mississippi, alabama, are two cities which come from arabic words, there are many more. also many arabic inscriptions etc around america before colombus's time. But most of all red indian trices that had converted to islam bear witness themselves.

There is evidence of this in american archives you can find it yourself. just tell me whether your serious or not. Dont waste my time. Coz if your serious i will tell you where you can find it and provide further proof.

A brief chronological history of the United States of America and its role as defender of freedom of the civilised world:

August 3, 1492 - Christopher Columbus sets sail to find a westward route to the east.
October 12, 1492 - Christopher Columbus reportly the 1st European to set foot on the New World (in what is now the Dominican Republic).
April 2, 1513 - Juan Ponce DeLeon establishes the 1st colony in what is now the United States (St. Augustine, Florida).
December 20, 1606 - Virginia Company settlers left London to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America.
May 14, 1607 - The first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
December 4, 1619 - The 1st Thanksgiving is celebrated.
May 9, 1689 - Britain declares war on France.
May 24, 1689 - English Parliament guarantees freedom of religion for Protestants.
July 25, 1689 - France declares war on Britain.
December 16, 1689 - English Parliament adopts a Bill of Rights.
February 28, 1704 - French/Indian forces destroy Deerfield, Massachussetts.
January 28, 1712 - American forces attack the Tuscarora Indians during the Tuscarora Indian War.
September 2, 1752 - Britain and the colonies under its control adopt the Gregorian calendar.
March 5, 1770 - British troops fire on a rock throwing crowd (known as "The Boston Massacre").
June 9, 1772 - The 1st naval Battle of the American Revolution off the coast of Rhode Island.
December 16, 1773 - The "Boston Tea Party" takes place as residents disguised as indians throw crates of tea into Boston Harbor.
June 2, 1774 - Martail Law is declared in Massachussetts.
October 26, 1774 - The Minute Men are established in America.
The Revolutionary War
April 19, 1775 - The Revolutionary War officially begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
May 10, 1775 - American forces take the British fort at Ticonderoga, New York.
June 12, 1775 - 2nd naval Battle of the American Revolution takes place.
June 14, 1775 - The Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress.
June 15, 1775 - George Washington is appointed to Commander-in-Cheif of the Continental Army.
June 17, 1775 - British troops win the Battle of Breed's Hill.
August 22, 1775 - King George III officially declares a state of open rebellion in the American colonies.
November 28, 1775 - The Continental Navy is established by the Continental Congress.
December 22, 1775 - Esek Hopkins is appointed to Commodore of the Navy.
July 4, 1776 - The United States declares its Independence from Britain (by apporving the Declaration of Independence).
September 6, 1776 - The first submarine, the Turtle, is used in Battle in New York Harbor.
December 25, 1776 - American forces cross the Deleware River and attack British forces at Trenton.
September 19, 1777 - American forces win the 1st Battle of Saratoga.
December 7, 1777 - The 2nd Battle of Saratoga begins.
December 17, 1777 - American forces win the 2nd Battle of Saratoga.
January 5, 1778 - Naval mines are used for the 1st time by the Continental Navy.
May 4, 1778 - The Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Alliance with France.
July 9, 1778 - The Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation.
February 5, 1778 - South Carolina is the 1st State to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
July 21, 1778 - North Carolina to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
July 22, 1778 - Pennsylvania to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
July 24, 1778 - Georgia to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
August 8, 1778 - New Hampshire to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
November 26, 1778 - New Jersey to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
May 5, 1779 - Deleware to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
January 30, 1781 - Maryland is the 13th State to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
October 19, 1781 - American/French forces win the Battle of Yorktown.
November 5, 1781 - John Hanson is elected the 1st President of the United States by the Continental Congress.
August 7, 1782 - Gen. George Washington creates the Order of the Purple Heart (for soldiers wounded in battle).
September 3, 1783 - The Treaty of Paris 1783 is signed by Britain and the United States, officially ending the Revolutionary War as the United States is recognized as a sovereign nation.
The New Nation
September 3, 1783 - The United States gains what is currently Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia as a result of the Treaty of Paris 1783.
November 2, 1783 - The Continental Army is disbanded.
August 8, 1786 - The Continental Congress adopts the "Dollar" and decimal coinage.
February 21, 1787 - The Continental Congress adopts a resolution calling for a convention of state delegates to draw up a change to the Articles of Confederation.
May 17, 1787 - Delegates begin meeting in Philadelphia to draw up a change to the Articles of Confederation.
May 25, 1787 - George Washington is elected President of the Philadelphia convention.
September 17, 1787 - The delegates at the Philadelphia convention approve the Constitution and sends it to the Continental Congress.
September 28, 1787 - The Continental Congress sends the new Constitution to the states for ratification.
October 27, 1787 - The 1st of the Federalist Papers is published in a New York newspaper, calling for a Bill of Rights (written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay).
December 7, 1787 - Deleware is the 1st state to ratify the Constitution. Delaware, one of the thirteen colonies, gained its distinction as the "First State" when it was the first to ratify the Constitution on December 7, 1787.



Area - 2,397 sq. miles

Capital - Dover

2000 Population -




December 12, 1787 - Pennsylvania is the 2nd state to ratify the Constitution. In September 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed in Philadelphia and on December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania, one of the thirteen colonies, became the second state.




Area - 45,759 sq. miles

Capital - Harrisburg

2000 Population -




December 18, 1787 - New Jersey is the 3rd state to ratify the Constitution. New Jersey, one of the thirteen colonies, became the third state on December 18, 1787




Area - 8,215 sq. miles

Capital - Trenton

2000 Population -




January 2, 1788 - Georgia is the 4th state to ratify the Constitution. Georgia, one of the thirteen colonies, ratified the U.S. Constitution on January 2, 1788, becoming the fourth state to do so; it joined the Confederacy on January 19, 1861, and re-entered the Union after the Civil War.




Area - 58,977 sq. miles

Capital - Atlanta

2000 Population -




January 9, 1788 - Connecticuit is the 5th state to ratify the Constitution. Connecticut, one of the thirteen colonies, became the fifth state on January 9, 1788.




Area - 5,544 sq. miles

Capital - Hartford

2000 Population -




February 6, 1788 - Massachussetts is the 6th state to ratify the Constitution. Originally part of the thirteen colonies, Massachusetts became a state on February 6, 1788




Area - 9,241 sq. miles

Capital - Boston

2000 Population -




April 28, 1788 - Maryland is the 7th state to ratify the Constitution. Maryland became the seventh state on April 28, 1788. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln placed Maryland under military control.




Area - 12,297 sq. miles

Capital - Annapolis

2000 Population -




May 23, 1788 - South Carolina is the 8th state to ratify the Constitution. South Carolina, one of the thirteen colonies, became the eighth state on May 23, 1788. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede form the Union. It re- entered after the Civil War.




Area - 31,189 sq. miles

Capital - Columbia

2000 Population -




June 21, 1788 - New Hampshire is the 9th state to ratify the Constitution. In a sense, New Hampshire, originally one of the thirteen colonies, "created" the new nation by becoming the ninth state on June 21, 1788, meeting the requirement for nine states to ratify the Constitution.




Area - 9,283 sq. miles

Capital - Concord

2000 Population -




June 21, 1788 - The United States Constitution goes into effect now that the necissary 9 states have ratified it.
June 25, 1788 - Virginia is the 10th state admitted to the Union. Virginia one of the thirteen colonies, became the 10th state on June 25, 1788. Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy on May 29, 1861, but re-entered the Union after the war.




Area - 67,468 sq. miles

Capital - Richmond

2000 Population -




July 26, 1788 - New York is the 11th state admitted to the Union. On July 26, 1788, New York , one of the thirteen colonies, became the 11th state.



Area - 53,989 sq. miles

Capital - Albany

2000 Population -




April 1, 1789 - The United States House of Repersentatives holds its 1st full meeting in New York City.
April 21, 1789 - John Adams is sworn in as the 1st Vice President of the United States.
April 30, 1789 - George Washington is sworn in as the 1st President of the United States.
September 25, 1789 - The United States Congress adopts the Bill of Rights (containing the 1st 10 Amendments) and sends it to the states to be ratified.
September 29, 1789 - The United States Army is established.
November 21, 1789 - North Carolina is the 12th state admitted to the Union. North Carolina, one of the thirteen colonies, became the 12th state on November 21, 1789. North Carolina troops suffered the greatest losses of all the states during the Civil War while fighting for the Confederacy, re-entered the Union after the fighting ceased.




Area - 52,672 sq. miles

Capital - Raleigh

2000 Population -




April 3, 1790 - The United States Coast Gaurd is established.
May 29, 1790 - Rhode Island is the 13th state admitted to the Union. Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen colonies to join the Union on May 29, 1790.



Area - 1,231 sq. miles

Capital - Providence

2000 Population -




December 21, 1790 - Samuel Slater opens the first textile factory in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
March 4, 1791 - Vermont is the 14th state admitted to the Union. Vermont became the first state added to the Union following the 13 colonies on March 1, 1791.




Area - 9,615 sq. miles

Capital - Montpelier

2000 Population -




December 15, 1791 - The Bill of Rights (containing the 1st 10 Amendments) is ratified by 3/4ths of the states and becomes a part of the U.S. Constitution.
February 20, 1792 - The United States Postal Service is established.
April 2, 1792 - The United States Mint is established.
May 8, 1792 - The United States Military Draft is established.
June 1, 1792 - Kentucky is the 15th state admitted to the Union. Kentucky became the first state to be carved from the great western wilderness on June 1, 1792.




Area - 40,411 sq. miles

Capital - Frankfort

2000 Population -




December 5, 1792 - George Washington was re-elected president of the United States; John Adams was re-elected vice president.
February 18, 1793 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a citizen of one state may sue a citizen of another state in Federal Court.
March 4, 1793 - George Washington is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1793 - John Adams is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
March 5, 1794 - The 11th Amendment is passed by Congress.
March 27, 1794 - The United States Navy is established.
May 8, 1794 - The United States Post Office is established.
June 1, 1796 - Tennessee is the 16th state admitted to the Union. Tennessee became a state on June 1, 1796. On June 8, 1861, it joined the Confederacy and became a major battleground for the Civil War, re-entering the Union after war's end.




