Featured
Definition
Nefertiti
Nefertiti (c. 1370 - c. 1336 BCE) was the wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. Her name means, `the beautiful one has come' and, because of the world-famous bust created by the sculptor Thutmose (discovered in 1912 CE), she is the most recognizable queen of ancient Egypt. She grew up in the royal palace at Thebes, probably the daughter of the vizier to Amenhotep III, a...
Featured
Article
The 1918 Armistice with Germany - Allied Victory on WWI's Western Front
The armistice that ended the First World War (1914-18) on the Western Front was signed between Germany and the Allies on 11 November 1918. The...
Featured
Image
The Four Intact Pharaoh Burials of Ancient Egypt - Tutankhamun and the Royal Treasures of Tanis
Ancient Egyptian royal burials were designed to preserve the pharaoh's body, identity, and status for the afterlife. Coffins...
Featured
Image
12 Royal Princes Who Never Reached the Throne - From Germanicus to the Black Prince & Franz Ferdinand
Royal heirs and princes expected to succeed to a throne occupied an unusually precarious position: close enough to power...
Latest Content
Article
Stalin's Great Purge - State Oppression in the USSR
Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, also known as the Great Terror of 1936-8, was the most manic part of a decade of state oppression in the USSR. The purges saw the...
Definition
Peninsula Campaign - The Invasion Crippled by Fear
The Peninsula Campaign (17 March to 1 July 1862; operation completely ended by 26 August 1862) was the first large-scale Union offensive operation launched in...
Definition
Pax Mongolica - Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire was the largest land empire in world history, at about 22,000,000 square kilometers (850,000 square miles). The term Pax Mongolica...
Definition
James A. Garfield - The Unlikely Rise and Tragic Assassination of a President
James A. Garfield (1831-1881) was an American politician from Ohio who served as the 20th president of the United States from 4 March 1881...
Article
A History of Modern Time - From Railroad Time to Atomic Clocks
The rapidly expanding 19th-century rail network not only 'annihilated space,' in the parlance of the day, but also altered the definition, use, and perception...
Article
Battle of Chickamauga - The Second Bloodiest Battle of the American Civil War
The Battle of Chickamauga (19-20 September 1863) was a decisive battle in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Fought...
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Map of the Western Front in World War I, 1914–1918 - Trench Warfare, Major Battles, and the Allied Victory
The Western Front (1914–1918) was the principal battlefield of the First World War in Western Europe, emerging from...
Image
Map of the Fertile Crescent and the Origins of Agriculture - Early Farming and Domestication in the Ancient Near East
The Fertile Crescent, a term coined in 1916 by Egyptologist James Henry Breasted, describes an arc of Southwest...
Image
Map of the Roman Empire under Septimius Severus, 193-211 CE - Civil War, Roman Expansion, and the Rise of the Severans
The reign of Septimius Severus (193–211 CE) marked a turning point in Roman imperial history. Rising to power...
For You
Definition
Coyolxauhqui
Coyolxauhqui (pron. Koy-ol-shauw-kee) was the Aztec goddess of the Moon or Milky Way who was famously butchered by her brother Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, in Aztec mythology. This story...
Definition
Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus (c. 46 BCE – 9 CE) was a Roman politician and general under the rule of Emperor Augustus. He is most remembered for having lost three Roman legions when...
Article
Argula von Grumbach's To the University of Ingolstadt
To the University of Ingolstadt (1523) is an open letter by the German reformer Argula von Grumbach (l. 1490 to c. 1564) protesting the dismissal, arrest, and...
Definition
Babylon - The Gate of the Gods
Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia, whose ruins lie in modern-day Hillah, Iraq, 59 miles (94 km) southwest of Baghdad. The name is derived from bav-il or...
Book Reviews
Book Review
The Army of Alexander the Great
The Army of Alexander the Great (2025) is a highly detailed and insightful examination of one of the most influential military forces in history. Rather than presenting Alexander...
