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Definition
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (l. 1451-1506 CE, also known as Cristoffa Corombo in Ligurian and Cristoforo Colombo in Italian) was a Genoese explorer (identified as Italian) who became famous in his own time as the man who discovered the New World and, since the 19th century CE, is credited with the discovery of North America, specifically...
Featured
Article
Clothing in the Victorian Era - Getting the Right Balance of Fabric, Figure, and Flashiness
Striking silhouettes, sumptuous fabrics, bright colours, frills galore, and all manner of ornate accessories define the clothing...
Featured
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Map of the Spread of the Black Death, c. 1346–1353 - Trade, Transmission & the Second Plague Pandemic
The Black Death was the catastrophic first great wave of the Second Plague Pandemic, caused by the bacterium Yersinia...
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12 Women Rulers of the Ancient World - Queens, Regents & Empresses Who Exercised State Power
Political power in the ancient world rested on dynastic legitimacy, control of court and military institutions, religious authority...
Latest Content
Article
Drinking Customs in Merry Olde England
Raising toasts, sharing cups of cheer, and singing raucous songs while partaking of alcohol are customs which date back to the early Middle Ages in England. Several of...
Article
Officers of the Roman Army
With the appearance of the legionary, the Roman army was able to maintain a vast empire that totally embraced the Mediterranean Sea. Although the success of the army rested on the...
Article
How Music and Politics Intertwined in the Time of Louis XIV
During the reign of Louis XIV of France (1643-1715), music accompanied some of the most visible occasions of royal life: entrances, diplomatic receptions...
Article
Ming Taxation & the Silver Economy
The rulers of China's Ming dynasty (1368-1644) acquired an insatiable desire for silver in the 16th century, largely to pay for huge prestige projects like building the Forbidden...
Article
U. S. Grant's Account of the Battle of Fort Donelson - Excerpts from the Official Action Report
Ulysses S. Grant's victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson (11-16 February 1862) during the American Civil War elevated him...
Curriculum Collection
AP World History Unit 5 - Revolutions (c. 1750–1900)
Two major revolutions remade the world between 1750 and 1900. The first was a revolution of the mind: thinkers of the Enlightenment argued that authority was...
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Map of the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent - Ottoman Conquest, Diplomacy, and Law, 1520–1566
The Ottoman Empire under Suleiman I (reign 1520–1566), known as Suleiman the Magnificent in Europe and Kanuni (the...
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Map of the Tang Empire under Emperor Gaozong, c. 669 - Tang power from China to Central Asia
The Tang Dynasty (618–907) was one of the most powerful and influential dynasties in Chinese history. During the reign of Emperor...
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Map of the French Revolution & Revolutionary Wars, 1789–1799 - From the Fall of Monarchy to the Rise of Bonaparte
The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a decade of political and social upheaval that dismantled France's Ancien...
For You
Article
The Pre-WWI Alliance System - Triple Entente v. Triple Alliance
The alliance system in Europe was one of the causes of the First World War (1914-18), although it did not make war inevitable. In the first decade of...
Definition
Augusta Raurica
Augusta Raurica is a former Roman colony and city located on the Rhine River some 11 km (7 miles) east of the modern Swiss city of Basel, in between the towns of Kaiseraugst and Augst. Founded...
Article
The Sioux who Married the Crow Chief's Daughter
The Sioux who Married the Crow Chief's Daughter is a legend of the Lakota Sioux about Chief Big Eagle who left his people to marry a woman of the enemy Crow nation...
Definition
Fire Temple
Fire Temples are places of worship in the Zoroastrian religion. They were known as ataskada (“house of fire”) by the Persians but are best known today by their Greek name pyratheia (fire temple...
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
Healing with Poisons: Potent Medicines in Medieval China
Healing with Poisons: Potent Medicines in Medieval China is a groundbreaking work delving into the realm of du, meaning toxic or poison, within Chinese pharmacy...
Book Review
Conquered: The Last Children of Anglo-Saxon England
There are many books, both scholarly and popular, that discuss one of the most seminal events in English history: the Norman Conquest of 1066. Perspectives of...
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Ancient Period
Article
Trade in the Roman World
Regional, inter-regional and international trade was a common feature of the Roman world. A mix of state control and a free market approach ensured goods produced in one location...
Definition
Burial
Burial of the dead is the act of placing the corpse of a deceased person in a tomb constructed for that purpose or in a grave dug into the earth. Archaeological excavations have revealed Neanderthal...
Article
Ancient Egyptian Medicine: Study & Practice
In Europe, in the 19th century CE, an interesting device began appearing in graveyards and cemeteries: the mortsafe. This was an iron cage erected over a grave to keep...
Definition
Kingdom of Israel
The Kingdom of Israel occupied that part of the land on the Mediterranean Sea known as the Levant which corresponds roughly to the State of Israel of modern times. The region was known...
Article
The Life of Aristippus in Diogenes Laertius
Aristippus of Cyrene (l. c. 435-356 BCE) was a hedonistic Greek philosopher who taught that the meaning of life was pleasure and that the pursuit of pleasure, therefore...
Article
The Sack of Rome by the Gauls, 390 BCE
After the Gauls defeated the Romans at the confluence of the Tiber and the Allia rivers, the Gauls marched on to Rome. In late July 390 BCE, the undefended city fell to...
Definition
Roman Architecture
Roman architecture continued the legacy left by Greek architects and the established architectural orders, especially the Corinthian. The Romans were also innovators and they combined...
Collection
Precious Materials in Antiquity
Certain materials have always been precious such as gold for its lustre, incorruptibility, and ease to work but some ancient cultures often gave a very high value to more unusual...
