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...
Featured
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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...
Featured
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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
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...
Article
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...
Article
Gilgamesh and Huwawa - The Epic Battle of the Cedar Forest
Gilgamesh and Huwawa is a Sumerian poem relating the expedition of Gilgamesh and Enkidu to the Cedar Forest and the slaying of the monster-demon Huwawa...
Article
Stalin's Five-Year Plans - Collectivising Agriculture & Industrialising the USSR
Joseph Stalin's Five-Year Plans (1928-50) were a series of state-led initiatives which aimed to grow the economy of the USSR, rapidly industrialise...
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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...
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Map of the Vedic Age in South Asia, c. 1500–500 BCE - Indo-Aryan Migrations, Vedic Culture & Early States
The Vedic Age (c. 1500–500 BCE) was a formative period in the history of South Asia, named after the Vedas, a collection...
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The United States Constitution, 1787
The United States Constitution, drafted in Philadelphia in 1787, established the legal and political framework of the American republic, replacing the Articles of Confederation...
For You
Article
1204: The Sack of Constantinople
In 1204 CE the unthinkable happened and Constantinople, after nine centuries of withstanding all comers, was brutally sacked. Even more startling was the fact that the perpetrators...
Definition
Mourt's Relation
Mourt's Relation (published 1622 CE) is an account of the first year of the Plymouth Colony founded by the pilgrims who arrived in Massachusetts in November 1620 CE aboard the Mayflower...
Definition
Samguk Yusa
The Samguk yusa ('Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms') is a 13th-century CE text which covers the history and legends of Korea's founding right up to the 10th century CE. It is a sequel of sorts...
Definition
Roman Gaul
Roman Gaul is an umbrella term for several Roman provinces in western Europe: Cisalpine Gaul or Gallia Cisalpina, comprised a territory situated in the northernmost part of the Italian peninsula...
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
Fluid Geographies: Water, Science, and Settler Colonialism in New Mexico
In her groundbreaking book, Fluid Geographies: Water, Science, and Settler Colonialism in New Mexico, K. Maria D. Lane delves deeply into the...
Book Review
The Bull of Minos: The Great Discoveries of Ancient Greece
Having visited the Peloponese and just half-filled a suitcase of books on ancient Greece, I saw this at the airport on the way home. It turned out to be...
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| 1,768 | articles |
| 19,874 | illustrations |
| 2,643 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,448 | translations |
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| 15,642 | keywords |
| 62,917 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
Interview with Barry Strauss: Jews vs. Rome - The Latest Book by Barry Strauss
For over two centuries, ancient Judea was a restless province of the Roman Empire, marked by rebellions, shifting loyalties, and the tensions...
Definition
Enlil - Mesopotamian Keeper of the Tablets of Destiny
Enlil (also known as Ellil and Nunamnir) was the Sumerian god of the air in the Mesopotamian pantheon, but he was more powerful than any other elemental deity...
Article
Plato's Lie In The Soul
Plato's Lie in the Soul (or the True Lie) is a concept appearing in Republic, Book II, 382a-382d, defined as "being deceived in that which is the truest and highest part of or about...
Definition
Ancient Egyptian Literature
Ancient Egyptian literature comprises a wide array of narrative and poetic forms including inscriptions on tombs, stele, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends; religious...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Ancient African Art
In this gallery, we look at striking examples of art from across the African continent. In gold, stone and metals, ancient and medieval African artists have not only given us...
Article
Festivals in Ancient Egypt
The gods of the ancient Egyptians were always apparent to the people through natural events. The sunrise was Ra emerging from the underworld in his great ship, for example, and the...
Definition
Juno
Juno was the Roman goddess who protected the nation as a whole but also kept special watch over all aspects of women's lives. She is often thought of as the Roman version of the Greek goddess of...
Definition
Heraclitus of Ephesus
Heraclitus of Ephesus (l. c. 500 BCE) was one of the early Pre-Socratic philosophers who, like the others, sought to identify the First Cause for the creation of the world. He rejected...
Medieval Period
Article
The Differences Between Byzantine & Armenian Christianity
Although both the Byzantines and the Armenians were Christian, the types of Christianity they professed had important differences that led to a lack of recognition...
Definition
Byzantine Coinage
The coinage of the Byzantine Empire continued that of its more ancient predecessors and functioned as a convenient method of payment for goods and services, especially to soldiers and officials...