Book Review
Mathematics in Ancient Egypt: A Contextual History
Mathematics in Ancient Egypt traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the 4th millennium BC to the end of the Pharaonic Period in Greco-Roman...
Book Review
Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880
Jean-Michel Johnston's Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880 primarily targets scholars, students, and enthusiasts...
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| 1,775 | articles |
| 19,902 | illustrations |
| 2,647 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,525 | translations |
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| 15,685 | keywords |
| 64,103 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
The Didache: A Moral and Liturgical Document of Instruction
During the early years of Christianity, many of the church leaders or "Fathers" wrote down admonishments and instruction on what it meant to be a follower...
Definition
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire. Located in central Scotland, north of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Wall was a linear barrier that stretched from the Firth...
Definition
Octavia Minor - The Sister of Augustus Who Helped Birth the Roman Empire
Octavia Minor (circa 69 BCE to 11 BCE) was a Roman noblewoman who rose to prominence during the early years of the Roman Empire. The sister of...
Definition
Acropolis
An acropolis is any citadel or complex built on a high hill. The name derives from the Greek akro, "high" or "extreme/extremity" or "edge", and polis, "city", translated as "high city", "city...
Definition
Kachina Cult
The Kachina (also “Katsina”) cult refers to the specific religious practices centered on the kachina, which is a spiritual entity and divine messenger of the Puebloan peoples as well as the...
Interview
Interview: Barry Strauss on Ten Caesars
Dr. Barry Strauss' Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine tells the epic story of the Roman Empire from its rise to its eastern reinvention, from Augustus...
Article
The Newly Discovered Tablet II of the Epic of Gilgamesh
Surpassing all other kings, heroic in stature, brave scion of Uruk, wild bull on the rampage! Going at the fore he was the vanguard, going at...
Definition
Ashur - The First Great Assyrian City
Ashur (also known as Assur) was an Assyrian city located on a plateau above the Tigris River in Mesopotamia (today known as Qal'at Sherqat, al-Shirqat District, northern...
Medieval Period
Definition
Illuminated Manuscripts
Illuminated manuscripts were hand-made books, usually on Christian scripture or practice, produced in Western Europe between c. 500-c. 1600. They are so called because of the use of...
Definition
Henry VII of England
Henry VII of England ruled as king from 1485 to 1509 CE. Henry, representing the Lancaster cause during the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE), defeated and killed his predecessor the...
Definition
Medieval Literature
Medieval literature is defined broadly as any work written in Latin or the vernacular between c. 476-1500, including philosophy, religious treatises, legal texts, as well as works of...
Article
William the Conqueror's March on London
William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE) was victorious at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 CE, and Harold Godwinson, King Harold II of England (r. Jan - Oct 1066...
Definition
Swahili Coast
The Swahili Coast on the shores of East Africa was a region where Africans and Arabs mixed to create a unique identity from the 8th century called Swahili Culture. Swahili is the name of their...
Definition
Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas (l. 1225-1274, also known as the "Ox of Sicily" and the "Angelic Doctor") was a Dominican friar, mystic, theologian, and philosopher, all at once. Although he lived a...
Article
Vikings in Wales
The Norse may have ruled parts of northern Wales in the early 11th century, specifically in Anglesey and Gwynedd, though the degree to which is unclear. Old Norse had relatively little impact...
Article
Boccaccio on the Black Death: Text & Commentary
The Black Death is the name given to the plague outbreak in Europe between 1347-1352 CE. The term was only coined after 1800 CE in reference to the black buboes...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (l. 1755-1793) was the queen of France during the turbulent final years of the Ancien Régime and the subsequent French Revolution (1789-1799). With the ascension of her...
Definition
Blackbeard
Blackbeard (d. 1718), otherwise known as Edward Teach (probably an assumed name), was an infamous English pirate who operated in the Caribbean and Atlantic during a surprisingly short career...
Article
Autobiography of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
The Autobiography of Saint Ignatius is the story of the life of Ignatius of Loyola (l. 1491-1556) dictated by him to the Jesuit priest Father Louis Gonzalez between 1553-1555...