Area - 42,145 sq. miles

Capital - Nashville

2000 Population -




November 3, 1796 - John Adams was elected to be the second President of the United States.
December 7, 1796 - Electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.
March 4, 1797 - John Adams is sworn in as the 2nd President of the United States.
March 4, 1797 - Thomas Jefferson is sworn in as the 2nd Vice President of the United States.
January 8, 1798 - The 11th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
July 11, 1798 - The United States Marine Corps is established.
May 7, 1800 - The Indiana Territory is organized.
May 7, 1800 - The Ohio Territory is organized.
December 12, 1800 - Washington, D.C. becomes the official capital of the United States. Residents of Washington were given the right to vote for president and vice president with the ratification of the 23rd Amendment in 1961. But the District of Columbia does not have statehood.




Area - sq. miles

Capital -

2000 Population -




March 4, 1801 - Thomas Jefferson is sworn in as the 3rd President of the United States.
March 4, 1801 - Aaron Burr is sworn in as the 3rd Vice President of the Unted States.
March 1, 1803 - Ohio is the 17th state admitted to the Union. Ohio became the first state west of the Alleghenies on March 1, 1803.




Area - 44,828 sq. miles

Capital - Columbus

2000 Population -




April 30, 1803 - The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory for $15 million, containing what is now Arkansas, part of Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, part of Minnesota, Missouri, part of Montana, part of North Dakota, part of Oklahoma, South Dakota, and part of Wyoming.
December 12, 1803 - The 12th Amendment is passed by Congress.
May 17, 1804 - Louis & Clark begin their expedition of the Louisiana Territory.
September 25, 1804 - The 12th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
January 11, 1805 - The Michigan Territory is organized.
March 4, 1805 - Thomas Jefferson is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1805 - George Clinton is sworn in as 4th Vice President of the United States.
November 18, 1805 - Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean.
September 23, 1806 - Lewis and Clark return from exploring the Louisiana Territory.
February 3, 1809 - The Illinois Territory is organized.
March 4, 1809 - James Madison is sworn in as the 4th President of the United States.
March 4, 1809 - George Clinton is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
October 27, 1810 - The United States annexes what is now part of Alabama, part of Louisiana, and part of Mississippi.
April 30, 1812 - Louisiana is the 18th state admitted to the Union. Louisiana became the 18th state on April 30, 1812. It joined the Confederacy on January 26, 1861 and re-entered the Union after the Civil War.




Area - 49,650 sq. miles

Capital - Baton Rouge

2000 Population -




May 14, 1812 - The Mississippi Territory is organized.
June 4, 1812 - The Missouri Territory is organized.
War of 1812
June 18, 1812 - United States declares war on Britain.
March 4, 1813 - James Madison is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1813 - Elbridge Gerry is sworn in as the 5th Vice President for a 2nd term.
August 24, 1814 - The British set fire to Washington, D.C.
September 20, 1814 - The "Star-Spangled Banner" becomes the official national Anthem.
December 24, 1814 - The United States and Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
January 8, 1815 - American forces win the Battle of New Orleans (they didn't know the war is over).
The Era of Good Feelings
December 11, 1816 - Indiana is the 19th state admitted to the Union.




Area - 36,420 sq. miles

Capital - Indianapolis

2000 Population -




March 3, 1817 - The Alabama Territory is organized.
March 4, 1817 - James Monroe is sworn in as the 5th President of the United States.
March 4, 1817 - Elbridge Gerry is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
December 10, 1817 - Mississippi is the 20th state admitted to the Union.




Area - 48,286 sq. miles

Capital - Jackson

2000 Population -




December 3, 1818 - Illinois is the 21st state admitted to the Union.




Area - 57,918 sq. miles

Capital - Springfield

2000 Population -




February 22, 1819 - The United States annexes Florida.
March 2, 1819 - The Arkansas Territory is organized.
December 14, 1819 - Alabama is the 22nd state admitted to the Union. Alabama entered the Union on December 14, 1819. In January 1861, Alabama seceded from the Union, and on February 4, delegates from six states met at Montgomery and formed the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery as the capital. After the Civil War, Alabama re-entered the Union.




Area - 52,237 sq. miles

Capital - Montgomery

2000 Population -




March 15, 1820 - Maine is the 23rd state admitted to the Union. Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820. Its admission to the Union balanced the simultaneous admission of Missouri as a slave state.




Area - 33,741 sq. miles

Capital - Augusta

2000 Population -




March 4, 1821 - James Monroe is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1821 - Daniel Tompkins is sworn in as the 6th Vice President of the United States.
August 10, 1821 - Missouri is the 24th state admitted to the Union. Missouri was admitted as a slave state on August 10, 1821, after an agreement known as the Missouri Compromise in which Maine was admitted as a free state.




Area - 69,709 sq. miles

Capital - Jefferson City

2000 Population -




March 30, 1822 - The Florida Territory is organized.
March 4, 1825 - John Quincy Adams is sworn in as the 6th President of the United States.
March 4, 1825 - John Calhoun is sworn in as the 7th Vice President of the United States.
March 4, 1829 - Andrew Jackson is sworn in as the 7th President of the United States.
March 4, 1829 - John Calhoun is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
The Age of Jackson
March 4, 1833 - Andrew Jackson is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1833 - Martin van Buren is sworn in as the 8th Vice President of the United States.
June 30, 1834 - The Indian Territory is established in what is now Oklahoma.
Apr 20. 1836 - The Wisconsin Territory is organized.
June 15, 1836 - Arkansas is the 25th state admitted to the Union. Despite opposition in Congress to a new slave state, Arkansas became a state on June 15, 1836. Arkansas Governor Henry M. Rector seized Fort Smith and Arkansas joined the Confederacy in 1861 re-entering the Union at War's end.




Area - 53,182 sq. miles

Capital - Little Rock

2000 Population -


Manifest Destiny
March 4, 1837 - Martin van Buren is sworn in as the 8th President of the United States.
March 4, 1837 - Richard Johnson is sworn in as the 9th Vice President of the United States.
January 26, 1837 - Michigan is the 26th state admitted to the Union.




Area - 96,705 sq. miles

Capital - Lansing

2000 Population -




June 11, 1838 - The Iowa Territory is organized.
March 4, 1841 - William Harrison is sworn in as the 9th President of the United States.
March 4, 1841 - John Tyler is sworn in as the 10th Vice President of the United States.
April 6, 1841 - John Tyler is sworn in as the 10th President of the United States.
April 12, 1844 - The United States annexes what are now parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas as a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain.
March 3, 1845 - Florida is the 27th state admitted to the Union. Florida became a state on March 3, 1845, a move delayed by the reluctance of Congress to admit another slave state, and it joined the Confederacy on January 10, 1861, re-entering the Union at war's end.




Area - 59,988 sq. miles

Capital - Tallahassee

2000 Population -




March 4, 1845 - James Polk is sworn in as the 11th President of the United States.
April 4, 1845 - George Dallas is sworn in as the 11th Vice President of the United States.
December 29, 1845 - Texas is the 28th state admitted to the Union. After ten years of independence, Texas became a state on December 29, 1845.




Area - 267,277 sq. miles

Capital - Austin

2000 Population -





The Mexican War
May 8, 1846 - The Mexican War begins with the Battle of Palo Alto.
May 13, 1846 - The United States declares war on Mexico.
August 22, 1846 - The United States annexes what is now Arizona and New Mexico.
December 28, 1846 - Iowa is the 29th state admitted to the Union. On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the first free state in the old Louisiana Territory.




Area - 56,276 sq. miles

Capital - Des Moines

2000 Population -




September 14, 1847 - American forces take Mexico City.
February 2, 1848 - Mexico and the United States sign the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War.
February 2, 1848 - The United States gains what is now California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
May 29, 1848 - Wisconsin is the 30th state admitted to the Union. According to the 1999-2000 Wisconsin Blue Book (published by the State of Wisconsin), "on May 29, 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state in the Union." (p. 630)




Area - 65,500 sq. miles

Capital - Madison

2000 Population -



August 14, 1848 - The United States annexes the Oregon Territory containing what is now Idaho, part of Montana, Oregon, Washington, part of Wyoming.
March 3, 1849 - The Minnesota Territory is organized.
March 4, 1849 - Millard Filmore is sworn in as the 12th Vice President of the United States.
March 5, 1849 - Zachary Taylor is sworn in as the 12th President of the United States.
December 6, 1849 - Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery on the "Underground Railroad".
May 30, 1850 - The Kansas Territory is organized.
May 30, 1850 - The Nebraska Territory is organized.
July 10, 1850 - Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th President of the United States.
September 9, 1850 - California is the 31st state admitted to the Union. Congress hesitated to welcome a new free state, but because of its booming population and the discovery of gold California was admitted in September 9, 1850.




Area - 158,869 sq. miles

Capital - Sacramento

2000 Population -




September 9, 1850 - The Utah Territory is organized.
September 18, 1850 - The Fugitive Slave Act is passed by Congress, requiring the return of escaped slaves.
March 2, 1853 - The Washington Territory is organized.
March 2, 1853 - The Oregon Territory is organized.
March 4, 1853 - Franklin Pierce is sworn in as the 14th President of the United States.
March 4, 1853 - William King is sworn in as the 13th Vice President of the United States.
December 30, 1853 - The United States purchases what is now part of Arizona and New Mexico.
March 4, 1857 - James Buchanan is sworn in as the 15th President of the United States.
March 4, 1857 - John Breckinridge is sworn in as the 14th Vice President of the United States.
May 11, 1858 - Minnesota is the 32nd state admitted to the Union.




Area - 86,943 sq. miles

Capital - St. Paul

2000 Population -




February 14, 1859 - Oregon is the 33rd state admitted to the Union.




