Gunpowder: Did you mean...?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and author. Bacon is often considered one of the founders of modern scientific research and scientific method, even as "the father of modern science" since he proposed...

Hernando de Soto (c. 1500-1542) was a Spanish conquistador who fought in Panama and Nicaragua and accompanied Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) in the conquest of the Inca civilization in Peru. He famously explored North America...

Ninja (aka Shinobi) were the specialised assassins, saboteurs, and secret agents of medieval Japanese warfare who were highly-trained proponents of the martial arts, especially what later became known as ninjutsu or 'the art of the ninja'...

The Jamestown Colony in Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in North America founded in 1607. It was the third attempt of the Virginia Company of London to establish a permanent trade center in the Americas...

Caerphilly Castle (aka Caerffili), located in South Wales, was first built between 1268 and 1290 CE. The largest medieval castle in Wales, Caerphilly was built with a concentric design by Gilbert de Clare (1243-1295 CE) as a...

Wako (aka wokou and waegu) is a term used to refer to Japanese (but also including Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese) pirates who plagued the seas of East Asia from Korea to Indonesia, especially between the...

The Drownings at Nantes were a series of mass killings that took place in Nantes, France from November 1793 to February 1794 during the Reign of Terror. Overseen by Jean-Baptiste Carrier, the representative-on-mission from...

Captain John Smith (l. 1580-1631 CE) was an English explorer, soldier, author, and early governor of the Jamestown Colony of Virginia between 1607-1609 CE. Smith had served as a mercenary in his younger years and was well-versed in...

François L'Olonais (also spelt L'Olonnais or L'Ollonais, c. 1630-1668), real name Jean-David Nau, was a French buccaneer and pirate who operated from Tortuga on Hispaniola. In 1667, he famously attacked Venezuela, then part...

The Mary Rose was a carrack warship built for the Royal Navy of Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547). The ship infamously sank in the Solent off the south coast of England on 19 July 1545, probably because water...