Featured
Article
Causes of the Russian Revolution of 1917
There were many causes behind the Russian Revolution of 1917, ranging from the unpopular authoritarian rule of Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917) to the radical mobilisation of the working class, who wanted better working...
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Definition
Gunpowder Plot - Guy Fawkes & the Plan to Blow up Parliament
The 1605 Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt by pro-Catholic conspirators to blow up the English Parliament on 5 November and kill King James I of England...
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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...
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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
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...
Article
Battle of Hampton Roads - Clash of the Ironclads
The Battle of Hampton Roads (8-9 March 1862), also known as the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack, Battle of Ironclads, or Clash of the Ironclads, was a naval...
Article
The USSR's Great Famine of 1932-3
The USSR's Great Famine of 1932-3 was caused by a combination of aggressive requisitioning of foodstuffs by the state, the sale of grain abroad, persecution of farmers, and...
Article
Federalist No. 10 - James Madison's Antidote to the Dangers of Factionalism
Federalist No. 10 was an essay written by James Madison, under the pseudonym Publius, and originally published in the New York Daily Advisor...
Article
Stalin's Collectivisation of Agriculture
Joseph Stalin's policy to collect private farms into cooperatives and wholly state-owned farms across the USSR began in 1928. Stalin hoped the process of collectivisation...
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James Longstreet's Account of the Battle of Gettysburg - Excerpts From the Official Action Report
At the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet urged his commanding officer...
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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...
Image
Map of the Russian Empire in 1914 - From Muscovy to World War I, 1533–1914
By 1914, the Russian Empire was one of the largest contiguous empires in history, stretching from Eastern Europe across Siberia to the Pacific...
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Map of Europe After World War II, 1945–1989 - Cold War Division, Reconstruction, and Alliances
Following World War II (1939–1945), Europe emerged devastated and increasingly divided between rival political systems. As relations...
For You
Definition
Rashidun Government
The Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE) was responsible for setting up the basis of the Islamic empire and expanding its borders beyond the Arabian soil. These leaders were selected by the...
Definition
Cathars
The Cathars (also known as Cathari from the Greek Katharoi for “pure ones”) were a dualist medieval religious sect of Southern France which flourished in the 12th century and challenged the authority...
Definition
Winfield Scott - The General Who Mapped the Union Victory
Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was an American military leader famous for his brilliant tactics in battle, for his insistence on the value of a highly trained...
Definition
Charles II of England
Charles II of England (r. 1660-1685) was the king of Scotland (1649-1685) before the Restoration in 1660 also made him king of England and Ireland. Charles was a charming and easygoing...
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
Romanland: Ethnicity and Empire in Byzantium
Those familiar with Byzantine history are aware that the Byzantines referred to themselves as Romans and lived in what they still considered the Roman Empire, or Romanía...
Book Review
Disasters and History: The Vulnerability and Resilience of Past Societies
The collaborated book by Bas Van Bavel and others, Disasters and History; The Vulnerability and Resilience of Past Societies, offers a distinctive...
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Ancient Period
Definition
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary city described by the Greek philosopher Plato (c. 429 – 347 BCE). Atlantis, a fabulously wealthy and advanced civilization, was swept into the sea and lost forever in a...
Article
Hymn to Nungal - A Praise Song for the Sumerian Goddess of Prisons
The Hymn to Nungal (circa 1894-1595 BCE) is a Sumerian poem praising Nungal, the goddess of prisons and rehabilitation (also associated with the underworld...
Definition
Anaximenes
Anaximenes of Miletus (l. c. 546 BCE) was a younger contemporary of Anaximander and generally regarded as his student. Known as the Third Philosopher of the Milesian School after Thales (l...
Article
Women in Ancient Greece
Women in the ancient Greek world had few rights in comparison to male citizens. Unable to vote, own land, or inherit, a woman's place was in the home and her purpose in life was the...
Definition
Legio X Fretensis
Legio X Fretensis was a legion of the Roman army formed by either Julius Caesar or Augustus. The legion spent most of its existence in the East, primarily in Judea. It participated in Corbulo’s...
Article
Female Physicians in Ancient Egypt
A famous story from Greece relates how a young woman named Agnodice wished to become a doctor in Athens but found this forbidden. In fact, a woman practicing medicine in Athens...
Article
Food & Drink in Ancient Egypt
Food and drink in ancient Egypt relied on barley and wheat, the primary crops cultivated along the Nile. The Egyptian diet was based on bread, beer, and vegetables. Meat was expensive...
Definition
Oribasius
Oribasius (c. 320-400/403 CE) was the physician and political advisor of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363 CE). A native of Pergamon, a rich and powerful Greek city in Mysia...