Area - 97,093 sq. miles

Capital - Salem

2000 Population -


Secession
December 20, 1860 - South Carolina is the 1st state to secede from the Union.
January 9, 1861 - Mississippi is the 2nd state to secede from the Union.
January 10, 1861 - Florida is the 3rd state to secede from the Union.
January 11, 1861 - Alabama is the 4th state to secede from the Union.
January 19, 1861 - Georgia is the 5th state to secede from the Union.
January 26, 1861 - Louisiana is the 6th state to secede from the Union.
January 29, 1861 - Kansas is the 34th state admitted to the Union. Kansas became a free state on January 29, 1861, after seven years of bloody feuding between residents over whether to be admitted as a slave or free state.




Area - 82,282 sq. miles

Capital - Topeka

2000 Population -




February 4, 1861 - The Confederate States of America is formed.
February 4, 1861 - The Apache declare war on the United States.
February 13, 1861 - The 1st Congressional Medal is presented to Col. Bernard Irwin.
February 18, 1861 - Jefferson Davis is sworn in as the 1st President of the Confederate States of America
February 18, 1861 - Alexander Stevens is sworn in as the 1st Vice President of the Confederate States of America.
February 22, 1861 - The Nevada Territory is organized.
February 23, 1861 - Texas is the 7th state to secede from the Union.
February 28, 1861 - The Colorado Territory is organized.
March 2, 1861 - The Dakota Territory is organized.
March 4, 1861 - Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as the 16th President of the United States.
March 4, 1861 - Hannibal Hamlin is sworn in as the 15th Vice President of the United States.
March 11, 1861 - The Confederate Congress adopts their Constitution.
April 12, 1861 - Confederate forces begin an assault on Fort Sumter.
April 13, 1861 - After 34 hours of bombardment, Fort Sumter surrenders.
April 17, 1861 - Virginia is the 8th state to secede from the Union.
April 19, 1861 - Union blockade of Confederate ports is initiated (1st part of the Anaconda Plan).
April 27, 1861 - 48 counties in western Virginia secede to rejoin the Union (reducing Virginia's size to 42,326sq. miles).
May 6, 1861 - Arkansas is the 9th state to secede from the Union.
The Civil War
May 6, 1861 - President Abraham Lincoln declares a state of insurrection in the southern states.
May 21, 1861 - North Carolina is the 10th state to secede from the Union.
May 21, 1861 - Richmond, VA. becomes the official capital city of the Confederate States.
June 8, 1861 - Tennessee is the 11th state to secede from the Union.
July 21, 1861 - Confederate forces win the 1st Battle of Bull Run.
October 22, 1861 - The transcontinental telegraph is completed.
March 9, 1862 - The 1st ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack , meet at the Battle of the James River (resulting in a Union victory).
April 7, 1862 - Union forces win the Battle of Shiloh.
April 14, 1862 - Union forces begin the Penninsula Campaign.
August 30, 1862 - Confederate forces win the 2nd Battle of Bull Run.
September 17, 1862 - Union forces win the Battle of Antietam.
September 22, 1862 - The Emancipation Proclomation is issued.
December 13, 1862 - Confederate forces win the Battle of Fredericksburg.
February 24, 1863 - The New Mexico Territory is organized.
February 24, 1863 - The Arizona Territory is organized.
May 4, 1863 - Confederate forces win the Battle of Chancellorsville.
June 20, 1863 - West Virginia is the 35th state admitted to the Union. On June 20, 1863, the wartime state of West Virginia was born by acceptance of the federal government.




Area - 24,232 sq. miles

Capital - Charleston

2000 Population -




July 1, 1863 - The Battle of Ghettysburg begins.
July 3, 1863 - Union forces win the Battle Ghettysburg.
July 4, 1863 - Union forces capture Vicksburg, thereby taking the entire Mississippi River (2nd part of the Anaconda Plan).
November 25, 1863 - Union forces win the Battle of Chattanooga.
May 26, 1864 - The Idaho Territory is organized.
May 26, 1864 - The Montana Territory is organized.
September 1, 1864 - Union forces take Atlanta.
October 31, 1864 - Nevada is the 36th state admitted to the Union. On October 31, 1864, at the urging of President Abraham Lincoln, Nevada became a state. Only a short four years earlier, it had been a wilderness.




Area - 110,567 sq. miles

Capital - Carson City

2000 Population -




November 16, 1864 - Union forces begin the "march to the sea", from Atlanta to Savanah.
February 1, 1865 - The 13th Amendment is passed by Congress.
March 4, 1865 - Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1865 - Andrew Johnson is sworn in as the 16th Vice President of the United States.
March 21, 1865 - Union forces finish the "march to the sea" (by taking Savanah, Georgia).
April 2, 1865 - The fleeing Confederate government sets fire to Richmond.
April 3, 1865 - Union forces occupy the Confederate capital, Richmond (3rd part of the Anaconda Plan).
April 9, 1865 - The Confederate States of America surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the Civil War.
Reconstruction
April 15, 1865 - Andrew Johnson is sworn in as the 17th President of the United States.
December 18, 1865 - The 13th Amendment is added to the Constitution. Jun 16, 1866 - The 14th Amendment is passed by Congress.
July 24, 1866 - Tennessee is the 1st state to be readmitted to the Union.
March 1, 1867 - Nebraska is the 37th state admitted to the Union. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the Nebraska statehood bill of 1866, but Congress overrode his veto, and Nebraska became a state on March 1, 1867




Area - 77,359 sq. miles

Capital - Lincoln

2000 Population -




March 30, 1867 - The United States purchases the Alaska Territory from Russia for $7.2 million.
August 28, 1867 - The U.S. annexes the Midway Islands.
January 7, 1868 - The Arkansas constitutional convention meets in Little Rock.
January 7, 1868 - The Mississippi constitutional convention meets in Jackson.
January 14, 1868 - The North Carolina constitutional convention meets in Raliegh.
January 14, 1868 - The South Carolina constitutional convention meets in Columbia.
February 24, 1868 - The U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Andrew Johnson.
March 13, 1868 - The U.S. Senate begins its Impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson
April 14, 1868 - South Carolina adopts a new constitution.
April 16, 1868 - Louisiana adopts a new constitution.
May 26, 1868 - The U.S. Senate acquits President Andrew Johnson of all 11 Articles of Impeachment.
June 1, 1868 - The Texas constitutional convention meets in Austin.
June 22, 1868 - Arkansas is the 2nd state to be readmitted to the Union.
June 25, 1868 - Florida is the 3rd state to be readmitted to the Union.
June 25, 1868 - Alabama is the 4th state to be readmitted to the Union.
June 25, 1868 - Louisiana is the 5th state to be readmitted to the Union.
June 25, 1868 - North Carolina is 6the th state to be readmitted to the Union.
June 25, 1868 - South Carolina is 7the th state to be readmitted to the Union.
July 23, 1868 - The 14th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
July 25, 1868 - The Wyoming Territory is organized.
December 25, 1868 - President Andrew Johnson issues an unconditional pardon to all those who participated in the southern rebellion.
February 27, 1869 - The 15th Amendment is passed by Congress.
March 4, 1869 - Ulysses Grant is sworn in as the 18th President of the United States.
March 4, 1869 - Schuyler Colfax is sworn in as the 17th Vice President of the United States.
April 10, 1869 - The number of Supreme Court Justices is increased from 7 to 9.
May 10, 1869 - The Transcontinental Railroad is completed at Promontory Point, Utah.
November 17, 1869 - The Suez Canal opens for business, in Egypt, linking the Mediterranean and Red seas.
January 27, 1870 - Virginia is the 8th state to be readmitted to the Union.
February 23, 1870 - Mississippi is the 9th state to be readmitted to the Union.
March 30, 1870 - Texas is the 10th state to be readmitted to the Union.
March 30, 1870 - The 15th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
July 15, 1870 - Georgia is the 11th state to be readmitted to the Union.
Expansion
August 1, 1870 - Colorado is the 38th state admitted to the Union. After three tries Colorado was made a state on August 1, 1876.




Area - 104,100 sq. miles

Capital - Denver

2000 Population -




March 4, 1873 - Ulysses Grant is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1873 - Henry Wilson is sworn in as the 18th Vice President of the United States.
March 4, 1877 - William Wheeler is sworn in as the 19th Vice President of the United States.
March 5, 1877 - Rutherford Hayes is sworn in as the 19th President of the United States.
March 4, 1881 - James Garfield is sworn in as the 20th President of the United States.
March 4, 1881 - Chester Arthur is sworn in as the 20th Vice President of the United States.
September 20, 1881 - Chester Arthur is sworn in as the 21st President of the United States.
May 17, 1884 - The Alaska Territory is organized.
March 4, 1885 - Grover Cleveland is sworn in as the 22nd President of the United States.
March 4, 1885 - Thomas Hendricks is sworn in as the 21st Vice President of the United States.
March 4, 1889 - Benjamin Harrison is sworn in as the 23rd President of the United States.
March 4, 1889 - Levi Morton is sworn in as the 22nd Vice President of the United States.
November 2, 1889 - North Dakota is the 39th state admitted to the Union. Both North and South Dakota became states on November 2, 1889.




Area - 70,704 sq. miles

Capital - Bismarck

2000 Population -




November 2, 1889 - South Dakota is the 40th state admitted to the Union. Both North and South Dakota became states on November 2, 1889.




Area - 77,121 sq. miles

Capital - Pierre

2000 Population -




November 8, 1889 - Montana is the 41st state admitted to the Union.




Area - 147,046 sq. miles

Capital - Helena

2000 Population -




November 11, 1889 - Washington is the 42nd state admitted to the Union.




Area - 70,637 sq. miles

Capital - Olympia

2000 Population -




May 2, 1890 - The Oklahoma Territory is organized.
July 3, 1890 - Idaho is the 43rd state admitted to the Union.




Area - 83,574 sq. miles

Capital - Boise

2000 Population -




July 10, 1890 - Wyoming is the 44th state admitted to the Union. Although the Wyoming population was not enough to qualify for statehood, it became one anyway on July 10, 1890.




