Some suggested topics:
Jane Austen	Greek tragedy
Magnetic compass	Steam engine
Plants from the Americas	Basketball and volleyball
Amendments to the US constitution	Dwellings
Moldboard plow	Alcuin of York
Humanism	Influenza epidemic
Cecil Rhodes	Empress Theodora
Timurid empire	The great silk road
Julian of Norwich	Chess, Go and Mancala
Amish quilts	The importance of zero
Javanese shadow puppets	How to set a screw
Japanese screens	Ephemeral art in India
African masks	35mm cameras & photography
Mayan scribes	Native American sign languages
Shorthand across cultures	Apples
Algebra	Maps
Paper	Electricity
Libraries	Codex book
Clay	Fuels: wood, coal, oil, gas
Writing	Roads