A century ago – Middle East enters world stage

As gas prices break $4/gallon in most the country, take note than on May 26, 1908, the British discovered oil in Iran, the first payout in the Middle East.

Of course, Iran also, over the past 2,500 years, has given the West:
• Crucifixion (no, the Romans didn’t invent it);
• Heaven/hell and apocalyptic dualism (the Bridge of Peril from Monty Python’s “The Holy Grain” comes from the Zoroastrian Last Judgment);
• Pasta (no, not the Chinese, though that’s where Marco Polo first had it).

Well, one out of three isn’t bad.