Area - 97,819 sq. miles

Capital - Cheyenne

2000 Population -




March 4, 1893 - Grover Cleveland is sworn in as the 24th President of the United States.
March 4, 1893 - Adlai Stevenson is sworn in as the 23rd Vice President of the United States.
January 4, 1896 - Utah is the 45th state admitted to the Union.





Area - 84,904 sq. miles

Capital - Salt Lake City

2000 Population -




March 4, 1897 - William McKinley is sworn in as the 25th President of the United States.
March 4, 1897 - Garret Hobart is sworn in as the 24th Vice President of the United States.
The Spanish-American War
April 20, 1898 - The United States declares war on Spain.
May 1, 1898 - American forces win the Battle of Manila Bay.
July 1, 1898 - American forces win the Battle of Santiago.
July 7, 1898 - The United States annexes Hawaii.
July 25, 1898 - American forces invade Puerto Rico.
August 12, 1898 - The United States and Spain sign an armistice, ending the Spanish-American War.
December 10, 1898 - The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Paris 1898, officially ending the Spanish-American War.
The American Empire
February 6, 1899 - The United States annexes Guam, the Phillipines, and Puerto Rico.
February 22, 1900 - The Hawaii Territory is organized.
March 4, 1901 - William McKinley is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the 25th Vice President of the United States.
September 14, 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the 26th President of the United States.
March 4, 1905 - Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1905 - Charles Fairbanks is sworn in as the 26th Vice President of the United States.
January 16, 1907 - Oklahoma is the 46th state admitted to the Union. Oklahoma became a state on November 6, 1907, with a population of 1,414,177, including residents in Indian Territory.




Area - 69,903 sq. miles

Capital - Oklahoma City

2000 Population -




March 4, 1909 - William Taft is sworn in as the 27th President of the United States.
March 4, 1909 - James Sherman is sworn in as the 27th Vice President of the United States.
July 12, 1909 - The 16th Amendment is passed by Congress.
January 6, 1912 - New Mexico is the 47th state admitted to the Union.




Area - 121,598 sq. miles

Capital - Santa Fe

2000 Population -




February 14, 1912 - Arizona is the 48th state admitted to the Union.




Area - 114,006 sq. miles

Capital - Phoenix

2000 Population -




May 16, 1912 - The 17th Amendment is passed by Congress.
February 25, 1913 - The 16th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
March 4, 1913 - Woodrow Wilson is sworn in as the 28th President of the United States.
March 4, 1913 - Thomas Marshall is sworn in as the 28th Vice President of the United States.
April 8, 1913 - The 17th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
April 21, 1914 - American forces occupy Vera Cruz, Mexico.
June 28, 1914 - Princip assasinates Archduke Ferdinand of the Ottoman Empire.
July 18, 1914 - The United States Army Air Corps is established.
World War I
July 28, 1914 - World War I begins as the Ottoman Empire declares war on Bosnia.
July 29, 1914 - Central forces bomb Belgrade, Belgium.
August 4, 1914 - Central forces invade Belgium.
August 4, 1914 - President Wilson issues a proclamaition of neutrality.
August 15, 1914 - The Panama Canal opens for business.
August 25, 1914 - Central forces bomb Antwerp, Belgium.
August 25, 1914 - Central forces invade France.
August 30, 1914 - Central forces bomb Paris, France.
September 9, 1914 - Allied forces win the Battle of Marne.
December 24, 1914 - Central forces bomb Dover, England.
January 2, 1915 - Allied forces win the Battle of Sarikamis.
May 7, 1915 - British liner Lusiatnia is sunk by german U-Boats, killing 128 american passengers.
June 10, 1915 - The Girl Scouts is established.
July 29, 1915 - American forces invade Haiti.
February 21, 1916 - The Battle of Verdun begins.
March 9, 1916 - Pancho Villa raids Columbus, New Mexico.
March 15, 1916 - American forces drive Pancho Villa to Mexico.
June 15, 1916 - The Boy Scouts is established.
July 1, 1916 - The 1st Battle of Somme begins.
August 4, 1916 - The United States purchases the West Indies and the Virgin Islands for $25 million.
August 25, 1916 - The United States National Park Service is established.
September 3, 1916 - Allied forces win the Battle of Verdun.
November 18, 1916 - Allied forces win the 1st Battle of Somme.
January 31, 1917 - Germany declared unrestricted subamrine warfare against all ships.
March 2, 1917 - Puerto Rico is made a United States territory.
March 4, 1917 - Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 29th Vice President of the United States.
March 5, 1917 - Woodrow Wilson is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
April 6, 1917 - The United States enters World War I on the side of the Allies.
August 5, 1917 - The United States National Gaurd is established.
December 17, 1917 - The 18th Amendment is passed by Congress.
March 3, 1918 - Russia pulls out of World War I.
July 15, 1918 - The 2nd Battle of the Marne begins.
July 18, 1918 - Allied forces win the Battle of the Aisne-Marne.
September 12, 1918 - The 2nd Battle of Verdun begins.
September 26, 1918 - The Battle of Miuse-Argonne begins.
September 29, 1918 - Allied forces push Central forces past the Hindenburg Line.
November 11, 1918 - The Allied and Central Powers sign an armistice, ending World War I.
January 29, 1919 - The 18th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
June 28, 1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I.
The Roaring 20's
June 5, 1919 - The 19th Amendment is passed by Congress.
August 26, 1920 - The 19th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
March 4, 1921 - Warren Harding is sworn in as the 29th President of the United States.
March 4, 1921 - Charles Dawes is sworn in as the 30th Vice President of the United States.
August 3, 1923 - Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 30th President of the United States.
March 4, 1925 - Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
March 4, 1925 - Charles Curtis is sworn in as the 31st Vice President of the United States.
March 4, 1929 - Herbert Hoover is sworn in as the 31st President of the United States.
March 4, 1929 - John Garner is sworn in as the 32nd Vice President of the United States.
The Great Depression
October 29, 1929 - The New York Stock Market crashes to an all time low (referred to as "Black Tuesday"), signalling the start of the Great Depression.
March 2, 1932 - The 20th Amendment is passed by Congress.
January 23, 1933 - The 20th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
February 20, 1933 - The 21st Amendment is passed by Congress.
March 4, 1933 - Franklin Roosevelt is sworn in as the 32nd President of the United States.
March 4, 1933 - Henry Wallace is sworn in as the 33rd Vice President of the United States.
December 5, 1933 - The 21st Amendment is added to the Constitution.
March 7, 1936 - Germany invades the Rhineland (Austria).
January 20, 1937 - Franklin Roosevelt is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
January 20, 1937 - Henry Wallace is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
September 1, 1939 - Germany invades Poland.
World War II
September 4, 1939 - France and Great Britain declare war on Germany.
September 28, 1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Warsaw pact, keeping the Soviet Union out of World War II.
June 4, 1940 - The British evaccuate over 300,000 soldiers from Dunkirk, France back accross the English Channel.
June 22, 1940 - France surrenders to Germany.
October 16, 1940 - Benjamin Davis becomes the first black General in the United States Army.
January 20, 1941 - Franklin Roosevelt is sworn in as President for a 3rd term.
January 20, 1941 - Henry Wallace is sworn in as Vice President for a 3rd term.
June 22, 1941 - Germany invades the Soviet Union.
December 7, 1941 - Japanese forces attack the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
December 8, 1941 - The United States declares war on Japan.
December 11, 1941 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
May 15, 1942 - Women are now allowed to serve in all branches of the armed services.
August 7, 1942 - United States Marines land at Guadalcanal.
February 2, 1943 - 200,000 german soldiers surrender at Stalingrad.
November 28, 1943 - Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin meet in Tehran to discuss WWII.
June 6, 1944 - Allied forces invade Normandy (reffered to as "D-Day").
August 25, 1944 - Allied troops liberate Paris.
December 16, 1944 - A german surprise attack begins the Battle of the Bulge.
December 24, 1944 - Allied forces push the german troops past the german border.
January 12, 1945 - American forces liberate the Phillipines.
January 20, 1945 - Franklin Roosevelt is sworn in as President for a 4th term.
January 20, 1945 - Harry Truman is sworn in as the 34th Vice President of the United States.
April 12, 1945 - Harry Truman is sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States.
June 26, 1945 - The United Nations is established.
July 12, 1945 - American forces take Okinawa.
August 6, 1945 - The United States drops the 1st atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
August 9, 1945 - The United States drops the 2nd atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
September 2, 1945 - Japan unconditionally surrenders to the United States, ending World War II.
The Cold War
July 4, 1946 - The Phillipines, a United States protectorate, gains its independence.
October 1, 1946 - Nazi war criminals receive sentencing at the Nuremberg trials.
October 17, 1946 - Winston Churchill proclaims "an iron curtain has swept across the continent (Europe)," begining the Cold War.
March 24, 1947 - The 22nd Amendment is passed by Congress.
January 20, 1949 - Harry Truman is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
January 20, 1949 - Alben Barkley is sworn in as the 35th Vice President of the United States.
April 4, 1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States.
The Korean War
June 25, 1950 - The Korean War officially starts as North Korea invades South Korea.
June 26, 1950 - North Korean forces take Seoul.
June 27, 1950 - The United Nations declares war on North Korea.
September 15, 1950 - U.N. forces take Inchon.
October 7, 1950 - U.N. forces recapture Seoul.
January 4, 1951 - North Korean/Chinese forces recapture Seoul.
February 26, 1951 - The 22nd Amendment is added to the Constitution.
November 1, 1952 - The United States detonates the 1st thermonuclear device.
January 20, 1953 - Dwight Eisenhower is sworn in as the 34th President of the United States.
January 20, 1953 - Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 36th Vice President of the United States.
May 17, 1954 - The U.S. Supreme Court declares that segregated schools violates the 14th Amendment.
January 20, 1957 - Richard Nixon is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
January 21, 1957 - Dwight Eisenhower is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
January 3, 1959 - Alaska is the 49th state admitted to the Union. Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959; it was the first new state in the Union since 1912.




