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Oseberg Ship Decoration - Detail
A detail of Viking Age decorative artwork found on the Oseberg ship interred in a ship burial in Norway c. 834 CE. It displays the first animal ornamentation style of the Viking Age, known as Style E (and sometimes referred to as the Oseberg-...
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Slave Ship Model
Slave ship model, which "shows a typical ship in the early 1700s on the Middle Passage. To preserve their profits, captains and sailors tried to limit the deaths of slaves from disease, suicide, and revolts. In the grisly arithmetic of the...
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Oseberg Ship Carving
Carved animal head, possibly a cat, on the Oseberg Viking ship.
Viking Ship Museum, Oslo.
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Bronze Hand, Roman Ship Decoration
These bronze hands would have decorated the end beams of a Roman ship. They were placed at the end of beams running parallel with the ship's long axis, two either side and with the arm horizontal and thumb pointing upwards. They were believed...
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Battle of Flamborough Head
The Battle of Flamborough Head (23 September 1779) was one of the most famous naval engagements of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Fought off the coast of Yorkshire, England, it pitted the USS Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John...
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Captain Kidd
Captain William Kidd (c. 1645-1701) was a Scottish privateer turned pirate who, despite only ever capturing one significant prize ship, has become legendary thanks to the persistent rumour he buried a fantastic treasure that nobody has yet...
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Trench Warfare on WWI's Western Front
The trench warfare of the Western Front during the First World War (1914-18) involved soldiers living and dying in an awful mix of mud, filth, and barbed wire. Trench systems became more sophisticated in layout as the conflict dragged on...
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Edward Low
Edward 'Ned' Low was an English pirate active in the Caribbean and eastern Atlantic from 1721 to 1724 during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730). Probably the most sadistic and cruelest of all pirate captains, Low was said to have frequently...
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Ancient Indian Ship
This Ajanta mural depicts an ancient Indian ship with high stem and stern and three oblong sails attached to three masts. Steering-oars can also be seen.
Location: Cave No. 2, Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad District, Maharashtra state, India
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A Carrack Ship by Bruegel
A detail of a c. 1558 CE painting by Pieter Bruegel showing a carrack ship, the type of vessel used by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 16th century CE to transport treasure and precious cargo from the New World and Asia to Europe.