Lacrosse began as a Native American ceremonial game that could involve hundreds of players over days

historyWikipediac. 1100 AD · Canada

Lacrosse began as a Native American ceremonial game that could involve hundreds of players over days

the gist

Lacrosse grew out of games played by many Native American communities from about 1100 AD, and it was far larger than the modern sport. In the traditional version in present-day Canada, a team could include hundreds of players on a field several miles long, with games lasting from sunup to sundown for two or three days. These games were part of ceremonies, a form of symbolic warfare, or a way of giving thanks to the Creator, and it was called the Creator's Game. In 1637 the French Jesuit Jean de Brébeuf saw the Wendat play and named it la crosse after the stick. Montreal's English speakers took up the game in the 1830s, and in 1860 William George Beers codified it, cutting the teams to 12 players.

so what

Lacrosse shows how a sport's modern form can be a deliberate redesign of something much older and very different. Its spread from Indigenous communities to Canada, the US, Britain and Australia is part of a wider history of how sports moved along colonial and migration routes. Today it is one of the fastest-growing team sports in US high schools.

fun fact

Lacrosse is one of the oldest sports in North America and was called the Creator's Game by some of the peoples who first played it.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