Area - 615,230 sq. miles

Capital - Juneau

2000 Population -




August 21, 1959 - Hawaii is the 50th state admitted to the Union.




Area - 6,459 sq. miles

Capital - Honolulu

2000 Population -




June 16, 1960 - The 23rd Amendment is passed by Congress.
January 20, 1961 - John Kennedy is sworn in as the 35th President of the United States.
January 20, 1961 - Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as the 37th Vice President of the United States.
March 29, 1961 - The 23rd Amendment is added to the Constitution.
April 17, 1961 - An American backed Cuban invasion force landed at Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs).
August 27, 1962 - The 24th Amendment is passed by Congress.
October 14, 1962 - American spy planes spot Soviet missile bases on Cuba.
October 22, 1962 - The Soviet Union pulls its missiles out of Cuba.
The Vietnam War
November 1, 1963 - American/Vietnamese forces stage a coup in Vietnam.
November 22, 1963 - Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
January 30, 1964 - The 24th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
July 2, 1964 - Segregation is now abolished in the United States.
August 4, 1964 - Vietnamese forces attack an American Destroyer (USS Maddox).
August 7, 1964 - The United States begins military presence in Vietnam.
January 20, 1965 - Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
January 20, 1965 - Hubert Humphrey is sworn in as the 38th Vice President of the United States.
July 6, 1965 - The 25th Amendment is passed by Congress.
February 10, 1967 - The 25th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
March 16, 1968 - American forces take My Lai.
January 20, 1969 - Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States.
January 20, 1969 - Spiro Agney is sworn in as the 39th Vice President of the United States.
July 20, 1969 American astronaught Neil Armstrong is the 1st human to walk on the Moon.
April 30, 1970 - American forces invade Cambodia.
December 31, 1970 - The United States begins withdrawling troops from Vietnam.
March 3, 1971 - The 26th Amendment is passed by Congress.
June 30, 1971 - The 26th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
December 18, 1972 - American forces begin bombing Hanoi and Haiphong.
December 28, 1972 - American forces cease bombing Hanoi and Haiphong.
January 20, 1973 - Richard Nixon is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
January 20, 1973 - Spiro Agney is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
January 27, 1973 - The United States and Vietnam sign a peace treaty, ending the Vietnam War.
March 29, 1973 - The last of American forces leave Vietnam.
December 6, 1973 - Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 40th Vice President of the United States.
August 9, 1974 - Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 38th President of the United States.
December 19, 1974 - Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as the 41st Vice President of the United States.
January 20, 1977 - Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th President of the United States.
January 20, 1977 - Walter Mondale is sworn in as the 42nd Vice President of the United States.
November 4, 1979 - Iranians seize the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran taking 52 people hostage.
January 20, 1981 - Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States.
January 20, 1981 - George Bush is sworn in as the 43rd Vice President of the United States.
January 20, 1981 - The hostages from the American Embassy are freed.
December 30, 1981 - I was born (well, I am the Author!).
March 23, 1983 - President Reagan starts the Strategic Defense Initiative.
January 20, 1985 - George Bush is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
January 21, 1985 - Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
January 20, 1989 - George Bush is sworn in as the 41st President of the United States.
January 20, 1989 - Dan Quale is sworn in as the 44th Vice President of the United States.
The Persian Gulf War
August 2, 1990 - Iraqi forces invade Kuwait.
January 16, 1991 - A U.N. air strike is launched on Iraq.
February 23, 1991 - A U.N. ground force liberates Kuwait.
February 28, 1991 - A cease fire is signed between the United Nations and Iraq.
February 1, 1992 - The United States and Russia sign a treaty officially ending the Cold War.
The Information Age
May 7, 1992 - The 27th Amendment is added to the Constitution.
January 20, 1993 - Al Gore is sworn in as the 45th Vice President of the United States
January 21, 1993 - Bill Clinton is sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States.
January 20, 1997 - Al Gore is sworn in as Vice President for a 2nd term.
January 21, 1997 - Bill Clinton is sworn in as President for a 2nd term.
August 7, 1998 - 2 american embassies (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya) in eastern Africa are destroyed by terrorist bombs.
August 20, 1998 - American forces launch air strikes at 2 targets in retalliation for the american embassy bombings: a terrorist training facility in Afghanistan, and a chemical plant in Sudan.
December 16, 1998 - American forces launch the 1st of 3 air strikes at targets in Iraq.
December 17, 1998 - American forces launch the 2nd of 3 air strikes at targets in Iraq.
December 18, 1998 - American forces launch the 3rd of 3 air strikes at targets in Iraq.
December 19, 1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives approves 2 of 4 Proposed Ariticles of Impeachment.
March 23, 1999 - NATO begins launching air strikes against Yugoslavia.
December 31, 1999 - Panama gains control of the Panama Canal from the United States.

From: http://www.shgresources.com/us/timeline/#TOP

Mississippi, Alabama, are Arabic words? that's very interesting could you give us some more info? links, etc.

I thought you were going to answer any questions on muslim inventions? i gave you just one, the crank, it's you that appears to be the time waster.

Fantazum: I don't know if I'm reading the intent behind your post right, but be careful with the claim of the US as defenders of freedom. Anyone arguing that the US was a defender of freedom by referencing a chronology of US history really needs to rethink their strategy if they mention anything about Native Americans or the Civil War (not to mention the chronology conveniently left out Japanese, German, and Italian internment camps in the US during WWII). The United States has a long and complex problem throughout its history of being the freest country in the world and simultaneously one of the most oppressive and xenophobic. Feel free to correct me if I'm missing your point.

Anway, American history is offtopic.

I still believe everyone is missing the original point of this thread. I don't know why everyone keeps making this out to be a competition, saying things like "I wonder why nobody ever talks about Christian contributions". The way I read it, the post was not intended to be "Hey, look how much better Islam is than Christianity". "Islam" and "Muslims" are words we use today to refer to the Middle East collectively as a single political entity in the Middle Ages, despite being a extremely complex network of factions and rival political powers. It seemed to me that the original post was just meant to show some of the things that this Muslim political entity has contributed to the world. It's exactly the same as when people talk about everything Greece has contributed to knowledge and learning. Actually, Greece is a very good analogy, as it was separated into rival political entities (Athens, Sparta, Thebes, etc) much like the Middle East of the Middle Ages, yet we refer to them collectively as "Greeks" when discussing their contributions. The same goes for the Middle East: this post isn't about Muslims being better or more learned than Christians, it's about the contributions of the polity that we refer to collectively as "Muslims". If you have no problem discussing Greek, Roman, Egyptian contributions without also talking about what Christians had to offer, then you should have no quarrel with talking about Muslim contributions as well under the same conditions. I'm mostly directing this to earlier comments, but it seems like a lot of people are having a hard time coping with this issue.

I said before that I didn't really have an intent other than posting it as something that I found interesting and thought others would find so as well. I'm glad to see there are few here who are genuinly interested and even took the thread further finding other inventions by early muslims. I expected bigoted comments; that doesn't intimidate me. But of course I am muslim, my reasons can't be taken seriously since I am obviously showing some sort of bias . There is no competition to it, if I found an article that said "20 ways christian inventors changed the world" I would have posted it too.

Sorry, that's more or less what I was trying to say. Sorry if I seemed presumptuous, I suppose you, the author, would be better than me at saying why you posted.

I didn't think you were being presumptuous , no need to be sorry!

true...threads like this irritate me so I shall keep out of it from now on.

but then again, to be a muslim is to believe in a particular faith. You make it sound as if muslims instead use all there time inventing instead of practicing your faith. Also you could have just googled 20 ways christian inventors changed the world. that probably could have been googled as well.
And no, im not anti muslim or anything. Jews christians, and zoroastrianism all had their own inventors.
Hinduism is generally considered the oldest religion supposedly born when the aryan people rrived in north india.

you might wanna do some research first..and not posting statement based on your own conclusion without giving out references.. especially ones that might be offensive to others..

i see no one has mentioned the car bomb??

Ah, no. This is copied from IRA, Red Brigade and others.

Yeah, car bombs go all the way back to when medieval armies would use burning wagons and such to burn down a castle gate.

Interesting stuff. I see no reason why people are generalizing so ignorantly. You act like only the Muslims kill innocent people- compare it with the number of senseless killings in America, please and you know that most of them are not muslims... It's just that the Muslims' actions are moreso publicized, moreso focused on. Point is, each and every type crime was committed more than once by different, diverse people so it really isn't a valid argument to say who invented what crime it should rather be argued that people have the ability to choose whether to follow or disregard

The Maya and their neighbors developed the concept of zero probably in the preclassic era of the Mayan civilzation. However, its use was noted first by the Mayan people around 30 B.C.

However it is worth noting, many believe that the number zero could have been used by previous civilizations, including the Olmecs and Zapotecs.

Well I think its time i cut and paste something, this may interest some of you, and oh yeah the evidence for islam being present in America before Colombus is on its way too. Im a busy guy and dont realy have enough time to spend on line, like i said if any of you are serious about this, i am happy to debate privately with some of you and enlighten your minds.

"
In the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales , Geoffrey Chaucer identifies the authorities used by his "Doctour of Physic" in the six lines quoted above. The list includes four Arab physicians: Jesu Haly (Ibn 'Isa), Razi (Al-Razi, or Rhazes), Avycen (Ibn Sina, or Avicenna) and Averrois (Ibn Rushd, or Averroes). These four did not make Chaucer's list only to add an exotic flavor to his late-14th-century poetry. Chaucer cited them because they were regarded as among the great medical authorities of the ancient world and the European Middle Ages, physicians whose textbooks were used in European medical schools, and would be for centuries to come. First collecting, then translating, then augmenting and finally codifying the classical Greco-Roman heritage that Europe had lost, Arab physicians of the eighth to eleventh century laid the foundations of the institutions and the science of modern medicine.

