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For the Greeks magic (mageia or goeteia) was a wide-ranging topic which involved spells and evil prayers (epoidai), curse tablets (katadesmoi), enhancing drugs and deadly poisons (pharmaka), amulets (periapta) and powerful...

Letters and their delivery via a state communication system was a feature of many ancient cultures. The writing medium may have differed but the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Incas all had the means...

The defence by Free French forces of the remote desert watering hole of Bir Hakeim (Hacheim) in Libya, North Africa in May-June 1942 during the Second World War (1939-45) is one of the...

The siege of Antioch in 1097-1098 CE occurred during the First Crusade (1095-1102 CE) when the western Crusader knights were on their way to retake Jerusalem. The great metropolis of Antioch in northern Syria was...

The Siege of Yorktown (28 September to 19 October 1781) was the final major military operation of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). It resulted in the surrender of British general Lord Charles Cornwallis, whose army...

The Battle of Bunker Hill (17 June 1775) was a major engagement in the initial phase of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), fought primarily on Breed's Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The colonial troops successfully...

Turquoise was a highly-prized material in ancient Mesoamerica, perhaps the most valued of all materials for sacred and decorative art objects such as masks, jewellery, and the costumes of rulers and high priests. Turquoise...

The Battle of Karbala (10 October 680 CE) was a small-scaled military engagement, fought near the river Euphrates, in modern-day Iraq, which saw the massacre of heavily outnumbered Alid troops under the command of Husayn ibn...

The Battle of Long Island (27 August 1776), or the Battle of Brooklyn, was an important battle of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). It resulted in the defeat of the Continental Army and led to the eventual British...

The First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942) was a series of encounters during the Second World War (1939-1945) in Egypt between Allied and Axis forces. The battle, focussed around the El Alamein defensive line, ended...