In the 17th century, political and religious wars with Britain, France, and the Netherlands weakened the Iberian Peninsula. These three nations emerged as the main winners of the wars and became major powers like Spain and Portugal. In the next two centuries, the world became a battlefield of the three nations. Britain and France held land in North America, in India and other distant places. The Dutch colonized smaller parts of the Americas, took the former Portuguese trading centers around the Indian Ocean, and conquered Indonesia. These three new great powers also had influence all around the world.
Eventually, the result was a series of wars that were fought both in Europe and overseas, with Britain emerging victorious. The British took the former land of French Canada and India in the 18th century. They seized power in the Indian Ocean and defeated the Dutch navy. By 1763, the British Empire had become the second global empire after Spain. However, in 1776, thirteen colonies of British America declared independence. With help from the French, Dutch and Spanish, they defeated Britain in the American Revolution.
In 1778, Captain James Cook of Britain sailed across the South Pacific Ocean looking for a mysterious continent in the Southern Hemisphere. He landed on two large islands. Then he sailed west and found a bigger piece of land. The first, was modern New Zealand; the second was Australia. Captain Cook claimed these lands for Britain. He then explored the Pacific world for another year and died in a fight with the Hawaiians.
Many slaves brought from Africa were brought to the Americas which was claimed to be found by Christopher Columbus himself. In conclusion, the Portuguese were weakened after the Dutch rose in the Indian Ocean trade route. Spain gained almost all of Latin America and a massive amount of silver.
When Christopher Columbus tried to find a new trade route to Asia, he thought that he could travel around the world. Instead, he had found a New World. Vikings had briefly visited Vinland around 1000 A.D.
Persian lime
Persian Lime ("Citrus x latifolia"), also known as Tahiti lime or Bearss lime is a kind of citrus fruit. It is the primary citrus fruit grown commercially in the U.S. It is sold simply as a "lime". The fruit is about 6 cm in diameter. Very often, it has slightly nippled ends. It is usually sold quite green, although it yellows as it reaches full ripeness. It is larger, thicker-skinned, and less aromatic than the key lime. The key lime is grown more often worldwide. The Persian lime is bigger than the key lime, and has fewer seeds. The plant is also hardier, and has no thorns on the bushes. The fruit also has a longer shelf life.
Persian limes are less acidic than key limes and do not have the bitterness that lends to the key lime's unique flavour. Persian limes are sold primarily in six sizes, known as 110's, 150's, 175's, 200's, 230's and 250's. They are grown primarily in Florida in the U.S. The Persian lime became more important when key lime orchards were wiped out by a hurricane in 1926. Persian lime orchards themselves were devastated by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Large numbers of Persian limes are grown, processed and exported every year primarily from Martínez de la Torre, Veracruz, Mexico, to the American, European and Asian markets. U.S. Persian lime imports from Mexico are handled mostly through McAllen, Texas.
ssKaffir lime
The Kaffir lime ("Citrus hystrix "DC., Rutaceae), also known as kieffer lime, makrut or magrood, is a citrus fruit native to Indonesia. It is widely grown worldwide as a garden shrub. It is usually grown it for its fruit, the lime. The leaves are used for cooking. Vegetable oil obtained from the leaves is used to make perfumes.
The plant is a very thorny bush with aromatic leaves. The oil obtained from the rind of the fruit can be used as an insecticide. The plant is well suited to being grown in a container. The green fruits are different from other limes because of their bumpy and rough exterior. They are also quite small, about 4 centimetres across. The leaves are shaped like an hourglass. The leaves and the leaf-shaped stem are widely used in the cuisine of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.
"Citrus x hystrix" leaves are also popular in Cambodia but less so in Vietnam. Malay, Burmese and Indonesian (especially Balinese and Javanese; see also Indonesian bay leaf) cuisines use them sporadically with chicken and fish.
The leaves can be used fresh or dried and can be stored frozen.
Although the most common product of the "Citrus x hystrix" tree is its leaves (which give a sharp Lime/neroli flavour to Cambodian base paste known as Krueng, Thai dishes such as tom yum and Indonesian food such as sayur assam - literally "sour vegetables"), the juice and rind of the small, dark-green gnarled fruit (known as jeruk obat - literally "medicine citrus") are used in traditional Indonesian medicine.
The zest is widely used in Creole cuisine and to impart flavour to "arranged" rums on Réunion and Madagascar.
Other names for "Citrus x hystrix":
"The Oxford Companion to Food" () recommends that the name "kaffir lime" should be avoided in favour of "makrut lime" because "Kaffir" is an offensive term in certain cultures and also has no clear reason for being attached to this plant. However "kaffir lime" appears to be much more common.
Medina
Medina (; , ' , "the radiant city"; or , ' (), "the city"), also transliterated as Madīnah, is a city in the Hejaz, and the capital of the Al Madinah Region of Saudi Arabia. The city contains al-Masjid al-Nabawi ("the Prophet's Mosque"), which is the burial place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and is the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca.
Medina was Muhammad's destination after his Hijrah from Mecca, and became the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim Empire, first under Muhammad's leadership, and then under the first four Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. It served as the power base of Islam in its first century where the early Muslim community developed. Medina is home to the three oldest mosques, namely the Quba Mosque, al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn ("the mosque of the two qiblas"). Muslims believe that the chronologically final surahs of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad in Medina, and are called Medinan surahs in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs.
Similar to Mecca, non-Muslims are forbidden from entering the sacred core of Medina or the center of the city.
Medina currently has a population of more than 1,300,000 people (2006). The city was originally known as "Yathrib", but later its name was changed to Madīnat al-Nabī (مدينة ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻲ "city of the prophet") or "Al Madīnah al Munawwarah" ("the enlightened city" or "the radiant city"). The short form "Madīnah" simply means "city". Madina is the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca (Makkah).
Medina is very important to Muslims. This is because the Prophet Muhammad is buried in a mosque known as 'Masjid-e-Nabawi' or 'The Mosque of The Prophet'. The Mosque was built on a site next to Muhammad's home. Muslims believe that Prophets must be buried at the very same place that they die. Accordingly, Muhammad was buried in his house. The tomb later became part of the mosque when it was expanded by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. The first mosque of Islam is also in Medina. It is known as "Masjid Quba," (the Quba Mosque).