Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Amazon River changed its flow direction millions of years ago when the Andes Mountains rose to block its path and force it to turn toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Francisco de Orellana named the river Rio Amazonas in 1541 after his party was attacked by indigenous warriors who included women, reminding him of the Amazon warriors of Greek mythology.
More than 3 million indigenous people lived in the Amazon basin by the time Orellana traveled the river in 1541, organized into chiefdoms that developed towns and cities.
The remote city of Iquitos Peru grew from a small settlement of 200 people in 1851 into a thriving cosmopolitan center with 20,000 inhabitants by 1900.
Over 412 dams are currently in operation on the Amazon River and its tributaries, posing a severe threat to the river's biodiversity.
A severe drought in 2022 caused water temperatures in the Amazon to reach 39.1 degrees Celsius, leading to the death of 125 Amazon river dolphins.