into The Challenge Of Flight. By The 1890s, Bell Had Begun Experimenting With Propellers And Kites. His Work Led Him To Apply The Concept Of The Tetrahedron (A Solid Figure With Four Triangular Faces) To Kite Design As Well As To Create A New Form Of Architecture. In 1907, Four Years After The Wright Brothers First Flew At Kitty Hawk, Bell Formed The Aerial Experiment Association With Glenn Curtiss, William “Casey” Baldwin, Thomas Selfridge, And J.A.D. Mccurdy, Four Young Engineers Whose Common Goal Was To Create Airborne Vehicles. By 1909, The Group Had Produced Four Powered Aircraft, The Best Of Which, The Silver Dart, Made The First Successful Powered Flight In Canada On February 23, 1909. Bell Spent The Last Decade Of His Life Improving Hydrofoil Designs, And In 1919 He And Casey Baldwin Built A Hydrofoil That Set A World Water-Speed Record That Was Not Broken Until 1963. Months Before He Died, Bell Told A Reporter, “There Cannot Be Mental Atrophy In Any Person Who Continues To Observe, To Remember What He Observes, And To Seek Answers For His Unceasing Hows And Whys About Things.

Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller Was Born On 27 June 1880 In Tuscumbia, A Small Rural Town In Northwest Alabama, Usa. The Daughter Of Captain Arthur Henley Keller And Kate Adams Keller She Was Born With Full Sight And Hearing.

Kate Keller Was A Tall, Statuesque Blond With Blue Eyes. She Was Some Twenty Years Younger Than Her Husband Captain Keller, A Loyal Southerner Who Had Proudly Served In The Confederate Army During The American Civil War.

The House They Lived In Was A Simple, White, Clapboard House Built In 1820 By Helen’s Grandparents. At The Time Of Helen’s Birth The Family Were Far From Wealthy With Captain Keller Earning A Living As Both A Cotton Plantation Owner And The Editor Of A Weekly Local Newspaper, The “North Alabamian”. Helen’s Mother, As Well As Working On The Plantation, Would Save Money By Making Her Own Butter, Lard, Bacon And Ham.

Helen Falls Ill, But Helen’s Life Was To Change Dramatically. In February 1882, When Helen Was Nineteen Months Old, She Fell Ill. To This Day The Nature Of Her Ailment Remains A Mystery. The Doctors Of The Time Called It “Brain Fever”, Whilst Modern Day Doctors Think It May Have Been Scarlet Fever Or Meningitis.

Whatever The Illness, Helen Was, For Many Days, Expected To Die. When, Eventually, The Fever Subsided, Helen’s Family Rejoiced Believing Their Daughter To Be Well Again.

However, Helen’s Mother Soon Noticed How Her Daughter Was Failing To Respond When The Dinner Bell Was Rang Or When She Passed Her Hand In Front Of Her Daughter’s Eyes.

It Thus Became Apparent That Helen’s Illness Had Left Her Both Blind And Deaf.

The Following Few Years Proved Very Hard For Helen And Her Family. Helen Became A Very Difficult Child, Smashing Dishes And Lamps And Terrorising The Whole Household With Her Screaming And Temper Tantrums. Relatives Regarded Her As A Monster And Thought She Should Be Put Into An Institution.

By The Time Helen Was Six Her Family Had Become Desperate. Looking After Helen Was Proving Too Much For Them. Kate Keller Had Read In Charles Dickens’ Book “American Notes” Of The Fantastic Work That Had Been Done With Another Deaf And Blind Child, Laura Bridgman, And Travelled To A Specialist Doctor In Baltimore For Advice. They Were Given Confirmation That Helen Would Never See Or Hear Again But Were Told Not To Give Up Hope, The Doctor Believed Helen Could Be Taught And He Advised Them To Visit A Local Expert On The Problems Of Deaf Children. This Expert Was Alexander Graham Bell, The Inventor Of The Telephone, Bell Was Now Concentrating On What He Considered His True Vocation, The Teaching Of Deaf Children.

Alexander Graham Bell Suggested That The Kellers Write To Michael Anagnos, Director Of The Perkins Institution And Massachusetts Asylum For The Blind, And Request That He Try And Find A Teacher For Helen. Michael Anagnos Considered Helen’s Case And Immediately Recommended A Former Pupil Of The Institution, That Woman Was Anne Sullivan.

Anne Sullivan

Anne Sullivan Had Lost The Majority Of Her Sight At The Age Of Five. By The Age Of Ten, Her Mother Had Died And Her Father Deserted Her. She And Her Brother Jimmie Were Sent To The Poorhouse In February 1876.

