Future: Did you mean...?

Imagine something that has never been thought of before. If one holds a book in one's hands, one can imagine an e-book, a large-print book, a picture book, all kinds of books. But how does one imagine a book in a world where even the concept...

An 1880s photograph of future Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917), ruler of the Russian Empire.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-past-present-and-future-of-the-bubonic-plague-sharon-n-dewitte The bubonic plague, which killed around 1/5 of the world’s population in the 14th century, is still around today — but it now...

Oracle Bones (also known as Dragon's Bones) were the shoulder blades of oxen or plastrons of turtles (the flat underside of the turtle's shell) which were used in the Shang Dynasty of China (c. 1600-1046 BCE) for divination. The symbols carved...

The Cyrenaics were a philosophical school of thought founded c. 4th century BCE by Aristippus of Cyrene (l. c. 435-356 BCE) who taught that sensual pleasure was the highest good and only worthwhile pursuit in life. Known as the first hedonistic...

Magna Graecia (Megalē Hellas) refers to the coastal areas of southern Italy which were colonized by various Greek city-states from the 8th to 5th centuries BCE. Later writers such as Strabo also included Sicily and eventually the term came...

A map indicating the approximate location of the ancient kingdom of Macedon and the modern political entities that area now covers.

The positions of Octavian and Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE.

The Maya are an indigenous people of Mexico and Central America who have continuously inhabited the lands comprising modern-day Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador...

Louis XVI (l. 1754-1793) was the last king of France (r. 1774-1792) before the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution (1789-99). An indecisive king, his attempts to navigate France through the crises of the 1780s failed, leading...