After the collapse of the western Roman empire in the fifth century, Europe lost touch with much of its intellectual heritage. Of Greek science, all that remained were Pliny's Encyclopedia and Boethius's treatises on logic and mathematics; the Latin library was so limited that European theologians found it nearly impossible to expand their knowledge of their own scriptures.

The center of Europe's new world view became the church, which exerted profound new influences in medicine. Because Christianity emphasized compassion and care for the sick, monastic orders ran fine hospitals—but they did not function as hospitals do today. They were simply places to take seriously ill people, where they were expected to either recover or die as God willed. There were no learned physicians to attend them, only kindly monks who dispensed comfort and the sacraments, but not medicines.

Because the Christian church viewed care of the soul as far more important than care of the body, medical treatment and even physical cleanliness were little valued, and mortification of the flesh was seen as a sign of saintliness. In time, nearly all Europeans came to look upon illness as a condition caused by supernatural forces, which might take the form of diabolical possession. Hence, cures could only be effected by religious means. Every malady had a patron saint to whom prayers were directed by the patient, family, friends and the community. Upper respiratory infections were warded off by a blessing of the throat with crossed candles on the feast of Saint Blaise. Saint Roch became the patron of plague victims. Saint Nicaise was the source of protection against smallpox. Kings, regarded as divinely appointed, were believed to be able to cure scrofula and skin diseases, among other maladies, with the "royal touch."

With the study of disease and of patients neglected, licensed medicine as an independent craft virtually vanished. Those physicians who endured were mostly connected with monasteries and abbeys. But even for them, the generally accepted goal was less to discover causes, or even to heal, than to study the writings of other physicians and comment on their work. In the middle of the seventh century, the Catholic church banned surgery by monks, because it constituted a danger to their souls. Since nearly all of the surgeons of that era were clerics, the decree effectively ended the practice of surgery in Europe.

At roughly the same time, another civilization was rising in the east. The coming of Islam, also in the seventh century (See Aramco World, November/December 1991), led to a hundred years of continuous geographical expansion and an unprecedented era of ferment in all branches of learning. The Arabs rapidly melded the various cultures of the Islamic domain, and Arabic—the language of the Qur'an—became the universal language. By the 10th century a single language linked peoples from the Rann of Kutch to the south of France, and Arabic became to the East what Latin and Greek had been to the West—the language of literature, the arts and sciences, and the common tongue of the educated.

Medicine was the first of the Greek sciences to be studied in depth by Islamic scholars. After Plato's Academy was closed in 529, some of its scholars found refuge at the university at Jundishahpur, the old Sassanid capital of Persia, which had also sheltered excommunicated Nestorian Christian scholars—among them physicians—in 431. Persia became part of the Islamic world in 636, and Arab rulers supported the medical school at Jundishahpur; for the next 200 years it was the greatest center of medical teaching in the Islamic world. There, Islamic physicians first familiarized themselves with the works of Hippocrates, Galen and other Greek physicians. At the same time, they were also exposed to the medical knowledge of Byzantium, Persia, India and China.

Recognizing the importance of translating Greek works into Arabic to make them more widely available, the Abbasid caliphs Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and his son, al-Ma'mun (813-833) established a translation bureau in Baghdad, the Bayt al-Hikmah, or House of Wisdom, and sent embassies to collect Greek scientific works in the Byzantine Empire. (See Aramco World, May/June 1982.) This ushered in the first era in Islamic medicine, whose effects we feel today: the period of translation and compilation.

The most important of the translators was Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-'Ibadi (809-73), who was reputed to have been paid for his manuscripts by an equal weight of gold. He and his team of translators rendered the entire body of Greek medical texts, including all the works of Galen, Oribasius, Paul of Aegin, Hippocrates and the Materia Medica of Dioscorides, into Arabic by the end of the ninth century. These translations established the foundations of a uniquely Arab medicine.

Muslim medical practice largely accepted Galen's premise of humors, which held that the human body was made up of the same four elements that comprise the world—earth, air, fire and water. These elements could be mixed in various pro portions, and the differing mixtures gave rise to the different temperaments and "humors." When the body's humors were correctly balanceda person was healthy. Sickness was due not to supernatural forces but to humoral imbalance, and such imbalance could be corrected by the doctor's healing arts

Muslim physicians therefore came to look upon medicine as the science by which the dispositions of thehuman body could be discerned, and to see its goal as the preservation of health and, if health should be lost, assistance in recovering it. They viewed themselves as practitioners of the dual art of healing and the maintenance of health.

Even before the period of translation closed, advances were made in other health-related fields. Harun al-Rashid established the first hospital, in the modern sense of the term, at Baghdad about 805. Within a decade or two, 34 more hospitals had sprung up throughout the Islamic world, and the number grew each year.

These hospitals, or bimaristans, bore little resemblance to their European counterparts. The sick saw the bimaristan as a place where they could be treated and perhaps cured by physicians, and the physicians saw the bimaristan as an institution devoted to the promotion of health, the cure of disease and the expansion and dissemination of medical knowledge. Medical schools and libraries were attached to the larger hospitals, and senior physicians taught students, who were in turn expected to apply in the men's and women's wards what they had learned in the lecture hall. Hospitals set examinations for their students, and issued diplomas. By the 11th century, there were even traveling clinics, staffed by the hospitals, that brought medical care to those too distant or too sick to come to the hospitals themselves. The bimaristan was, in short, the cradle of Arab medicine and the prototype upon which the modern hospital is based.

Like the hospital, the institution of the pharmacy, too, was an Islamic development. Islam teaches that "God has provided a remedy for every illness," and that Muslims should search for those remedies and use them with skill and compassion. One of the first pharmacological treatises was composed by Jabir ibn Hayyan (ca. 776), who is considered the father of Arab alchemy. The Arab pharmacopoeia of the time was extensive, and gave descriptions of the geographical origin, physical properties and methods of application of everything found useful in the cure of disease. Arab pharmacists, or saydalani, introduced a large number of new drugs to clinical practice, including senna, camphor, sandalwood, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, cloves, aconite, ambergris and mercury. The saydalani also developed syrups and juleps—the words came from Arabic and Persian, respectively—and pleasant solvents such as rose water and orange-blossom water as means of administering drugs. They were familiar with the anesthetic effects of Indian hemp and henbane, both when taken in liquids and inhaled.

By the time of al-Ma'mun's caliphate, pharmacy was a profession practiced by highly skilled specialists. Pharmacists were required to pass examinations and be licensed, and were then monitored by the state. At the start of the ninth century, the first private apothecary shops opened in Baghdad. Pharmaceutical preparations were manufactured and distributed commercially, then dispensed by physicians and pharmacists in a variety of forms—ointments, pills, elixirs, confections, tinctures, suppositories and inhalants.

The blossoming of original thought in Arab medicine began as the ninth century drew to a close. The first major work appeared when Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi (ca. 841-926) turned his attention to medicine.

Al-Razi, known to the West as Rhazes, was born in Persia in the town of Rayy, near Tehran. After a youth spent as a musician, mathematician and alchemist, Al-Razi went to Baghdad to take up the study of medicine at the age of 40. Completing his studies, he returned to Rayy and assumed the directorship of its hospital. His reputation grew rapidly and within a few years he was selected to be the director of a new hospital to be built in Baghdad. He approached the question of where to put the new facility by hanging pieces of meat in various sections of the city and checking the rate at which they spoiled. He then ordered the hospital built at the site where the meat showed the least putrefaction.

Al-Razi is regarded as Islamic medicine's greatest clinician and its most original thinker. A prolific writer, he turned out some 237 books, about half of which dealt with medicine. His treatise The Diseases of Children has led some historians to regard him as the father of pediatrics. He was the first to identify hay fever and its cause. His work on kidney stones is still considered a classic. In addition, he was instrumental in the introduction of mercurial ointments to treat scabies. Al-Razi advocated reliance on observation rather than on received authority; he was a strong proponent of experimental medicine and the beneficial use of previously tested medicinal plants and other drugs. A leader in the fight against quacks and charlatans—and author of a book exposing their methods—he called for high professional standards for practitioners. He also insisted on continuing education for already licensed physicians. Al-Razi was the first to emphasize the value of mutual trust and consultation among skilled physicians in the treatment of patients, a rare practice at that time.

Following his term as hospital director in Baghdad, he returned to Rayy where he taught the healing arts in the local hospital, and he continued to write. His first major work was a 10-part treatise entitled Al-Kitab al-Mansuri, so called after the ruler of Rayy, Mansur ibn Ishaq. In it, he discussed such varied subjects as general medical theories and definitions; diet and drugs and their effect on the human body; mother and child care, skin disease, oral hygiene, climatology and the effect of the environment on health; epidemiology and toxicology.

Al-Razi also prepared Al-Judari wa al Hasbah, the first treatise ever written on smallpox and measles. In a masterful demonstration of clinical observation (see column at right), Al-Razi became the first to distinguish the two diseases from each other. At the same time, he provided still-valid guidelines for the sound treatment of both.

His most esteemed work was a medical encyclopedia in 25 books, Al-Kitab al-Hawi, or The Comprehensive Work, the Liber Continens of al-Razi's later Latin translators. Al-Razi spent a lifetime collecting data for the book, which he intended as a summary of all the medical knowledge of his time, augmented by his own experience and observations. In Al-Hawi, Al-Razi emphasized the need for physicians to pay careful attention to what the patients' histories told them, rather than merely consulting the authorities of the past. In a series of diagnosed case histories entitled "Illustrative Accounts of Patients," Al-Razi demonstrated this important tenet. One patient, who lived in a malarial district, suffered from intermittent chills and fever that had been diagnosed as malaria, but nonetheless seemed incurable. Al-Razi was asked to examine him. Upon noting pus in the urine, he diagnosed an infected kidney, and he treated the patient successfully with diuretics.

Al-Razi's clinical skill was matched by his understanding of human nature, particularly as demonstrated in the attitudes of patients. In a series of short monographs on the doctor-patient relationship, he described principles that are still taught a millennium later: Doctors and patients need to establish a mutual bond of trust, he wrote; positive comments from doctors encourage patients, make them feel better and speed their recovery; and, he warned, changing from one doctor to another wastes patients' health, wealth and time.

