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
Definition
Vidar
Vidar is a figure in Norse mythology, described as the silent god and almost as mighty as Thor. He will survive Ragnarök, the unavoidable and dramatic end of the world according to the prophecy...
Article
Martial Arts in Medieval Japan
There were 18 martial arts (bugei or bujutsu) in medieval Japan, and these included use of weapons, unarmed self-defence techniques, swimming, and equestrian skills. Initially...
Interview
Interview: Super/Natural: Textiles of the Andes
Over the course of several millennia, textiles were the primary form of aesthetic expression and communication for the diverse cultures that developed throughout...
Definition
Joseph Warren
Doctor Joseph Warren (1741-1775) was a physician from Boston, Massachusetts, who became an important political leader of the Patriot movement during the early years of the American Revolution...
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 Technology of Mesopotamia (Technology of the Ancient World)
The Technology of Mesopotamia by Graham Faiella is a children's/young adult work detailing the inventions and innovations of the people of Mesopotamia...
Book Review
Remapping Sovereignty: Decolonization and Self-Determination in North American Indigenous Political Thought
In Remapping Sovereignty, David Temin discusses how Native American writers, thinkers, and activists have posited...
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| 1,774 | articles |
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| 2,646 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,511 | translations |
| 48 | languages |
| 1,348 | contributors |
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Ancient Period
Article
Monotheism in the Ancient World
Monotheism is simply defined as the belief in one god and is usually positioned as the polar opposite of polytheism, the belief in many gods. However, the word monotheism is...
Article
Rome's Response to the Spread of Christianity
During the 1st century CE, a sect of Jews in Jerusalem claimed that their teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, was the 'messiah' of Israel. 'Messiah' meant 'anointed one'...
Definition
John the Baptist
John the Baptist (d. c. 30 CE) was a 1st-century CE itinerant preacher in Judea. We do not know his full name, but he is recognized by his activity. 'Baptizer' (Greek: baptizo) was translated...
Definition
Isocrates
Isocrates (436-338 BCE) was an ancient Athenian rhetorician, characterized as one of the most prominent orators of his time, even though it appears that he restricted himself to writing speeches...
Article
12 Best Historical Fiction Books to Read
The AHE team live and breathe history, but we all have our favourite historical periods and authors. We thought it would be fun for each of us to nominate one or two...
Definition
Oxus
The Oxus is a river, today called Amu Darya in its western part and Wakhsh in its eastern parts, which flows for a length of 2400 km across modern Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan...
Definition
Midas - The Mythical King with the Golden Touch
Midas was a mythical king of Phrygia in Asia Minor who was famous for his extraordinary ability to change anything he touched into gold. This gift was given to him...
Collection
Twelve Stories from the Mesopotamian Scribal School
Sumerian schools (known as edubba, “House of Tablets”) trained the scribes of ancient Mesopotamia in reading, writing, interpretation of texts, general knowledge...
Medieval Period
Curriculum Collection
AP World History Unit 1 - The Global Tapestry (c. 1200-1450)
Between 1200 and 1450 CE, no single power dominated the world. Instead, a number of powerful civilizations developed in parallel: the Song Dynasty in China...
Definition
Chandragupta II
Chandragupta II (c. 375 CE - 413/14 CE) was the next great Gupta emperor after his father Samudragupta (335/350 - 370/380 CE). He proved to be an able ruler and conqueror with many achievements...
Definition
Alboin
Alboin (r. 560-572 CE) was a king of the Lombards who led his people into Italy and founded the Kingdom of the Lombards which lasted from 568-774 CE. His father was Audoin, King of the Lombards...
Article
Women in the Mongol Empire
Women in the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) shared the daily chores and hardships of steppe life with men and were largely responsible for tending animals, setting up camps, childrearing...
Definition
Kamakura
Kamakura is a coastal town located on Sagami Bay on Honshu Island, Japan, which was the capital of the Kamakura Shogunate from 1192 to 1333 CE. Provided with excellent natural defensive features...
