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
Article
The Causes of WWI
The origins of the First World War (1914-18) are many and varied, with some even dating back several decades, but a political assassination in the Balkans in the summer of 1914 was 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
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...
Curriculum Collection
AP World History Unit 7 - Global Conflict (c. 1900 to the Present)
At the dawn of the 20th century, a few Western powers dominated global politics. Within only 50 years, that order was remade by two world wars of...
Article
Stalin's Gulag System - The USSR's Labour Camps
Joseph Stalin's gulag system was a network of labour camps across the USSR, which were, from 1930, used to detain criminals and anyone considered enemies of the state...
Article
F. Buchanan's Account of the Battle of Hampton Roads - Excerpts From the Official Action Report
Confederate Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan (1800 to 1874) is best known as the commander of the CSS Virginia on the first day...
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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
Article
A Roman Boy's Rite of Passage
A Roman boy's rite of passage, a ceremony or ritual marking a transitional period in life from childhood to adulthood, was the assuming of the toga virilis, the adult toga. The...
Article
Egyptian Mummies at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal) is currently hosting the North American premiere of the exhibition Egyptian Mummies: Exploring...
Definition
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a military leader and politician during the fall of the Roman Republic. He was born in 106 BCE and died on 28th September 48...
Definition
Stephenson's Rocket
The Rocket was a pioneering steam-powered locomotive invented in 1829 by the British engineer Robert Stephenson (1803-1859). For a cash prize, extensive competition trials were held to...
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
The Crusades: The Flame of Islam
The Crusades of the Middle East may not have lasted for more than two centuries but the fictionalization of events and distortion of facts to prove one's side right and the...
Book Review
Ancient Mesopotamian Government and Geography (Spotlight on the Rise and Fall of Ancient Civilizations)
In Ancient Mesopotamian Government and Geography, Laura la Bella attempts to offer a broad overview of ancient Mesopotamian...
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| 1,774 | articles |
| 19,897 | illustrations |
| 2,646 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,511 | translations |
| 48 | languages |
| 1,348 | contributors |
| 15,684 | keywords |
| 63,805 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Definition
Zakros
Ideally situated in a sheltered gulf surrounded by mountains, Zakros (or Kato Zakros) in south-eastern Crete, was the fourth largest Minoan settlement after Knossos, Phaistos and Malia. The ancient...
Definition
First Dynasty of Egypt
The kings of the First Dynasty of Egypt (c. 3150 - c. 2890 BCE) all worked toward the same ends: increasing trade, expansion of the kingdom through military campaigns, engaging in building...
Definition
Clava Cairns - Monuments to Memory and More
Clava Cairns is an early Bronze Age site in Scotland, located east of the city of Inverness, consisting of three well-preserved cairns (two of which are passage graves...
Definition
Flavius Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus (36-100 CE), was born Yosef ben Matityahu and became a 1st-century CE Jewish historian. He was a member of a priestly household in Jerusalem through his father’s side...
Article
Spiritual Defense - Execration Rituals in Ancient Egypt
Magic was an integral aspect of life in ancient Egypt. The world was created through the power of heka (magic) as Atum stood on the primordial mound of the...
Definition
Ahuitzotl
Ahuitzotl (Auitzotl) was an Aztec ruler who reigned between 1486 and 1502 CE. He was one of the greatest generals of the ancient Americas and he left to his nephew, Montezuma, an enlarged and...
Definition
Legio I Adiutrix
Legio I Adiutrix was a legion of the Roman army formed from veteran sailors after the death of Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE). During its long career, the legion accompanied Trajan (r...
Definition
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall (known in antiquity as the Vallum Hadriani or the Vallum Aelian) is a defensive frontier work in northern Britain which dates from 122 CE. The wall ran from coast to coast...
Medieval Period
Definition
Early Joseon Period
The Early Joseon Period (1392 - c. 1550 CE) in Korea was bookended by internal power struggles but witnessed major scientific and societal advances and prosperity. The Joseon (Choson...
Definition
Anna Komnene
Anna Komnene (aka Anna Comnena, 1083-1153 CE) was the eldest daughter of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118 CE) and the author of a lengthy biography of her father's reign...
Article
The Crusades: Causes & Goals
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns organised by Christian powers in order to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land back from Muslim control. There would be eight officially...
Article
Battle of Tricamarum
The Battle of Tricamarum (533 CE) was the second and last major battle of the Vandalic War (533 – 534 CE). The battle was fought between the forces of the Byzantine Empire under the...