Definition
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor, also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, reigned as king of England from 1042 to 1066 CE. Edward was reliant on the powerful Godwine (aka Godwin) family to keep...
Article
Jade in Mesoamerica
Jade was a highly-esteemed material in many Mesoamerican cultures, making it a valued regional trade good and first choice for objects of religious and artistic value such as masks, ceremonial...
Definition
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1147-1149) was a military campaign organised by the Pope and European nobles to recapture the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia which had fallen in 1144 to the Muslim Seljuk...
Definition
Zvartnots Cathedral
The ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral are located on a flat plain within the Ararat Plateau between the cities of Yerevan and Etchmiadzin in Armenia's Armavir province near Zvartnots International...
Article
The Weapons of an English Medieval Knight
The weapons of an English medieval knight in combat included the long sword, wooden lance with an iron tip, metal-headed mace, battle-axe, and dagger. Trained since childhood...
Definition
Toyotomi Hideyoshi - Unifier of Japan
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) was a Japanese military leader who, along with his predecessor Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) and his successor Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), is credited...
Early Modern Period
Article
Slavery in Plantation Agriculture
The first plantations in the Americas of sugar cane, cocoa, tobacco, and cotton were maintained and harvested by African slaves controlled by European masters. When African...
Article
Napoleon Bonaparte During the Early French Revolution (1789-1794)
Of all the careers that soared to meteoric heights during the chaotic decade of the French Revolution (1789-1799), none was more spectacular nor impactful...
Definition
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War (1568-1648, also known as The Dutch Revolt and Dutch War of Independence) was a military conflict between the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands and Spain, which...
Definition
William Cecil, Lord Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (1520-1598 CE) was Elizabeth I of England's most important minister for much of her reign (1558-1603 CE). Lord Burghley was Secretary of State...
Definition
Stupa
A stupa (literally “heap” or “pile”) is a reliquary, a shrine containing the remains of a holy or sainted person and/or artifacts (relics) associated with them, originating in India prior to the...
Article
Jesuit Influence on Post-medieval Chinese Astronomy
Ancient China had seen little Western contact before the 16th century CE, the language, culture and science all being allowed to develop independently of foreign...
Definition
Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession is the affirmation of faith of the Lutheran Church written by Philip Melanchthon (l. 1497-1560) and presented at the Diet of Augsburg in June 1530. The document...
Definition
Pawnee
The Pawnee are a Native American nation of the Plains Indians culture originally from the region of modern Nebraska. Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, they were among the most...
Modern Period
Definition
Patrick Cleburne - Stonewall of the West
Patrick R. Cleburne (1828-1864) was an Irish-born Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Having immigrated to Arkansas in 1850, Cleburne fell in...
Image Gallery
A Panorama of Northern Greece
Northern Greece describes the geographical part of the Greek administrative territory that includes the regions of Macedonia and Thrace. An escape to Macedonia and Thrace for...
Article
The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat
The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat is a short essay by anthropologist George Bird Grinnell (l. 1849-1938) explaining the origin and significance of the medicine arrows...
Definition
War of the Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition (1805-1806) was a major European conflict during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). It was fought by an alliance of nations that included the United...
Definition
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of the port of Tobruk in Libya (April to Dec 1941) by Axis forces during the Second World War (1939-45) lasted 242 days and became a symbol of Allied resistance. Besieged by land...
Definition
Lear Green - Escaping Slavery in a Chest
Lear Green (circa 1839-1860) was an enslaved African American woman in Baltimore, Maryland, who had herself shipped in a chest to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to escape...
Article
The Life and Death of Sweet Medicine
The Life and Death of Sweet Medicine is a Cheyenne tale of the great prophet and law-giver Sweet Medicine who received the sacred Four Arrows, structure of government, and...
Article
Top 10 Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
The British Industrial Revolution transformed life at work and at home for practically everyone. Noise, pollution, social upheaval, and repetitive jobs were the price...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Oldowan Tools
The appearance of simple stone tools, widely known as Oldowan tools or the Oldowan industry, marked the beginning of our technological revolution. To our knowledge, these artifacts appeared...
Definition
Ceide Fields
The Ceide Fields, near Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, on the western coast of Ireland, are recognised as one of the oldest and largest Stone Age farming sites in the world, dating back to c. 3700 BCE...
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...
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
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...
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
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
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...