Article
Clothing in the Mongol Empire
The clothing worn by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th century CE, like most other aspects of their culture, reflected their nomadic lifestyle in the often harsh climate of the...
Definition
Constantine VI
Constantine VI, also known as Constantine "the Blinded”, was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 780 to 797 CE, although for most of his reign his mother, Irene the Athenian, ruled as regent...
Collection
Genghis Khan & the Mongol Empire
Through the 13th and 14th century CE the Mongols forged the largest connected empire the world had ever seen and such figures as Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan were feared as...
Early Modern Period
Article
This Barking Dog - Religion and Homosexuality in the Works of Christopher Marlowe
On 5 May 1593, a series of anti-Protestant bills were posted throughout the city of London. One of the bills was written in iambic pentameter...
Definition
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), or the American War of Independence, was a conflict between Great Britain and its 13 North American colonies, who declared independence...
Article
Battle of Plassey
The Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757 saw Robert Clive's East India Company army defeat a larger force of the Nawab of Bengal. Victory brought the Company new wealth and marked the beginning...
Collection
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States were the leaders of the American Revolution (c. 1765-1789), who led the push for American independence from Great Britain, founded...
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...
Article
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling
In 1508 CE the Pope commissioned the celebrated Florentine sculptor and painter Michelangelo (1475-1564 CE) to paint scenes on the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel...
Article
Gibbon's Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire
The English historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) wrote and published his seminal work History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire between 1776 and 1788. The...
Definition
George I of Great Britain
George I of Great Britain (r. 1714-1727) succeeded the last of the Stuart monarchs, Queen Anne of Great Britain (r. 1702-1714) because he was Anne's nearest Protestant relative...
Modern Period
Article
Second Battle of the Marne - The Beginning of the End for Germany in WWI
The Second Battle of the Marne took place in July and August 1918 and saw Germany's last advance of the Spring Offensive rebuffed by a strong...
Definition
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a Russian composer (born in Ukraine) who was at the forefront of the Modernist music movement. His symphonies, orchestral suites, and ballets display endless...
Article
Battle of Smolensk in 1943 - Operation Suvorov
The Battle of Smolensk in August to September 1943 was the second time the Soviet Union and the Third Reich fought over the city on the Dnieper during the Second...
Article
Why Did Hitler Attack the USSR?
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the leader of Nazi Germany, was intent on attacking the USSR in the summer of 1941. With Western Europe subdued in 1940, Hitler could finally pursue...
Definition
Russian Civil War - The Failed Fightback Against Bolshevism
The Russian Civil War (1917-22) began shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917. The Bolsheviks (the Reds) immediately found themselves in...
Article
Sydney Harbour Bridge Construction
The Sydney Harbour Bridge – affectionately known as The Coathanger by Australians – was opened to great fanfare and a touch of scandal on 19 March 1932 and was the longest...
Article
Origin of the Sweat Lodge
The sweat lodge is a temporary or permanent structure integral to Native American culture and frequently used in spiritual ceremonies. The lodge is often a low, dome-shaped, structure...
Definition
Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American impressionist painter who lived most of her life in France. She focussed on capturing women at their daily tasks in oils, pastels, and prints, and produced...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
First Agricultural Revolution
The First Agricultural Revolution, beginning c. 12-20,000 years ago, was characterized by the emergence of different agricultural systems in different parts of the world, whose...
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
Dolmens of Ancient Korea
Dolmens (in Korean: koindol or chisongmyo) are simple structures made of monolithic stones erected during the late Neolithic period or Korean Bronze Age (1st millennium BCE). In ancient...
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
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
Predynastic Period in Egypt - The Time Before History Began
The Predynastic Period in ancient Egypt is the time before recorded history, from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic Age and on to the rise of the First Dynasty...
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
Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a Neolithic Age site, consisting of ten stone structures, near the Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland. Today the village is situated by the shore but when it was inhabited (c.3100-2500...
