World History Encyclopedia

Latest Content

Free for the World, Supported by You

World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Please support free history education for millions of learners worldwide for only $5 per month by becoming a member. Thank you!

Become a Member  

History should be free for everyone!

If you find World History Encyclopedia helpful, a $10 contribution helps keep trusted history free and accessible to millions of readers and students worldwide. Thanks for making a difference!

More

Maps

Register free Account

For You

More

Book Reviews

Statistics

2,993 definitions
1,774 articles
19,897 illustrations
2,646 videos
415 3D images
16,507 translations
48 languages
1,347 contributors
15,673 keywords
63,744 registered users
More

Ancient Period

Legions of the Parthian Wars
Article

Legions of the Parthian Wars

Parthia had always been a thorn in the side of the Roman Empire. The initial campaigns by Crassus and Mark Antony were total failures, and although Trajan and Syrian governor Cassius...
Vespasian
Definition

Vespasian - The Commoner Who Became Roman Emperor

Vespasian (9-79 CE) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE. Despite his low birth, he worked hard to rise through the ranks of Roman politics and eventually achieved...
The Eternal Life of Gilgamesh
Article

The Eternal Life of Gilgamesh - Literary Immortality

The Epic of Gilgamesh is among the most popular works of literature in the present day and has influenced countless readers, but for the greater part of its history...
Twelve Stories of the Plains Indians
Collection

Twelve Stories of the Plains Indians

The stories of the North American Natives articulate and preserve their culture and history. Although the indigenous Nations of North America were, and remain, diverse, storytelling...
Korean Pottery
Definition

Korean Pottery

The pottery of ancient Korea stretches back to prehistory when simple brown wares were made and decorated with geometrical incisions. Potters would benefit from the ideas and techniques of...
Tiryns
Definition

Tiryns

Located on the fertile Argolid plain, Tiryns lies between Nafplion and Argos in the eastern Peloponnese in Greece. The site has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age (7th-4th millennium BCE) but...
Kingdom of Kanem
Definition

Kingdom of Kanem

The Kingdom of Kanem (aka Kanim) was an ancient African state located in modern-day Chad, which flourished from the 9th to 14th century CE. With its heartland in the centre of the African...
Clovis I
Definition

Clovis I

Clovis I (or Chlodovech, 466-511/513 CE), king of the Franks, is considered the founding father of the Merovingian Dynasty, which would continue for over 200 years. Clovis became king at the age...
More

Medieval Period

Wars of the Roses
Definition

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) was a dynastic conflict between the English nobility and monarchy which led to four decades of intermittent battles, executions, and murder plots. The...
Mont-Saint-Michel
Definition

Mont-Saint-Michel

Mont-Saint-Michel is the name of a tidal island located off the coasts of Normandy and Brittany, near the mouths of the Couesnon River and the town of Avranches in France. While the island...
Food in an English Medieval Castle
Article

Food in an English Medieval Castle

If one was looking to enjoy a fine meal in the medieval world then the best place to find a handsomely laid dinner table was in the local castle. There, in the magnificent...
Thomas Becket
Definition

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket (aka Thomas á Becket) was chancellor to Henry II of England (r. 1154-1189) and then archbishop of Canterbury (1162 to 1170). Thomas repeatedly clashed with his sovereign over...
Ehecatl
Definition

Ehecatl

Ehecatl was a Mesoamerican god of air and winds, especially those which brought rains. Regarded as a manifestation of the great feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, he was sometimes known as Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl...
Macbeth, King of Scotland
Definition

Macbeth, King of Scotland

Macbeth Macfinlay (aka Mac Bethad mac Findláig) reigned as the king of Scotland from 1040 to 1057 CE. The ruler of Moray, he took the throne via the battlefield from his predecessor...
Top 5 Must-See Historical Sites in Dublin
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...
Razia Sultan
Definition

Razia Sultan - The First Female Muslim Ruler of India

Sultan Razia (Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, r. 1236-1240) was one of the few women rulers in the Indian subcontinent and the first and only female Sultan of Delhi...
More