Anne’s Brother Died In The Poorhouse. It Was October 1880 Before Anne Finally Left And Went To Commence Her Education At The Perkins Institution. One Summer During Her Time At The Institute, Anne Had Two Operations On Her Eyes, Which Led To Her Regaining Enough Sight To Be Able To Read Normal Print For Short Periods Of Time.

Anne Graduated From Perkins In 1886 And Began To Search For Work. Finding Work Was Terribly Difficult For Anne, Due To Her Poor Eyesight, And When She Received The Offer From Michael Anagnos To Work As The Teacher Of Helen Keller, A Deaf-Blind Mute, Although She Had No Experience In This Area, She Accepted Willingly.

Helen Meets Anne

On 3 March 1887 Anne Arrived At The House In Tuscumbia And For The First Time Met Helen Keller. Anne Immediately Started Teaching Helen To Finger Spell. Spelling Out The Word “Doll” To Signify A Present She Had Brought With Her For Helen. The Next Word She Taught Helen Was “Cake”. Although Helen Could Repeat These Finger Movements She Could Not Quite Understand What They Meant. And While Anne Was Struggling Trying To Help Her Understand, She Was Also Struggling To Try And Control Helen’s Continuing Bad Behaviour.

Anne And Helen Moved Into A Small Cottage On The Land Of The Main House To Try And Get Helen To Improve Her Behaviour. Of Particular Concern Were Helen’s Table Manners. She Had Taken To Eating With Her Hands And From The Plates Of Everyone At The Table.

Anne’s Attempts To Improve Helen’s Table Manners And Make Her Brush Her Own Hair And Button Her Shoes Led To More And More Temper Tantrums. Anne Punished These Tantrums By Refusing To “Talk” With Helen By Spelling Words On Her Hands.

Over The Coming Weeks, However, Helen’s Behaviour Did Begin To Improve As A Bond Grew Between The Two. Then, After A Month Of Anne’s Teaching, What The People Of The Time Called A “Miracle” Occurred.

Helen Had Until Now Not Yet Fully Understood The Meaning Of Words. When Anne Led Her To The Water Pump On 5 April 1887, All That Was About To Change.

As Anne Pumped The Water Over Helen’s Hand , Anne Spelled Out The Word Water In The Girl’s Free Hand. Something About This Explained The Meaning Of Words Within Helen, And Anne Could Immediately See In Her Face That She Finally Understood.

Helen Later Recounted The Incident:

“We Walked Down The Path To The Well-House, Attracted By The Fragrance Of The Honey-Suckle With Which It Was Covered. Someone Was Drawing Water And My Teacher Placed My Hand Under The Spout. As The Cool Stream Gushed Over One Hand She Spelled Into The Other The Word Water, First Slowly, Then Rapidly. I Stood Still, My Whole Attention Fixed Upon The Motions Of Her Fingers. Suddenly I Felt A Misty Consciousness As Of Something Forgotten, A Thrill Of Returning Thought, And Somehow The Mystery Of Language Was Revealed To Me.”

Helen Immediately Asked Anne For The Name Of The Pump To Be Spelt On Her Hand And Then The Name Of The Trellis. All The Way Back To The House Helen Learned The Name Of Everything She Touched And Also Asked For Anne’s Name. Anne Spelled The Name “Teacher” On Helen’s Hand. Within The Next Few Hours Helen Learnt The Spelling Of Thirty New Words.

Helen’s Progress From Then On Was Astonishing. Her Ability To Learn Was Far In Advance Of Anything That Anybody Had Seen Before In Someone Without Sight Or Hearing. It Wasn’t Long Before Anne Was Teaching Helen To Read, Firstly With Raised Letters And Later With Braille, And To Write With Both Ordinary And Braille Typewriters.

Michael Anagnos Was Keen To Promote Helen, One Of The Numerous Articles On Her That He Wrote Said Of Helen That “She Is A Phenomenon”. These Articles Led To A Wave Of Publicity About Helen With Pictures Of Her Reading Shakespeare Or Stroking Her Dog Appearing In National Newspapers.

Helen Had Become Famous, And As Well As Again Visiting Alexander Graham Bell, She Visited President Cleveland At The White House. By 1890 She Was Living At The Perkins Institute And Being Taught By Anne. In March Of That Year Helen Met Mary Swift Lamson Who Over The Coming Year Was To Try And Teach Helen To Speak. This Was Something That Helen Desperately Wanted And Although She Learned To Understand What Somebody Else Was Saying By Touching Their Lips And Throat, Her Efforts To Speak Herself Proved At This Stage To Be Unsuccessful. This Was Later Attributed To The Fact That Helen’s Vocal Chords Were Not Properly Trained Prior To Her Being Taught To Speak.