Not long after Al-Razi's death, Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Sina (980-1037) was born in Bukhara, in what today is Uzbekistan. Later translators Latinized his name to Avicenna. It is hard to describe Ibn Sina in anything other than superlatives. He was to the Arab world what Aristotle was to Greece, Leonardo da Vinci to the Renaissance and Goethe to Germany. His preeminence embraced not only medicine, but also the fields of philosophy, science, music, poetry and statecraft. His contemporaries called him "the prince of physicians."

Ibn Sina's life was in fact the stuff of legend. The son of a tax collector, he was so precocious that he had completely memorized the Qur'an by age 10. Then he studied law, mathematics, physics, and philosophy. Confronted by a difficult problem in Aristotle's Metaphysics, Ibn Sina re-read the book 40 times in his successful search for a solution. At 16 he turned to the study of medicine, which he said he found "not difficult." By 18, his fame as a physician was so great that he was summoned to treat the Samanid prince Nuh ibn Mansur. His success with that patient won him access to the Samanid royal library, one of the greatest of Bukhara's many storehouses of learning.

At 20, Ibn Sina was appointed court physician, and twice served as vizier, to Shams al-Dawlah, the Buyid prince of Hamadan, in western Persia. His remaining years were crowded with adventure and hard work, yet he somehow found time to write 20 books on theology, metaphysics, astronomy, philology and poetry and 20 more on medicine—including Kitab al-Shifa', or The Book of Healing, a medical and philosophical encyclopedia.

His supreme work, however, is the monumental Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, The Canon of Medicine. Over one million words long, it was nothing less than a codification of all existing medical knowledge. Summarizing the Hippocratic and Galenic traditions, describing Syro-Arab and Indo-Persian practice and including notes on his own observations, Ibn Sina strove to fit each bit of anatomy, physiology, diagnosis and treatment into its proper niche.

The Canon stressed the importance of diet and the influence of climate and environment on health. It included discussions of rabies, hydrocele, breast cancer, tumors, labor and poisons and their treatment. Ibn Sina differentiated meningitis from the meningismus of other acute diseases; and described chronic nephritis, facial paralysis, ulcer of the stomach and the various types of hepatitis and their causes. He also expounded the dilation and contraction of the pupils and their diagnostic value, described the six motor muscles of the eye and discussed the functions of the tear ducts, and he noted the contagious nature of some diseases, which he attributed to "traces" left in the air by a sick person.

The Canon also included a description of some 760 medicinal plants and the drugs that could be derived from them. At the same time Ibn Sina laid out the basic rules of clinical drug trials, principles that are still followed today. (See page 28.)

Not surprisingly, The Canon rapidly became the standard medical reference work of the Islamic world. Nizami-i Arudi of Samarkand spoke for generations of physicians when he wrote, in the early 12th century, "From him who manages the first volume [of The Canon], nothing will be hidden concerning the general theory and principles of medicine." The Canon was used as a reference, a teaching guide and a medical textbook until well into the 19th century, longer than any other medical work.

During the 10th century, when Arab astronomical texts were first translated in Catalonia, Europe began to reap the intellectual riches of the Arabs and, in so doing, to seek out its own classical heritage. The medical works of Galen and Hippocrates returned to the West by way of the Middle East and North Africa, recovered through Latin translations of what had become the Arab medical classics. Through the intellectual ferment of the Islamic present, Europe recovered some of its past.

The two main translators of classical material from Arabic into Latin were Constantinus (also known as Leo) Africanus (1020-1087), who worked at Salerno and in the cloister of Monte Cassino, and Gerard of Cremona (1140-1187), who worked in Toledo. It was no accident that both translators lived in the Arab-Christian transition zone, where the two cultures fructified each other. And it was no coincidence that Salerno, Europe's first great medical faculty of the Middle Ages, was close to Arab Sicily, nor that the second, Montpellier, was founded in 1221 in southern France, near the Andalusian border.

Ibn Sina's Canon made its first appearance in Europe by the end of the 12th century, and its impact was dramatic. Copied and recopied, it quickly became the standard European medical reference work. In the last 30 years of the 15th century, just before the European invention of printing, it was issued in 16 editions; in the century that followed more than 20 further editions were printed. From the 12th to the 17th century, its materia medica was the pharmacopoeia of Europe, and as late as 1537 The Canon was still a required textbook at the University of Vienna.

Translations of Al-Razi's Al-Kitab al-Hawi and other works followed rapidly. Printed while printing was still in its infancy, all of Al-Razi's works gained widespread acceptance. The ninth book of Al-Kitab al-Mansuri ("Concerning Diseases from the Head to the Foot") remained part of the medical curriculum at the University of Tübingen until the end of the 15th century.

Contemporary Europeans regarded Ibn Sina and Al-Razi as the greatest authorities on medical matters, and portraits of both men still adorn the great hall of the School of Medicine at the University of Paris. In The Inferno, Dante placed Ibn Sina side by side with antiquity's two greatest physicians, Hippocrates and Galen. Roger Bacon consulted Ibn Sina to further his own inquiries into vision.

But it was not only Al-Razi and Ibn Sina who influenced Europe. Translations of more than 400 Arab authors, writing on such varied topics as ophthalmology, surgery, pharmaceuticals, child care and public health, deeply influenced the rebirth of European science.

Despite their belief in now superseded theories such as humors and miasmas, the"medicine of Ibn Sina, Al-Razi and their contemporaries is the basis of much of what we take for granted today.

It was those Arab physicians who made accurate diagnoses of plague, diphtheria, leprosy, rabies, diabetes, gout, cancer and epilepsy. Ibn Sina's theory of infection by "traces" led to the introduction of quarantine as a means of limiting the spread of infectious diseases. Arab doctors laid down the principles of clinical investigation and drug trials, and they uncovered the secret of sight. They mastered operations for hernia and cataract, filled teeth with gold leaf and prescribed spectacles for defective eyesight. And they passed on rules of health, diet and hygiene that are still largely valid today.

Thus the Islamic world not only provided a slender but ultimately successful line of transmission for the medical knowledge of ancient Greece and the Hellenic world, it also corrected and enormously expanded that knowledge before passing it on to a Europe that had abandoned observation, experimentation and the very concept of earthly progress centuries before. Physicians of different languages and religions had cooperated in building a sturdy structure whose outlines are still visible in the medical practices of our own time.


David W. Tschanz lives and works in Saudi Arabia as an epidemiologist with Saudi Aramco. He holds master's degrees in both history and epidemiology, and writes about the history of medicine



The Caliphs’ Researches

Fourteenth-century historian and political scientist Ibn Khaldun wrote about the intellectual curiosity that helped to preserve Greek learning.


When the Byzantine emperors conquered Syria, the scientific works of the Greeks were still in existence. Then God brought Islam, and the Muslims won their remarkable victories, conquering the Byzantines as well as all other nations. At first, the Muslims were simple, and did not cultivate learning, but as time went on and the Muslim dynasty flourished, the Muslims developed an urban culture which surpassed that of any other nation.


They began to wish to study the various branches of philosophy, of whose existence they knew from their contact with bishops and priests among their Christian subjects. In any case, man has always had a penchant for intellectual speculation. The caliph al-Mansur therefore sent an embassy to the Byzantine emperor, asking him to send him translations of books on mathematics. The emperor sent him Euclid's Elements and some works on physics.


Muslim scholars studied these books, and their desire to obtain others was whetted. When al-Ma'mun, who had some scientific knowledge, assumed the caliphate, he wished to do something to further the progress of science. For that purpose, he sent ambassadors and translators to the Byzantine empire, in order to search out works on the Greek sciences and have them translated into Arabic. As a result of these efforts, a great deal of material was gathered and preserved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Physician Observes

In Al-Judari wa al-Hasbah, Al-Razi distinguished smallpox from measles for the first time in medical history. This passage shows his skill as a medical observer, a competence on which he placed great importance.


The eruption of the smallpox is preceded by a continued fever, pain in the back, itching in the nose and terrors in the sleep. These are the more peculiar symptoms of its approach, especially a pain in the back with fever; then also a pricking which the patient feels all over his body; a fullness of the face, which at times comes and goes; an inflamed color, and vehement redness in both cheeks; a redness of both the eyes, heaviness of the whole body; great uneasiness, the symptoms of which are stretching and yawning; a pain in the throat and chest, with slight difficulty in breathing and cough; a dryness of the breath, thick spittle and hoarseness of the voice; pain and heaviness of the head; inquietude, nausea and anxiety; (with this difference that the inquietude, nausea and anxiety are more frequent in the measles than in the smallpox; while on the other hand, the pain in the back is more peculiar to the smallpox than to the measles;) heat of the whole body; an inflamed colon, and shining redness, and especially an intense redness of the gums.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Testing New Medicines

In his voluminous writings, Ibn Sina laid out the following rules for testing the effectiveness of a new drug or medication. These principles still form the basis of modern clinical drug trials.

1. The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality.

2. It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease.

3. The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases, because sometimes a drug cures one disease by Its essential qualities and another by its accidental ones.

4. The quality of the drug must correspond to the strength of the disease. For example, there are some drugs whose heat is less than the coldness of certain diseases, so that they would have no effect on them.

5. The time of action must be observed, so that essence and accident are not confused.

6. The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many cases, for if this did not happen, it was an accidental effect.

7. The experimentation must be done with the human body, for testing a drug on a lion or a horse might not prove anything about its effect on man.




The Caliphs’ Researches

Fourteenth-century historian and political scientist Ibn Khaldun wrote about the intellectual curiosity that helped to preserve Greek learning.


When the Byzantine emperors conquered Syria, the scientific works of the Greeks were still in existence. Then God brought Islam, and the Muslims won their remarkable victories, conquering the Byzantines as well as all other nations. At first, the Muslims were simple, and did not cultivate learning, but as time went on and the Muslim dynasty flourished, the Muslims developed an urban culture which surpassed that of any other nation.