Definition
David Hume
David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher, writer, historian, and important figure in the Enlightenment. Hume presented a positive view of human nature but a sceptical view of religion's...
Collection
Daily Life in Tudor England
Life in 15th century CE Tudor England witnessed great changes as Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) swept away the monasteries and challenged the Catholic Church. Rebellions...
Article
Top 5 Must-See Historical Sites in Dublin
Dublin has much to offer in cultural and historical experiences. It is a vibrant and colorful city, with a history dating back many centuries. Dublin has it all - from...
Definition
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and leading Enlightenment figure. In The Wealth of Nations, he advocates free trade and limited interference in markets by governments...
Article
Two Accounts of Zwingli's Death
Huldrych Zwingli (l. 1484-1531) died in the second of the Kappel Wars in 1531, a conflict between Catholic and Protestant forces. Afterwards, two accounts of his death emerged...
Modern Period
Image Gallery
Paul Cézanne: A Gallery of 30 Paintings
In this gallery, we showcase 30 paintings by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), the French post-impressionist artist and one of the pioneers of modern art in the late 19th century...
Article
Custer's Account of the Battle of Washita River
My Life on the Plains or Personal Experiences with Indians (1874) is a full-length narrative by George Armstrong Custer (l. 1839-1876) of his time out west from...
Article
Why Was Fascism Obsessed With Sports?
Can physical education be part of a totalitarian project to control and reshape the masses? Both the leader of Fascist Italy, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), and the leader...
Definition
Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre
The Oradour-sur-Glane massacre in southwest France was the murder on 10 June 1944 of 643 civilian men, women, and children by the Waffen SS during the Second World War (1939-45...
Definition
Nuremberg Rally
The Nuremberg Rally, or the Reich Party Congress, was an annual event held from 1927 to 1938 in Nürnberg, Germany. Organised on a massive scale by the National Socialist Party (Nazi), these...
Definition
Dolley Madison
Dolley Madison (1768-1849), born Dolley Payne, was a prominent American First Lady, a function she held both during the presidency of her husband, James Madison, and for his predecessor...
Definition
Battle of Mill Springs - The First Union Victory in the Western Theater
The Battle of Mill Springs (19 January 1862) was the first Union victory in the Western theater of the American Civil War and propelled Union...
Definition
Penny Black - The World's First Postage Stamp
People have been sending letters to each other ever since paper and pen were invented, but it was not until 1840 that a new idea was introduced where people could...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Venus Figurine
The term Venus figurine is used to describe the more than 200 small statuettes of voluptuous female figures that have been found at Upper Paleolithic sites across Europe and some parts of...
Definition
Homo Naledi
Homo naledi is an extinct species of human discovered in Rising Star Cave in South Africa in 2013 CE in what has become the biggest single-species hominin find in Africa to this day, which is...
Article
Dolmens of Ancient Korea
Dolmens (in Korean: koindol or chisongmyo) are simple structures made of monolithic stones erected during the late Neolithic period or Korean Bronze Age (1st millennium BCE). In ancient...
Definition
Göbekli Tepe
“Göbekli Tepe” (“Hill with a Navel”, or “Potbelly Hill”) is found approximately 16 km (10 miles) northeast of Şanlıurfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey once named “Edessa” and known...
Definition
Denisovan
The Denisovans are an extinct group of fossil humans who, along with their sister group the Neanderthals, also share an ancestor with Homo sapiens. Thus far, they are known only from Denisova...
Definition
Ҫatalhöyük
Ҫatalhöyük is one of the largest Neolithic settlements ever discovered. Built more than 9000 years ago in modern Konya Plain, central Turkey, it is known in archaeology as a proto-city, a link...
Definition
Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a Neolithic Age site, consisting of ten stone structures, near the Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland. Today the village is situated by the shore but when it was inhabited (c.3100-2500...
Definition
Altamira
Altamira is a Paleolithic cave located in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria region) in northern Spain, containing prehistoric paintings. The cave was inhabited for millennia and so, besides Paleolithic...
