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Featured
Article
Dogs in the Ancient World
Dogs have been a part of the history of human beings since before the written word. The ancient temple of Gobekli-Tepe in Turkey, dated to at least 12,000 years BCE, has provided archaeologists with evidence of domesticated dogs in the Middle East corresponding to the earliest evidence of domestication...
Featured
Definition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) was a US military expedition of exploration, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, whose goal was to explore the newly acquired western...
Featured
Image
Map of the Allied Pacific Counteroffensive, 1942–1945 - WWII's Pacific War
From mid-1942, the Allied war against Japan shifted from containing expansion to sustained counteroffensive. The Battle of the Coral Sea (May...
Featured
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12 Ancient Scripts We Still Cannot Read - Undeciphered Scripts & Lost Languages of the Ancient World
Throughout history, writing enabled societies to record administration, trade, law, religion, and historical events. From...
Latest Content
Article
South Carolina Declaration of Secession - Why South Carolina Left the Union
On 20 December 1860, 169 delegates met in Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, to consider the motion of secession from the United...
Article
Jefferson Davis' Message to Congress - States' Rights and Defense of Slavery
There were many events leading up to the American Civil War, with tensions becoming increasingly heightened between the Fugitive Slave Act...
Definition
Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign - The US Island-Hopping Advance in the Pacific
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign (November 1943 to February 1944), a key strategic step forward in WWII's Pacific War, saw...
Article
Georgia's Declaration of Secession - Why Georgia Left the Union
On 19 January 1861, at a state convention held in Milledgeville, Georgia voted to secede from the United States of America, becoming the fifth state...
Definition
Bronze Age Collapse - The Decline and Fall of Mediterranean Civilization
The Bronze Age Collapse (also known as Late Bronze Age Collapse) is a modern-day term referring to the decline and fall of major Mediterranean...
Definition
Guadalcanal Campaign - WWII's Brutal Fight to Control the Solomons
The Guadalcanal Campaign (aka Battle for Guadalcanal) in the Solomon Islands was a series of land, air, and sea battles between US and Japanese forces...
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Map of the Spanish Main & Golden Age of Piracy - Treasure Fleets, Buccaneers & Pirate Havens, c. 1650–1730
Between c. 1650 and 1730, the Caribbean formed the maritime heart of Spain’s American empire and one of the principal...
Image
Map of the Allied Pacific Counteroffensive, 1942–1945 - WWII's Pacific War
From mid-1942, the Allied war against Japan shifted from containing expansion to sustained counteroffensive. The Battle of the Coral Sea (May...
Image
The Royal House of Windsor in Britain - Rebranding the Crown - From Saxe-Coburg to Windsor
The House of Windsor represents the modern phase in the long dynastic evolution of the British monarchy, reflecting how royal identity...
For You
Article
Ten Norse Mythology Facts You Need to Know
The stories that make up what is known today as Norse mythology once informed the religious beliefs of the people of regions including Scandinavia and Iceland. To the...
Article
Siege of Bristol in 1645
The siege and capture of Bristol by Parliamentary forces on 10 September 1645 was one of the most devastating blows to the Royalist cause during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651...
Article
Herod the Great's Building Program
Herod the Great was the king of Judea from 37-4 BCE. As a client king of Rome, Herod's moniker as "Great" was due more to his grand building program throughout the eastern...
Article
Women in the Old Testament
Modern practitioners of Judaism and Christianity often turn to the Bible for stories concerning women and their roles in ancient religion and society. It is important to acknowledge...
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
Ancilla to Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Kathleen Freeman was a writer who paid close attention to detail and was able to bring the past alive through her prose (as in her The Greek City States which is a personal...
Book Review
Environmental Problems of the Greeks and Romans: Ecology in the Ancient Mediterranean (Ancient Society and History)
Were the debates about global warming, air pollution, soil desalinization, and sustainable development born...
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| 2,965 | definitions |
| 1,741 | articles |
| 19,670 | illustrations |
| 2,619 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 15,553 | translations |
| 47 | languages |
| 1,327 | contributors |
| 15,306 | keywords |
| 52,276 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
Greek Mathematics
Greek mathematics, the study of numbers and their properties, patterns, structure, space, apparent change, and measurement, is said to have originated with Thales of Miletus (l. c. 585...
Article
North Africa’s Place in the Mediterranean Economy of Late Antiquity
The Mediterranean Sea was the economic focal point of the Roman Empire. Rome's armies first established an empire across these waters beginning back...
Collection
The Empires of West Africa
The ancient and medieval Mediterranean might have been a bustling stage of ever-changing empires but, across the inhospitable barrier of the Sahara Desert, West Africans were equally...
Article
The Mummy's Curse: Tutankhamun's Tomb & the Modern-Day Media
Howard Carter's 1922 CE discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun was world-wide news but, following fast upon it, the story of the mummy's curse (also known...
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...
Collection
The Celts of Ancient Europe
In this collection, we examine in detail the Celtic peoples of ancient Europe. We look at their origins in central Europe with the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, the warfare and...
Image Gallery
Faces of the Roman Empire: From Augustus to Domitian
A series of facial reconstructions of early Roman emperors from the Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BCE - 68 CE) to the Flavian dynasty (69-96 CE). From the peaceful...
Article
The Island of Gla: A Mycenaean Mystery Solved?
