Featured
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 difficult of the Normandy landings, but by the end of the day, the beachhead...
Featured
Collection
The Normandy Landings
In this collection of resources, we look at the events of D-Day, 6 June 1944, when the Allies stormed the Normandy beaches in France on the first day of a campaign to free Western Europe...
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Map of The D-Day and the Normandy Landings, June 1944 - Operation Overlord & History's Largest Amphibious Invasion
The Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, commonly known as D-Day, marked one of the most significant...
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Alexander the Great’s Eight Bodyguards - The Somatophylakes and the Macedonian Empire
Under Philip II of Macedon (reign 359–336 BCE) and Alexander the Great (reign 336–323 BCE), the somatophylakes (“bodyguards”) formed...
Latest Content
Definition
Almourol Castle - Island Fortress of the Knights Templar
Almourol Castle in Portugal was built on a 310-meter-long and 75-meter-wide granite islet in the middle of the Tagus River. Earlier Roman and Moorish structures...
Definition
George H. Thomas - The Underrated Hero of the Union
George H. Thomas (1816 to 1870) was a Union general in the American Civil War who first came to national attention after his victory at the Battle of Mill Springs...
Article
Why Japan's Kamikaze Attacks Failed in WWII
Kamikaze attacks were made by Japanese servicemen throughout the final, desperate year of the Second World War (1939-45). Planes, piloted rockets, and boats were packed...
Definition
Abraham Lincoln - Preserver of the Union
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the sixteenth president of the United States. He led the country through the tumultuous...
Article
N. Bart Pearce Account of the Battle of Wilson's Creek - The Confederate View of the Conflict
Nicholas Bartlett Pearce (better known as N. Bart Pearce, 1828 to 1894) was a brigadier general in the Arkansas Militia who allied...
Definition
Thaddeus Stevens - American Jacobin
Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was a US politician and abolitionist, who rose to prominence in the 1860s during the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras. A leader of the...
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Map of the Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 1492–1504 - Routes, Landfalls & Colonial Expansion in the Americas
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) led four transatlantic expeditions between 1492 and 1504 under the patronage...
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Map of the Norman Conquest of England, 1066–1086 - From Hastings to Domesday – The Making of Norman England
The Norman Conquest of England began in 1066 after the death of Edward the Confessor (reign 1042–1066) without a direct...
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Map of the Caucasus after the Peace of Nisibis 299 CE - Roman and Sasanian Power on the Caucasian Frontier
The Peace of Nisibis (299 CE) ended the Roman–Sasanian War of 296–299 CE after Galerius, Caesar under the Roman emperor...
For You
Article
Most Popular Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China
There were over 200 gods and goddesses worshipped throughout ancient China, but if one were to count every deity or spirit, the number would be over 1,000. Each town...
Definition
Shajara al-Durr
Shajara al-Durr (r. 1250) was the founder of the Mamluk Dynasty in Egypt, and she was the first and only woman to sit on the Islamic Egyptian throne. She held the title of sultana for only...
Definition
Scipio Africanus the Elder
Scipio Africanus Major (l. 236-183 BCE) received his epithet due to his military victories in Africa which won the Second Punic War for Rome against Carthage. He is also known as...
Article
LGBTQ in Early Christianity
In modern debates concerning homosexuality, same-sex marriages, and gender identification, it is popular to turn to the Bible for passages to validate a position. Modern culture...
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
Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions
From the outbreak of war in the 13 British North American colonies in 1775 to the conflicts that erupted throughout the Spanish New World colonies in the 1810s, revolutions...
Book Review
Voices of Dissent: An Essay
Romila Thapar's latest addition to the study of the ancient history of India and its presence in modern times has been elegantly translated through her book Voices of Dissent: An...
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| 1,749 | articles |
| 19,721 | illustrations |
| 2,623 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 15,788 | translations |
| 47 | languages |
| 1,329 | contributors |
| 15,389 | keywords |
| 54,763 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Definition
Edessa
Edessa (modern Urfa), located today in south-east Turkey but once part of upper Mesopotamia on the frontier of the Syrian desert, was an important city throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages...
Article
Aesop's Fables
Written by a former Greek slave, in the late to mid-6th century BCE, Aesop's Fables are the world's best known collection of morality tales. The fables, numbering 725, were originally told...
Article
The Eastern Trade Network of Ancient Rome
The life of wealthy Romans was filled with exotic luxuries such as cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, or silk acquired through long-distance international trade. Goods from the...
Definition
Europa - The Princess Europe is Named After
Europa is a figure from Greek mythology who later gave her name to the continent of Europe. In one popular version of her story Europa was a Phoenician princess who...
Collection
Aztec Religion & Culture
Aztec religion and culture flourished between c. 1345 and 1521 and, at its height, influenced the majority of the people of northern Mesoamerica. Great monarchs such as Montezuma...
Collection
Precious Materials in Antiquity
Certain materials have always been precious such as gold for its lustre, incorruptibility, and ease to work but some ancient cultures often gave a very high value to more unusual...
Definition
Huitzilopochtli
Huitzilopochtli (pron. Huit-zi-lo-pocht-li) or 'Hummingbird of the South' or 'Blue Hummingbird on the Left' was one of the most important deities in the Aztec pantheon and for the Méxica...