Medieval Period
Article
Life in a Renaissance Artist's Workshop
The majority of great Renaissance works of art were produced in large and busy workshops run by a successful master artist and his team of assistants and apprentices...
Article
Food & Drink in the Mongol Empire
The diet of the Mongols was greatly influenced by their nomadic way of life with dairy products and meat from their herds of sheep, goats, oxen, camels, and yaks dominating...
Definition
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate of Epirus was one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire when it disintegrated following the Fourth Crusade's capture of Constantinople in 1204 CE. It was originally...
Article
How an Adventure-loving American Saved the Thai Silk Industry
Bangkok was once more commonly known as the Venice of the East due to the intricate network of waterways that crisscrossed the city in the 19th century...
Definition
Medieval Tournament
The medieval tournament was a forum for European knights where they could practise and show off their military skills in activities such as jousting or the mêlée, indulge in a bit of...
Definition
Noh Theatre
Noh (Nō) theatre is a Japanese performance art which became especially popular from the 14th century CE and which is still performed today. Noh actors, who were always male in the medieval period...
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...
Definition
Templo Mayor - The Aztecs' Greatest Temple
The Templo Mayor or Great Temple (called Hueteocalli by the Aztecs) dominated the central sacred precinct of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. Topped by twin temples dedicated...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Thomas Jefferson - The Flawed Idealist of the American Enlightenment
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. A prominent figure of the...
Definition
Antoine Barnave
Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave (1761-1793) was a French lawyer, politician, and one of the most influential orators of the early stage of the French Revolution (1789-1799). He is notable...
Definition
Squanto
Squanto (l. c. 1585-1622) was the Native American of the Patuxet tribe who helped the English settlers of Plymouth Colony (later known as pilgrims) survive in their new home by teaching them how...
Definition
Battle of Neerwinden
The Battle of Neerwinden saw the major defeat of a French republican army by an allied force of Austrians and Dutch during the War of the First Coalition (1792-97), part of the broader...
Definition
War of the Second Coalition
The War of the Second Coalition (1798-1802), part of the broader French Revolutionary Wars, was the second attempt by an alliance of major European powers to defeat Revolutionary...
Definition
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher whose work influenced both the Scientific Revolution and later European thought. Pascal is known for his practical...
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
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) were a series of conflicts that arose from the tensions surrounding the French Revolution (1789-1799). The wars were fought between Revolutionary...
Modern Period
Article
Ulunsuti Tales
The Ulunsuti tales of the Cherokee deal with the mystical jewel, the Ulunsuti ("transparent"), a diamond on the forehead of the great horned serpent Uktena. The Ulunsuti appears in several...
Article
Christianity in Japan
Christianity arrived in Japan in 1549 when Jesuits first set foot in Kagoshima. Initial attempts to spread the religion were met with confusion; however, through employing various methods...
Definition
War of the Second Coalition
The War of the Second Coalition (1798-1802), part of the broader French Revolutionary Wars, was the second attempt by an alliance of major European powers to defeat Revolutionary...
Article
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan took place in June-July 1944. US forces engaged in a titanic three-week struggle with Japanese defenders to finally take the island, part of the Mariana Islands, during...
Article
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), fought by the armies of the French and Russian empires. A major French victory, Friedland...
Article
The Bear Man
The Bear Man is a Pawnee legend exemplifying the Native American understanding of the natural world and serving as an origin tale for the Bear Dance, which was performed to awaken the bears...
Article
The Man Who Married the Thunder Sister
The Man Who Married the Thunder Sister is a legend of the Cherokee nation about a young warrior who falls in love with a Thunder Sister and follows her home where he finds...
Article
The Daughter of the Sun
The Daughter of the Sun is a Cherokee origin myth explaining how Uktena, the great horned serpent, came to be, as well as why those who die cannot return to life. The story also explains...
Prehistoric Period
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
Ice Age
An ice age is a period in which the earth's climate is colder than normal, with ice sheets capping the poles and glaciers dominating higher altitudes. Within an ice age, there are varying pulses...
Article
Origins of World Agriculture
Agriculture arose independently at several locations across the world, beginning about 12,000 years ago. The first crops and livestock were domesticated in six rather diffuse areas...
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...
Article
The Stonehenge Burials
A great deal has been written about why the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, southern England, was constructed. Perhaps it was designed as a temple to the ancestors...
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...
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...
Article
The Meaning of European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art
Rock art (also known as parietal art) is an umbrella term which refers to several types of creations including finger markings left on soft surfaces, bas-relief...