The island of Gla, an enigmatic Mycenaean citadel in the north-eastern corner of the Copais basin lies 70 miles north of Athens, in the region of Boeotia. Lake Copais...
Medieval Period
Article
The Early History of Clove, Nutmeg, & Mace
The spices clove, nutmeg, and mace originated on only a handful of tiny islands in the Indonesian archipelago but came to have a dramatic, far-reaching impact on world...
Collection
Great Ancient & Medieval Poetry
Poetry is the first form of literary expression in the world as evidenced by The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest piece of world literature. For over 4,000 years, people have been...
Collection
Ancient Chinese Philosophers
The philosophers of ancient China developed diverse systems of thought, often in conflict with each other, all aiming to provide people with the means to live in harmony with themselves...
Definition
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace (c. 1270-1305) was a Scottish knight and national hero who fought for his country's independence from England. Wallace famously led the Scots to victory against a larger...
Definition
Heraclius
Heraclius (Herakleios) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641 CE. He crushed the Persian empire and returned the looted True Cross to Jerusalem, but the second half of his reign...
Definition
Bohemian Reformation
The Bohemian Reformation (c. 1380 to c. 1436) was the first concerted effort by Catholic clergy to reform the abuses and corruption of the medieval Church. Bohemian clerics and theologians...
Definition
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian Renaissance artist, architect, engineer, and scientist. He is renowned for his ability to observe and capture nature, scientific phenomena...
Definition
Homolovi
Homolovi or Homolovi State Park (formerly: Homolovi Ruins State Park) is a cluster of archaeological sites that contains the ruins of eight pre-Columbian Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) and Hopi...
Early Modern Period
Article
Cavalry in the English Civil Wars
Cavalry regiments were an essential component of both Royalist and Parliamentarian field armies during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651). Armed with a sword, carbine, and...
Article
A History of Vaccination - Taming the World's Deadliest Diseases
The field of public health was transformed by the introduction of vaccination, from the Latin word “vacca” meaning cow, to guard people against infectious...
Definition
Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (l. 1594-1632; r. 1611-1632) was the King of Sweden who elevated his country to a major power in the 17th century. He also is traditionally recognized as the "Father of...
Article
Baroque, Age of Contrasts - Exhibition Interview Schweizerisches Landesmuseum
The Baroque era, which lasted from roughly 1580 and 1780, was a time of enormous contrasts: Opulence and innovation, on the one hand; death...
Definition
Marquis de Condorcet
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), also known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, political theorist, and mathematician. His ideas...
Article
The Violent and Mysterious Death of Christopher Marlowe
On the evening of 30 May 1593, the sounds of a heated argument could be heard emanating from a boarding house in Deptford, a district of London on the south...
Definition
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (1792-1797) was a continent-spanning conflict in which a coalition of European powers, including Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic...
Definition
Frederick the Great - Forging the Prussian State
Frederick II of Prussia (1712-1786), better known as Frederick the Great, was one of the most consequential rulers of 18th-century Europe. A scion of the House of...
Modern Period
Definition
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a Russian pianist and composer best known for his piano concertos and symphonies. He overcame an early ravaging by critics and several years of depression...
Image Gallery
5 Maps on the Origins of the United States
In this gallery of five maps, we examine the creation and expansion of the United States from the colonization of North America by European powers to the routes of the...
Article
Britain and the Suez Canal - 75 Years of Colonialism & Crisis
The Suez Canal in Egypt, which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, was taken over by the British in 1882 and was only reluctantly released 75 years...
Definition
Meiji Restoration
The Meiji Restoration was a political event that took place in Japan in 1868. In it, the Tokugawa family, a warrior clan that had ruled Japan for more than 260 years, was overthrown by...
Article
Sandbar Fight - The Duel That Made Jim Bowie Famous
The Sandbar Fight of 19 September 1827 made James 'Jim' Bowie famous, as well as the Bowie knife – less than 10 years before the Alamo (where he fell alongside...
Definition
Mahdist War - Holy War in Sudan, 1881-99
The Mahdist War (1881-99) in Sudan was led by the inspirational Muhammad Ahmad, an Islamic holy man who declared himself the Mahdi (the Messiah). The Mahdists wanted...
Article
The Man Who Wrestled with a Ghost
The Man Who Wrestled with a Ghost (also given as The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost) is a Teton Sioux tale on how one should interact with the spirits of the dead in circumstances...
Definition
Steam Hammer
The steam hammer was developed in 1839 by the Scotsman James Nasmyth (also spelt Naysmyth, 1808-1890). Coming in a wide range of dimensions, the steam-powered machine was used to forge and...
Prehistoric Period
Image Gallery
Paleolithic Art
The first non-functional human-made objects that could be clearly classified as art date back to the Upper Paleolithic (c. 50,000 to c. 12,000 years ago) in Europe. Although Upper Paleolithic...
Definition
Pre-Colonial North America
Pre-Colonial North America (also known as Pre-Columbian, Prehistoric, and Precontact) is the period between the migration of the Paleo-Indians to the region between 40,000-14,000...
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...
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...
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...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of the Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 7000-c. 600 BCE) is among the oldest in the world but, as it was only “discovered” in 1829 – after ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian...
Definition
Knap of Howar
The Knap of Howar is a Neolithic site on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland. The name is Old Norse for `mound of mounds' or `large barrow'. The building preserved at the site...
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...