Definition
Yakushiji
The Yakushiji temple, located in Nara, Japan, is the headquarters of the Buddhist Hosso sect and one of the most important temples in the country. Originally founded in 680 CE at Fujiwara-kyo...
Medieval Period
Article
The Maya Calendar and the End of the World: Why the one does not substantiate the other
The Popol Vuh recounts the story of twins who journeyed to Xibalba. For the Maya, their round of adventures serves as a metaphor...
Article
The Armies of the Crusades
The armies of the Crusades (11th-15th centuries CE), which saw Christians and Muslims struggle for control of territories in the Middle East and elsewhere, could involve over 100,000...
Article
Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess Full Text & Summary
The Book of the Duchess is the first major work of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE), best known for his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales...
Article
Nazca Lines
The Nazca civilization flourished in southern Peru between 200 BCE and 600 CE and amongst their most famous legacies are the geoglyphs and lines - often referred to as Nazca Lines - along the...
Definition
Greek Fire - The Byzantines' Seceret Weapon
Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon first used in Byzantine warfare in 678 CE. The napalm of ancient warfare, the highly flammable liquid was made of secret ingredients...
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...
Definition
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE) was a medieval English poet, writer, and philosopher best known for his work The Canterbury Tales, a masterpiece of world literature. The Canterbury...
Definition
Medieval Literature
Medieval literature is defined broadly as any work written in Latin or the vernacular between c. 476-1500, including philosophy, religious treatises, legal texts, as well as works of...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Camille Desmoulins
Camille Desmoulins (1760-1794) was one of the most prominent journalists during the French Revolution (1789-1799). A fervent republican, he played an important role in the Storming of...
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...
Article
Battle of Castiglione
The Battle of Castiglione (5 August 1796) was one of the most important battles of Napoleon's Italian Campaign of 1796-97. After laying siege to the vital fortress of Mantua, General...
Definition
Menehune
Menehune is the term applied to short-statured, forest-dwelling creatures of Hawaiian mythology and is part of a common mythology throughout Polynesia that describes secretive, supernatural beings...
Definition
Titus Andronicus - Shakespeare's Bloodiest Play
Titus Andronicus is the earliest tragedy by William Shakespeare (l. c.1564-1616), probably written sometime between 1589 and 1593, and first performed in 1594. Infamous...
Article
Louis XIV and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
Beginning in the 16th century, Protestants in France struggled in their rapport with royal power. Protestants owed the recognition of their rights more to sovereign...
Definition
Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty
The Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty is the document drafted and signed on 22 March 1621 CE between governor John Carver (l. 1584-1621 CE) of the Plymouth Colony and the sachem...
Definition
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (24 February 1500 to 21 September 1558) reigned from 1519 until his abdication in 1556 and was one of the most powerful rulers in the history of...
Modern Period
Definition
Jainism
Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world. The name comes from jiva (soul or life force but, capitalized, is also given as Spiritual Conqueror) as it maintains that all living things...
Collection
Great African Kingdoms
This collection presents a small sampling of the many great African kingdoms that rose and fell from the ancient period when Punt traded with Egypt up through the common era. Each kingdom...
Article
Battle of the Thames
The Battle of the Thames (5 October 1813), or the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive engagement in the War of 1812, in which a US army under General William Henry Harrison defeated...
Definition
Adolf Eichmann - The Notorious Nazi War Criminal
Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962), a lieutenant-colonel in the Nazi SS, was responsible for organising the transportation of Jewish people and other victims of Nazism to...
Definition
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engined, long-range bomber of the United States Air Force. The largest of all Second World War (1939-45) bombers, B-29s were used to strike...
Definition
Reichstag Fire
The Reichstag fire of 27 February 1933 was a possible arson attack on the German parliament building. The fire was blamed on a communist anarchist Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-1934), but it...
Article
Coyote Tales of the Apache
Coyote is easily the most famous trickster figure in the lore of the Native peoples of North America, and the Coyote tales of the Apache are among the best-known. As a trickster...
Article
Battle of Aspern-Essling
The Battle of Aspern-Essling (21-22 May 1809) was a major battle of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). It saw an Austrian army under Archduke Charles defeat a French army led by Emperor...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Neanderthal
Neanderthals are an extinct group of fossil humans that appeared in Western Eurasia in the mid-Middle Pleistocene and shared the stage with the first modern humans arriving in Europe from around...
Article
The Neanderthal-Sapiens Connection
In May 2010, after years of intense discussions surrounding possible fossils of mixed Homo sapiens and Neanderthal descent floating around the scientific community, a team...
Definition
Locmariaquer
Locmariaquer is a Stone Age site in north-west France distinguished by its two large stone tombs and massive granite standing stone or menhir. The monumental structures, all built within metres...
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...
Definition
Paleolithic
The Palaeolithic ('Old Stone Age') makes up the earliest chunk of the Stone Age – the large swathe of time during which hominins used stone to make tools – and ranges from the first known tool...
Article
Rock Drawings of Valcamonica
The rock drawings of Valcamonica are prehistoric petroglyphs carved in the glacier-polished, grey-purple Permian sandstone of the Camonica valley that extends for 90 km in the...
Definition
Migration Age
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or German: Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between 300 to 700 CE...
Definition
Homo Heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of human that is identified in both Africa and western Eurasia from roughly 700,000 years ago onwards until around 200,000 years ago – fitting...
