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Many of us hated history because we had to memorize the names of people who "made history" and the dates of the important things they did.

Modern research has revealed that history was more often shaped by ordinary people and unrecorded events, inventions and substances than it was by the people who fill our history books.

Take, for example, the salt in our humble salt shakers.  We take it for granted, and assume it has had little importance in the history of the world.  However, it may well have had a far more important role in world history that all of the Roman emperors and their armies.

At the most basic level, the cells in our body need salt - we would die without it. Estimates are that we need 2-3 kilograms per year for mere survival.  A community of 500 would need about a ton of salt every year.  Clearly, anyone who controlled the source of salt had enormous power - the power of life and death.

For a wealth of detail on the role of salt in world history, see Salt Made the World Go Round.  For some of the more striking facts, see Roman Empire.