Christmas: Did you mean...?

The Mongol invasions of Russia and Eastern Europe occurred first with a brief sortie in 1223 CE and then again in a much larger campaign between 1237 CE and 1242 CE. The Mongols, seemingly coming from nowhere and quickly...

The Battle of Edington, fought in May 878 in southwest England, saw Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (r. 871-899), win a decisive victory over the Viking leader Guthrum (d. 890). Two weeks later, under the terms of the Treaty...

Abner Doubleday (1819-1893), an officer in the US Army during the American Civil War, is famous today for two events – neither of which actually happened: - Firing the first shot...

Halloween is among the oldest traditions in the world as it touches on an essential element of the human condition: the relationship between the living and the dead. The observance evolved from ancient rituals marking the...

The First World War (1914-18) was the first truly global conflict and the first to be fully mechanised. Armies clashed across continents on land, in the air, and at sea. Civilians were caught up in the destruction as never...

"The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire," wrote Voltaire, and this interpretation still dominates the popular imagination, so the Holy Roman Empire is treated as a bad joke, a pale...

During the Renaissance (1400-1600) just about any artist of worth found themselves commissioned at some point in their careers to produce an altarpiece. Some of the greatest names in European art were so called upon, from...

By the end of 1066 CE William the Conqueror had won a decisive victory at the Battle of Hastings, subdued the south-east of England and been crowned King William I in Westminster Abbey but there remained...

The New York and New Jersey Campaign (3 July 1776 to 3 January 1777) was a pivotal campaign waged during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) for control of New York City, the Hudson River, and the resource-rich...

William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE) was victorious at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 CE, and Harold Godwinson, King Harold II of England (r. Jan - Oct 1066 CE) was dead. The English throne and kingdom...