They began to wish to study the various branches of philosophy, of whose existence they knew from their contact with bishops and priests among their Christian subjects. In any case, man has always had a penchant for intellectual speculation. The caliph al-Mansur therefore sent an embassy to the Byzantine emperor, asking him to send him translations of books on mathematics. The emperor sent him Euclid's Elements and some works on physics.


Muslim scholars studied these books, and their desire to obtain others was whetted. When al-Ma'mun, who had some scientific knowledge, assumed the caliphate, he wished to do something to further the progress of science. For that purpose, he sent ambassadors and translators to the Byzantine empire, in order to search out works on the Greek sciences and have them translated into Arabic. As a result of these efforts, a great deal of material was gathered and preserved.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Physician Observes

In Al-Judari wa al-Hasbah, Al-Razi distinguished smallpox from measles for the first time in medical history. This passage shows his skill as a medical observer, a competence on which he placed great importance.


The eruption of the smallpox is preceded by a continued fever, pain in the back, itching in the nose and terrors in the sleep. These are the more peculiar symptoms of its approach, especially a pain in the back with fever; then also a pricking which the patient feels all over his body; a fullness of the face, which at times comes and goes; an inflamed color, and vehement redness in both cheeks; a redness of both the eyes, heaviness of the whole body; great uneasiness, the symptoms of which are stretching and yawning; a pain in the throat and chest, with slight difficulty in breathing and cough; a dryness of the breath, thick spittle and hoarseness of the voice; pain and heaviness of the head; inquietude, nausea and anxiety; (with this difference that the inquietude, nausea and anxiety are more frequent in the measles than in the smallpox; while on the other hand, the pain in the back is more peculiar to the smallpox than to the measles;) heat of the whole body; an inflamed colon, and shining redness, and especially an intense redness of the gums.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Testing New Medicines

In his voluminous writings, Ibn Sina laid out the following rules for testing the effectiveness of a new drug or medication. These principles still form the basis of modern clinical drug trials.

1. The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality.

2. It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease.

3. The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases, because sometimes a drug cures one disease by Its essential qualities and another by its accidental ones.

4. The quality of the drug must correspond to the strength of the disease. For example, there are some drugs whose heat is less than the coldness of certain diseases, so that they would have no effect on them.

5. The time of action must be observed, so that essence and accident are not confused.

6. The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many cases, for if this did not happen, it was an accidental effect.

7. The experimentation must be done with the human body, for testing a drug on a lion or a horse might not prove anything about its effect on man.

Here is a teaser about islam being in the Americas, before COLOMBUS, remember i did not say they were the first, only before COLOMBUS. Ofcourse many other civilisation have been there before, like the egyptians, vikings etc. But Mull over this for now, more to follow.



"Medieval Islamic coins of North Africa from a buried hoard found in 1787, during road-building excavations between Cambridge and Malden, Massachusetts, USA. (Coins A and

From Saga America, Barry Fell, 1980, Published by Times books, New York, pages 26-27, 30.

We have, in fact, a long history of recovering ancient coins from American soil -- coins that, for some unaccountable reason, we have persistently contrived to ignore. Take, for example, the events that occurred some two centuries ago on a stretch of highway only a few minutes' drive from my home in Massachusetts (USA).

The year was 1787, and the Reverend Thaddeus Mason Harris was making his way along the Cambridge-Malden road (now known as Route 16), probably turning over in his mind the prospects of the young Republic, whose very Constitution was that year being hammered out by the Congress summoned for that purpose. As he rounded a bend, he saw before him a cluster of people gathered about some unusual object. As he afterwards recorded in a letter to John Quincy Adams, he learned that some workmen had been engaged in widening a section of the road when a pickaxe had struck a horizontal flat slab of stone buried beneath the surface. When the slab was cleared and prized up, it was found to serve as a protective cover of a concealed cache of ancient coins, of which "two quarts" now lay exposed to view, hundreds of small square pieces of base metal (a copper-silver alloy) each bearing unknown signs stamped on the faces. The finders concluded that they were worthless, and passers-by, including Harris himself, were invited to take away handfuls. Hundreds of coins were thus dispersed."

Of all the people who carried off samples of these curiosities, Harris alone took steps to place the matter on record. After fruitless attempts to identify the inscriptions (actually Kufic, an ancient form of Arabic) and research in Harvard Library to no result, he had illustrations drawn and these, together with the account he sent to John Quincy Adams, were published by the American Academy of Arts and Science, in Boston. And there the matter rested for nearly two hundred years, until James Whittall, of the Early Sites Research Society, chanced upon the old report written by Harris and took steps to notify me and the American Numismatic Society."





Coin C: Smarkand coin struck in 903 CE and found at Gulland, Denmark.

Islamic coins have been found in hoards of hundreds in both America and Scandinavia. Some of the Islamic coins found in America may have been brought by Norsemen, as thousands of such coins of the ninth to the eleventh centuries are found in the soil of Scandinavia.

Coins A and B: Medieval Islamic coins of North Africa from a buried hoard found in 1787, during road-building excavations between Cambridge and Malden, Massachusetts.

Coin C:, coin of Smarkand struck in 903 AD and found at Gulland, Denmark. The central inscription reads: 'There is no god but Allah alone, and no partner for him.' The marginal inscription reads, 'In the name of Allah was coined this drachma [dirhem] in Samarqand.'

There is loads of evidence of this kind................

I did find your post interesting but maybe the thread should be entitled:
'20 ways Arabs changed the world'
It seems your making the presumption that 'all Arabs are muslims' (its like saying all westerners are christian) and ,after all, in what way does 'beleiving in a non provable beleif system' alter the way in which inventors are regarded?
Muslims are just ordinary people (no better or worse than anybody else) so I realy don't see the corellation between 'the ingenuity of the human spirit' has with which deity you choose to support.
Good post though,a lot of people are completely ignorant of the valuable contribution to science by the Arab world (although it is speculated they borrowed a lot from the Greeks)
Cheers Karl

Yes these are great inventions, but why does it matter who made what? Humans have made a lot of things.. we don't have to differentiate. And besides, if you do, Muslims still have a vastly limited scope of benefit in our world because of the time spent developing their religion. Free and open-minded societies produce the great minds who make great things, in general.

The point is, every culture has great inventions and contributions to our world. But Islam, even for its size, is not near the top of that list.

[And this is not meant to be bigoted. I'm simply saying, when you put much of your time into something like a religion, you have less time to develop and express your knowledge and understanding of the world.]

I hate to tell you but many of these have not "changed the world" at all.

#1. Coffee in the 1600's? From Wikipedia: The history of coffee can be traced to at least as early as the 9th century, when it appeared in the highlands of Ethiopia. Shepherds were the first to observe the influences of caffeine from the coffee beans when, after their goats consumed some naturally occurring coffee beans in the pasture, the goats appeared to "dance" and have an increased level of energy. From Ethiopia, it spread to Egypt and Yemen,[5] and by the fifteenth century had reached Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa.

Taking credit for something that happened 800 years before them. And I am sure coffee was found and used even before that.

#2. Well if this guy invented the first "pin hole camera" then his invention was never furthered than his own house. Again from Wiki: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first surviving photograph by coating a pewter plate with bitumen and exposing the plate to light. The bitumen hardened where light struck. The unhardened areas were then dissolved away, leaving a visible image.

#3 Wrong again the first form of chess was invented in india around 500bc it did not hit Persia until the 5th century. Again wiki: Many countries lay claim to the invention of chess. It is presently thought that the game originated in India,[2] since the Persian word for chess, shatranj, is derived from the Sanskrit chaturanga, i.e. "four divisions of the military", infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots, represented respectively by pawn, knight, bishop and rook.

The first reference to chess in literature appears in India about 500 BC in Brahmajala sutta in Digha Nikaya [3] The first reference to the game in Persia dates around 5th century [4] Karnamag-i Artaxshir-i Papakan. The earliest documented chess pieces also date to the 7th century. By about 800 the game reached China and was known, with modifications, as Xiangqi. Shatranj was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. In Spanish "shatranj" was rendered as ajedrez, in Portuguese as xadrez, in Turkish as satranc and in Greek as zatrikion, but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian shāh ("king"). The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe.[5] Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon, and dice named the Libro de los juegos.[6]

#4. Ok and how is that an airplane? All he did was semi made the first superman cape with silk and attached it to his body. The WRIGHT BROTHERS flew the first flyable air plane period. People have been jumping out of trees with "capes" for thousands of years.

#5. Do I even need to go into this one? Lets say they did invent soap and shampoo, it does not matter because they never use it

#6. This one looks legit, changes the world? I think not.

#7. Looks legit, but again hardly changed the world.

#8. Inventor of quilting ummmmmm no. Why even associate muslims with this, they are not even mention in the origin on wikipedia, it is thought that the egyptians invented it. Again Wiki: The origins of this method of craft are thought to be in the Crusades, when soldiers needed warmth as well as protection from the chafing caused by heavy armor. Additionally, there are ancient Egyptian sculptures showing figures which appear to be wearing clothing which is quilted, possibly for warmth in the chilly desert evenings.

#9. How can anyone know for sure that a pointed arch structure was originally done by Muslims? And how in the heck does this constitute changing the world????????????

#10. Looks legit, but again changed the world? I think not he basically made a better option for surgical instruments. Which is helpful but hardly earth shattering.


Seems to me that the muslims are getting alot of unjust credit....

I would have taken the time to consider your post a well thought out reply until I read this. Quite childish of you.

Unfortunately this is not a childish shot at them. I work in a home building industry and I deal with muslims all the time. When I say they do not shower , it is 100% true personal experience for me. My office smells absolutely terrible after they leave every time.

There's alot of people who don't shower and considering the percentage ratios of muslims to persons from other religions, chances are most of them are not muslims. I hope you become less ignorant so that you can stop being biased. Everyone has faults ._. It's like saying all Americans are fat, when in fact that is horribly false. Get my point?