Chinese New Year

There was once a ferocious dragon called Nian.  It used torment the people of China, so the people were afraid of it.

A wise old man came up with a brilliant idea to help the people overcome their fear.  He told them to work together, beat their gongs and drums and set of fireworks.  The loud noises can scare away the dragon.

His plan worked.  The dragon was scared away.

The people of China continue to celebrate their victory of salvation by lighting firecrackers and beating gongs and drums during Chinese New Year.

For more information:
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa010900a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nian

Trojan Horse

Paris, a prince of Troy, took Helen, the wife of Menelaus to be his wife.  This naturally enraged Menelaus, who then strove to reclaim his wife.  This started a war between the Trojans and the Greeks.

In trying to penetrate the city of Troy, Odysseus came up with a brilliant idea.  (Some claim it was with the help of the Goddess Athena.)  A wooden horse was built.  Some of the elite of the Greek army hid in its belly.  The rest of the army dragged the horse to the wall of the city, and then sailed away.

The Trojans thought that the Greeks had sailed away, leaving the horse as a gift.  They wheeled the horse into the city.

Later, under the cover of night, the Greeks came out from the belly of the horse and opened the city gates.  This allowed the rest of the Greek army, who had sailed back, to go in and attack Troy in order to save Helen.

For more information:
http://www.stanford.edu/~plomio/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Horse