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How The Secret to Silk Was Smuggled Out of China

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

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The Cost of Shipping Overland

There's a reason why the world's first civilizations all developed along rivers. The Euphrates, Nile, Indus and Yangtze rivers allowed for low-cost transportation of goods from one city to the next. Almost nobody made the entire trip along the Silk Road. As late as colonial America, shipping furniture from London to New York costs the same price as shipping the same item overland.

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