Medieval Period
Definition
Ferdowsi
Abolqasem Ferdowsi (l. c. 940-1020 CE, also given as Abul-Qasem Ferdowsi Tusi, Firdawsi, Firdausi) is the author of the Shahnameh (The Persian Book of Kings), one of the greatest works of world...
Definition
Gandhara Civilization
The Gandhara Civilization existed in what is now Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan from the middle of the 1st millennium BCE to the beginning of the 2nd millennium CE. Although multiple...
Interview
Interview: Scotland & the Flemish People
The Flemish are among the most important and perhaps the most underappreciated immigrant groups to have shaped the history of medieval and early modern Scotland. They...
Definition
Sixth Crusade
The Sixth Crusade (1228-1229 CE), which for many historians was merely the delayed final chapter of the unsuccessful Fifth Crusade (1217-1221 CE), finally saw the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick...
Definition
Byzantine Architecture
The architecture of the Byzantine Empire (4th - 15th century CE) continued its early Roman traditions but architects also added new structures to their already formidable repertoire...
Definition
Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England ruled as king from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Succeeding his father Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422), Henry VI was crowned the king of France in 1431...
Article
Religion in the Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) covered Asia from the Black Sea to the Korean peninsula and so naturally included all manner of religions within its borders, but the Mongols...
Definition
Donatello
Donatello (c. 1386-1466 CE), full name Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, was an Italian Renaissance artist best known for his sculptures such as the striking bronze figure of David now in the...
Early Modern Period
Definition
French and Indian War - The Final Clash of Empires in North America
The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the last great colonial conflict waged between Great Britain and France in North America. Often considered...
Definition
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England ruled as king from 1509 to 1547. The second Tudor king after his father Henry VII of England (r. 1485-1509), Henry had inherited a kingdom which enjoyed both unity...
Definition
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson (c. 1570-1611) was an English navigator and maritime explorer. He is known for his four voyages between 1607 and 1610 in search of a northwest passage via the Arctic Ocean to the...
Article
Drinking Customs in Merry Olde England
Raising toasts, sharing cups of cheer, and singing raucous songs while partaking of alcohol are customs which date back to the early Middle Ages in England. Several of...
Definition
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was an Austrian composer who wrote a wide range of works including piano concertos, string quartets, symphonies, operas, and sacred music. Regarded...
Definition
Committee of Public Safety
In the French Revolution (1789-1799), the Committee of Public Safety (French: Comité De Salut Public) was a political body created to oversee the defense of the French Republic from...
Definition
George I of Great Britain
George I of Great Britain (r. 1714-1727) succeeded the last of the Stuart monarchs, Queen Anne of Great Britain (r. 1702-1714) because he was Anne's nearest Protestant relative...
Article
Why the Industrial Revolution Started in Britain
The Industrial Revolution saw a wave of technological and social changes in many countries of the world in the 18th and 19th centuries, but it began in Britain...
Modern Period
Article
Key German Weapons of World War I
Superior weapons can win wars, and during the First World War (1914-18) all sides attempted to gain an advantage over the enemy by producing more and more destructive devices...
Article
Slavery in Plantation Agriculture
The first plantations in the Americas of sugar cane, cocoa, tobacco, and cotton were maintained and harvested by African slaves controlled by European masters. When African...
Article
Battle of Marengo
The Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800) was one of the most important battles in the career of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). It not only helped bring the French Revolutionary Wars to an...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of the Boer Wars
Throughout the 19th century, British and Boer settlers (people of largely Dutch ancestry) in Southern Africa were frequent rivals as they established new settlements and competed...
Definition
John Brown - The Flame that Ignited Civil War
John Brown (1800-1859) was a militant abolitionist best known for the part he played in the violence of Bleeding Kansas (1854-1859) and his raid on Harpers Ferry...
Article
How Christmas Was Shaped by 19th-Century Literature
How we celebrate Christmas today is largely shaped by a small group of authors who recorded festive traditions in the 19th century. These authors include Washington...
Article
The Confessions of Nat Turner
The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) is the first-person account given by the rebel slave leader Nat Turner (l. 1800-1831) to the attorney T. R. Gray (l. c. 1800-1843) following...
Article
Christmas Through the Ages
The Christmas holiday has gathered around it customs and traditions for over two millennia, some of which even pre-date the Christian festival itself. From gift-giving to the sumptuous...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Migration Age
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or German: Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between 300 to 700 CE...
Article
Prehistoric Alpine Stilt Houses
Alpine stilt houses are a unique and fascinating aspect of prehistoric architecture in the Alps, which provide valuable insights into the lives and culture of the ancient communities...
Definition
Europe
Europe is a continent forming the westernmost part of the land mass of Eurasia and comprised of 49 sovereign states. Its name may come from the Greek myth of Europa, but human habitation of the...
Definition
Longmen Grottoes
The Longmen Grottoes, a Buddhist cave complex located 13 kilometers south of Luoyang in China's Henan province, form some of the most significant and exquisite representations of ancient...
Definition
Long Barrow
A long barrow is a class of Middle Neolithic (approximately 3500-2700 BCE) burial monument which is found extensively throughout the British Isles and is related to other forms of contemporary...
Definition
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a Neolithic / Bronze Age monument located on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, southern England. The first monument on the site, began around 3100 BCE, was a circular 'henge' earthwork...
Definition
Homo Floresiensis
Homo floresiensis, nicknamed 'hobbit' because it only stood about 1 meter tall, is an extinct species of fossil human that lived on the island of Flores, Indonesia during the Pleistocene...
Definition
Lindow Man
The Lindow Man (officially Lindow III) is the top half of a male body, found preserved in a peat bog in Cheshire, England. The peat bogs at Lindow Moss date back to the last ice age and were...
