Featured
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...
Featured
Article
Ten Halloween Facts and Traditions You Need to Know - A Celebration of Transformation
Halloween is the most popular holiday in the world, after Christmas (based on level-of-celebration and consumer spending) and, increasingly...
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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...
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12 Largest Contiguous Land Empires Before 1880 - From the Mongol Empire to Rome, Qing China & Russia
Land empires were expansive states whose rulers exercised authority over large, substantially connected territories and...
Latest Content
Article
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld - Messages From the Afterlife
Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld is a Sumerian poem pre-dating The Epic of Gilgamesh and featuring its central characters. It is sometimes...
Definition
Army of Northern Virginia - General Lee's Army
The Army of Northern Virginia was the main field army of the Confederate States in the eastern theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Famously led by General...
Definition
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor - The Great Matchmaker
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459-1519), belonged to the imperial House of Habsburg, and the imperial electors made him King of the Romans in 1486 during...
Definition
James Longstreet - Civil War Hero and Lost Cause Villain
James Longstreet (1821-1904) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, serving chiefly under Robert E. Lee in the Eastern theater. He was regarded...
Collection
First 16 US Presidents - From Washington to Lincoln
Since the founding of the United States, the office of the presidency – and the men who have occupied it – have had a profound impact on the hearts, minds, and...
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...
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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...
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Map of the Latin Empire - A Crusader State in Constantinople - The Fourth Crusade and the Fragmentation of Byzantium
The Latin Empire (Imperium Romaniae, 1204–1261) emerged after the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) captured and...
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12 Largest Contiguous Land Empires Before 1880 - From the Mongol Empire to Rome, Qing China & Russia
Land empires were expansive states whose rulers exercised authority over large, substantially connected territories and...
For You
Definition
Pertinax
Pertinax was Roman Emperor for three months in 193 CE and, as successor to Commodus, it was hoped that he would restore much needed sobriety to the office of emperor. However, the former teacher...
Definition
Johann Eck
Johann Eck (l. 1486-1543) was a Catholic theologian and writer best known for his disputations with Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) beginning in 1517 and continuing until his death in 1543. Eck...
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...
Definition
Mahasanghika
Mahasanghika (“Great Congregation”, also given as Mahasamghika) was an early Buddhist school of thought which is thought to have been formed after the Second Buddhist Council of 383 BCE when...
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
Cave Art
Cave Art by Dr. Bruno David, a professor of archaeology at the Monash Indigenous Centre in Australia, introduces readers to cave cart as a discipline in itself and as a global phenomenon. Delineating...
Book Review
Spain: 1001 Sights. An Archaeological and Historical Guide
Spain: 1001 Sights is not a regular book on Archaeology, but a guide through the historical and archaeological heritage of Spain. Inside this guide you...
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Ancient Period
Article
A Teton Ghost Story
A Teton Ghost Story is a tale from the Native American Teton (Tetonwan) of the Oceti Sakowin (People of the Seven Council Fires), better known as the Sioux, on one of the possibilities...
Definition
Vulci
Vulci (Velch) was an Etruscan city located 12 km from the western coast of central Italy by the banks of the Fiora River. Flourishing as a trading port between the 6th and 4th century BCE, it was...
Definition
Charon - The Ferryman to the Dead in Greek Mythology
Charon is a figure from Greek mythology where he is the boatman who ferries the souls of the dead across the waters of Hades to the judgement which will determine...
Definition
Second Intermediate Period of Egypt - The Era of the Hyksos
The Second Intermediate Period (circa 1782 to circa 1570 BCE) is the era following the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE) and preceding the New Kingdom...
Article
Boudicca: Queen of the Iceni, Scourge of Rome
Boudicca (died 61 CE) was the Celtic Queen of the Iceni tribe who led a revolt against Roman occupation of what is now East Anglia, England. So charismatic was Boudicca...
Definition
Tairona Civilization
The Tairona civilization - one of the Chibcha family tribes - flourished in northern Colombia between 200 CE and 1600 CE. Like the Muisca of Cundinamarca, the Tairona were known for...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of 40 Coins Through History
Coins have been in use since their creation in ancient Lydia in the early 6th century BCE. Stamped by the state to guarantee value and be recognisable as genuine, coins...
Image Gallery
Sports in the Ancient Mediterranean
Sports and athleticism was a cornerstone of life in the ancient Mediterranean. Hunting, dancing, gymnastics, and charioteering were favorite sports of the elite in Mesopotamia...
Medieval Period
Definition
Malcolm III of Scotland
Malcolm III of Scotland (aka Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) reigned as king from 1058 to 1093 CE. He took the throne after his young predecessor Lulach (r. 1057-1058 CE), the stepson of...
