Let’s start with the short answer and expand from there. Clouds are formed from water vapor. When water evaporates from the earth’s surface (from lakes, rivers, oceans, etc.), it rises into the air in the form of vapor. As it rises, the water vapor encounters less air pressure, so it’s able to expand. This is the first “step” in how clouds form in the sky.

The second step is when the air cools and condenses. When this happens, the water changes its state again — this time going from a vapor to a liquid. So when you see a cloud in the sky, you are actually seeing tiny water droplets that have formed together. It looks gaseous, like smoke, but it’s actually water in liquid form.

Why are some days cloudy and other not? Because there has to be something in the air for the water droplets to “cling” to, and for a cloud to take shape. This might be dust particles, smoke from fires, or salt from oceans. But there has to be some kind of medium for the droplets to connect with. The temperature also has a lot to do with this process. When the conditions are just right for this process, clouds will form in the sky. When the conditions are not right, you can enjoy a nice sunny day.

This is how clouds form, and it’s also a good illustration of the endless water cycle on our planet: Water evaporates from lakes, rivers and oceans >> it rises into the air as vapor >> it condenses back into liquid again >> it forms clouds >> it eventually comes back down as rain. And then the process starts all over again!

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, a region of central Italy. The tower is actually a bell tower for the main cathedral in that city. It did not always lean, but the way. It was designed and built to stand straight, like any other bell tower. But the structure’s foundation was unstable, and it could not support the massive amounts of stonework that makes up the famous tower. Thus, it began leaning soon after the construction process began.

Of course, if the tower did not shift into its current position, it would not be the tourist attraction it is today. It would just be another bell tower — albeit a very large one. It would certainly have attracted visitors with its architectural beauty, but not nearly as many visitors.

Who Built It, and When?

So who built the Leaning Tower of Pisa on such a “shoddy” foundation? It was actually built in several stages over a period of more than 150 years, starting in 1173. The base did not start to sink until 1178, a few years after construction began. The project was put on hold shortly after the sinking and leaning became obvious, and it remained inactive for several decades.

Photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, taken in 1909. The larger structure is the cathedral mentioned earlier.

Construction started up again in 1272, under the close supervision of architect Giovanni di Simone. The bell chamber at the top of the tower was not completed until 1372. It was designed and built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano.

So you can see now that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was not built by any one person, because the entire construction process took more than 170 years — longer than any human lifespan. It was constructed by a series of Italian of architects, artists and builders. The same can be said for many ancient structures. They built things much grander back then, and it took a long time to do so.

This article provides a straight answer to a frequently asked question about Italian history: Who built the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy? If you liked this article, you might also like these facts about the Great Wall of China.

In truth, this is a hard question to answer. The sport evolved over a period of time, rather than being “born” on a certain date. For many years, it was widely believed that baseball started in Cooperstown, New York in the 1860s. It was said that Abner Doubleday, a general during the American Civil War, devised the rules for the game and thus invented the sport. The city of Cooperstown celebrated its invention of baseball for a long time.

In more recent years, however, historians have disproved the Cooperstown / Doubleday theory. Historical documents discovered in 2004, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, suggest that baseball may have been invented much sooner than we originally thought. The document of mention dates back to 1791. It was a city ordinance that prevented people from playing baseball within 80 yards of a new meeting hall that had been built in Pittsfield.

Some historians claim that it’s virtually impossible to say when baseball was first invented, or when the first game was played with rules like the ones we have today. This is because the sport is believed to have evolved from older sports (such as cricket). If that’s the case, then the rules of the game were gradually shaped over time — as opposed to being invented on a certain date.

So, when did baseball really start in this country? Currently, we can only say with certainty that it was invented sometime prior to 1791. Because the Pittsfield, Massachusetts document shows that the sport was popular enough to make them worry about broken windows!

We hope you found this article helpful. While we many never truly know when baseball began in this country, there are plenty of sports facts we do know … such as the birth of football.

The pilgrims were people from England who sailed across the Atlantic ocean to reach America. Why did they come to a new land, so far away from their home? That depends on whom you ask. Different historians have different views and interpretations of this pilgrimage. But most historians agree that the pilgrims came to America so they could practice religion as they wanted.

Religion in England was strictly regulated, and by the time the pilgrims departed, it was imposed from the king onto all royal subjects (including common folks). Many people wanted to worship differently, practicing their own beliefs. Some of these people left and sailed to the “New World” in America, and they are who we now refer to as pilgrims.

When the pilgrims came to America they first landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Keep in mind that this happened in 1620. This is important, because there was already a permanent colony of English people in Jamestown, Virginia. So the pilgrims were not the original English settlers in America. In fact, Jamestown was not the first either. Settlers landed at Roanoke Island (off the coast of North Carolina) in the 1580s, though they later disappeared.

This article answers the question: Why did the pilgrims come to America in the first place? If you have other questions about history, click on the “History” link at the top of the website. We post new Q&A pieces on a daily basis, so you’ll find an ever-growing library of facts and information.

According to current population estimates (as of 2009), the largest city in the world is Tokyo, Japan. In 2009, the metropolitan area of that city had a population of more than 28 million people. .

Keep in mind that this kind of statistic changes often. Population growth is an ever-changing variable. For example, this time last year Mumbai, India was the largest city in the world in terms of population. But Tokyo recently edged ahead of it to capture the “largest” title. This time next year? Who knows. It could be Mexico City, or perhaps Sao Paulo, Brazil. Those two cities also have enormous populations.

That addresses the largest city in the world based on population. But what  about geographical space? When you use this “yardstick,” Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia is clearly the biggest. That city has a surface area of more than 100,000 miles.