Definition
Aztec Civilization - The Last Mesoamerican Empire
The Aztec Empire (c. 1345-1521) covered at its greatest extent most of northern Mesoamerica. Aztec warriors were able to dominate their neighbouring states and...
Image Gallery
The Lady and the Unicorn: Medieval Tapestries
The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, housed at the Musée de Cluny in Paris, are a series of six exquisite medieval tapestries that are renowned for their beauty...
Definition
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE) was launched to retake Jerusalem after its fall to the Muslim leader Saladin in 1187 CE. The Crusade was led by three European monarchs, hence its other name...
Definition
Fraumunster
Fraumünster Church (“Women's church” in German) is a former Benedictine abbey situated in the heart of Zürich, Switzerland that was founded in the mid-9th century CE by Louis the German and...
Early Modern Period
Collection
Portugal & the Age of Exploration
The Portuguese built an empire from 1420 onwards that was largely composed of trade centres dotted around the coasts of three continents. This colonial enterprise was driven...
Definition
Simon Forman
Simon Forman (1552-1611) was an Elizabethan physician, astrologer, magician, and alchemist who lived and worked in both London and Wiltshire, England. He was unusual in that despite receiving...
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...
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...
Article
The Siege of Cusco in 1536-7
The two sieges of Cusco in 1536-7 were the last great military actions by the Incas as they tried to reclaim their empire from the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro...
Definition
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies of British North America that gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 5 September...
Definition
James V of Scotland
James V of Scotland ruled as king from 1513 to 1542. He succeeded his father James IV of Scotland (r. 1488-1513), one of the country's most popular Stuart kings, but as he was still a...
Article
Ten North American Native Facts You Need To Know
The history and culture of the Native Peoples of North America are often overlooked as they have been largely eclipsed by the history of the European settlers who...
Modern Period
Article
Falling Star
Falling Star is a Cheyenne tale of the great hero Hotoketana'ohtse ("Falling Star") who came from the heavens to stand up for those who could not defend themselves, slay monsters, and save...
Article
Battle of Bir Hakeim - The Heroic Defence by Free French Forces in Libya
The defence by Free French forces of the remote desert watering hole of Bir Hakeim (Hacheim) in Libya, North Africa in May-June 1942 during the...
Article
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein (Oct-Nov 1942) was a major battle in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). The British Eighth Army...
Definition
Black Codes - Slavery Under a New Name During Reconstruction
The Black Codes were a series of racist and discriminatory policies enacted by several former slave states in the United States during the early years...
Definition
George B. McClellan - The Wrong Man for the Job
George B. McClellan (1826-1885) was an American army officer and engineer who was elevated to the position of Commanding General of the United States Army in 1861...
Definition
Monroe Doctrine - The Controversial Cornerstone of US Foreign Policy
The Monroe Doctrine, a significant piece of United States foreign policy, was first articulated by President James Monroe in 1823, and it essentially...
Article
Battle of Kasserine Pass
The Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia (18-22 February 1943) was won by Axis German and Italian forces led by field marshal Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) against a combined Allied army...
Definition
First Anglo-Sikh War
The First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-6) was a short and bloody conflict won by the British East India Company (EIC) against the Sikh Empire. The EIC was keen to expand into northern India...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
The Sweet Track
The Sweet Track is a Neolithic timber walkway, located in the Somerset Levels, England. It was originally part of a network of tracks built to provide a dry path across the marshy ground...
Definition
Stone Age
From the dawn of our species to the present day, stone-made artefacts are the dominant form of material remains that have survived to today concerning human technology. The term “Stone Age”...
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
Poulnabrone
Poulnabrone is a portal tomb in the region known as the Burren, County Clare, Ireland and the oldest dated megalithic monument in the land. The name means "Hole of the Quern Stones", but the...
Article
Legends of the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire
The Rollright Stones is the collective name for a group of enigmatic prehistoric monuments located next to an ancient ridgeway known as the Jurassic Way, on the border...
Article
Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Hunter-gatherer societies are – true to their astoundingly descriptive name – cultures in which human beings obtain their food by hunting, fishing, scavenging, and gathering...
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...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Historical Maps
This gallery of 30 maps traces the history of cartography, with examples of maps made by cultures from the Paleolithic to the early modern period. The maps cover cities, states...