Early Modern Period

Scientific Method
Definition

Scientific Method

The scientific method was first used during the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700). The method combined theoretical knowledge such as mathematics with practical experimentation using scientific...
Martin Frobisher
Definition

Martin Frobisher

Sir Martin Frobisher (c. 1535-1594 CE) was an Elizabethan adventurer and explorer who embarked on three expeditions in the 1570s CE to chart the waters of the North American Arctic and find...
Galileo Galilei
Definition

Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and natural philosopher. He created a superior telescope with which he made new observations of the night...
Pirate Weapons in the Golden Age of Piracy
Article

Pirate Weapons in the Golden Age of Piracy

Pirates in the so-called Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1740) used all manner of weapons to attack ships and relieve them of their precious cargoes. Heavy cannons, muskets...
Portuguese Angola
Definition

Portuguese Angola

Portuguese Angola in southwest Africa was the first European colony on that continent. While settlement from 1571 proved problematic in the interior, the Portuguese did obtain a large number...
British House of Hanover
Collection

British House of Hanover

The House of Hanover is a royal house that first ruled Hanover and then Great Britain from 1714 to 1901. The British Hanoverians began with George I when he succeeded the last of...
Seven Years' War
Definition

Seven Years' War - The 18th-Century World War

The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was a global conflict fought between the great powers of Europe in the mid-18th century. The culmination of several decades of conflict...
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès
Definition

Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès

Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748-1836), commonly known as Abbé Sieyès, was a French clergyman and political writer, who became a leading voice in the Third Estate during the French Revolution...
More

Modern Period

Trade Goods of the East India Company
Article

Trade Goods of the East India Company

The English East India Company (EIC) was founded in 1600, and it came to control both trade and territories in India, as well as a trade monopoly with China. Goods the EIC...
Margaret Thatcher
Definition

Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady of British Politics

Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990. Although the United Kingdom emerged militarily victorious...
A Weekend in Alexandria, Egypt
Article

A Weekend in Alexandria, Egypt

Visiting Alexandria, Egypt, once the greatest cultural center of the ancient world, rivaling Athens, Greece, is an unforgettable experience. The food, the wonderful people, and...
Marbury v. Madison
Definition

Marbury v. Madison

Marbury v. Madison (1803) was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review. In the decision, written by Chief Justice John Marshall...
James K. Polk
Definition

James K. Polk - The Expansionist US President

James K. Polk (1795-1849) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the eleventh president of the United States. A protégé of Andrew Jackson (1767-1845...
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Definition

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American author of novels and short stories, who produced some of the most memorable works of American literature: the novels The Scarlet Letter...
Battle of Jutland
Article

Battle of Jutland - The Greatest Naval Battle of World War I

The Battle of Jutland (31 May to 1 June 1916) was by far the largest naval battle of the First World War (1914-18). The only time the bulk of the British...
Mary Prince
Definition

Mary Prince

Mary Prince (l. c. 1788 to c. 1833) was the first enslaved Black woman to publish an autobiography/slave narrative. Prince was illiterate but dictated her life story to the writer Susanna Strickland...
More

Prehistoric Period

Chauvet Cave
Definition

Chauvet Cave

The Chauvet Cave (also known as the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave) is a Palaeolithic cave situated near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the Ardèche region of southern France that houses impeccably preserved...
Altamira
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...
Migration Age
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...
Oldowan Tools
Definition

Oldowan Tools

The appearance of simple stone tools, widely known as Oldowan tools or the Oldowan industry, marked the beginning of our technological revolution. To our knowledge, these artifacts appeared...
Homo Habilis
Definition

Homo Habilis

Homo habilis ("handy man") is an extinct species of human that lived in East and South Africa between 2.3 and 1.5 million years ago and plays an interesting role in the discussion surrounding...
Homo Erectus
Definition

Homo Erectus

Homo erectus, or 'upright man', is an extinct species of human that occupies an intriguing spot within the human evolutionary lineage. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers were highly successful...
Early Human Migration
Article

Early Human Migration

Disregarding the extremely inhospitable spots even the most stubborn of us have enough common sense to avoid, humans have managed to cover an extraordinary amount of territory on this...
Lindow Man
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...
Support Us Remove Ads