Definition
Viracocha
Viracocha was the supreme god of the Incas. He is also known as Huiracocha, Wiraqoca and Wiro Qocha. Considered the creator god he was the father of all other Inca gods and it was he who formed...
Collection
A History of the Crusades
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns waged between Christians and Muslims, Christians and pagans (the Northern Crusades), and Christians against Christians (the Fourth...
Definition
Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969 CE. Known as “White Death of the Saracens,” Nikephoros was a fearsome commander who conquered Crete, Cilicia, and much of Syria...
Collection
Mesoamerican Civilizations
Ancient Mesoamerica (modern-day Mexico and Central America) witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of cultures from the beginnings of the Olmec civilization around 1200 BCE, through...
Definition
The Saxons
The Saxons were a Germanic people of the region north of the Elbe River stretching from Holstein (in modern-day Germany) to the North Sea. The Saxons who migrated to Britain in the 5th and 6th...
Definition
Leprechaun
Leprechauns (also leprecauns or lepracauns) are figures in Irish folklore who guard hidden treasure. Regarded as small and incredibly agile male fairies or goblins, they most often guard a pot...
Collection
Ancient China: Geography, Economy & Trade
Ancient China was often connected to the rest of the world through trade, not only along the famous Silk Road but also via merchant ships that sailed the Indian Ocean...
Early Modern Period
Article
Colour & Technique in Renaissance Painting
There were three principal painting techniques during the Renaissance: fresco, tempera, and oils. In all of these techniques, colour was an important part of the painter's...
Article
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen) is a human rights document adopted in the early...
Article
The Loss of the Speedwell & Foundation of Democracy
The Speedwell was the English passenger ship which was supposed to carry the Leiden congregation (later known as pilgrims) to the New World in 1620 CE accompanied...
Article
Colonial American Currency
Colonial American currency was a work in progress from the time of the earliest English settlements of the 1600s until the United States of America minted its own money in 1783...
Definition
George II of Great Britain
George II of Great Britain (r. 1727-1760) was the second of the Hanoverian monarchs, and like his father George I of Great Britain (r. 1714-1727), he faced a Jacobite rebellion to...
Definition
Mary I of England
Mary I of England reigned as queen from 1553 to 1558. The eldest daughter of Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547) with Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), she restored Catholicism in England...
Article
Women Scientists in the Scientific Revolution
Women scientists during the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) were few in number because male-dominated educational institutions, as well as scientific societies...
Definition
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484-1566) was a Spanish Dominican friar and former conquistador who revealed the atrocities of the conquests of New Spain and Peru and who strove to protect...
Modern Period
Definition
SS Great Eastern
The SS Great Eastern was a steam-powered ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) which sailed on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York in June 1860. At the time, it was...
Definition
White Bull
White Bull (Tatanka Ska, l. 1849-1947) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux warrior, nephew of Sitting Bull (l. c. 1837-1890), who is among the many claimed to have killed Lt. Colonel George Armstrong...
Article
German Spring Offensive - Ludendorff's Last Chance to Win WWI
The German Spring Offensive, also called the Ludendorff Offensive after its commander, was the last major German advance of the First World War (1914-18...
Definition
Omaha Beach - D-Day's Deadliest Beach
Omaha Beach was one of two beaches attacked by the US armed forces on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Strong German defences on the bluff overlooking the beach made this area the most...
Article
US Presidential Election of 1800
The US presidential election of 1800, referred to by Jeffersonians as the Revolution of 1800, was a turning point in the early political history of the United States. It resulted...
Article
Old Woman's Water and the Buffalo Cap
Old Woman's Water and the Buffalo Cap is a Cheyenne tale of the two great culture heroes Standing-on-the-Ground and Sweet Medicine and how they brought back the buffalo...
Definition
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotanka, l. c. 1837-1890) was a Hunkpapa Sioux holy man, warrior, leader, and symbol of traditional Sioux values and resistance to the United States' expansionist policies...
Definition
January Uprising of 1863 - Polish Rebellion Against Russian Rule in Poland
The January Uprising of 1863 was a conflict between Tsarist Russia and Polish insurgents striving for independence. The uprising continued until...
Prehistoric Period
Article
Stone Age Tools
As the Stone Age covers around 99% of our human technological history, it would seem there is a lot to talk about when looking at the development of tools in this period. Despite our reliance...
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...
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
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...
Definition
Lascaux Cave
Lascaux Cave is a Palaeolithic cave situated in southwestern France, near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region, which houses some of the most famous examples of prehistoric cave...
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...
Definition
Denisovan
The Denisovans are an extinct group of fossil humans who, along with their sister group the Neanderthals, also share an ancestor with Homo sapiens. Thus far, they are known only from Denisova...
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...
