Mining: Did you mean...?

In November 1532 CE, Francisco Pizarro led a group of about 160 conquistadors into the Inca city of Cajamarca. The illiterate and illegitimate son of an Extremaduran nobleman and an impoverished woman, Pizarro had spent his entire life on...

The Siege of Petersburg (June 1864 to April 1865), or the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, was among the last military operations of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It was not a siege in the traditional sense, but rather a period of static...

Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BCE) envisaged a broad Macedonian kingdom and his colonial expansion resulted in the forging of an empire that his son Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) would use as a springboard for even greater things...

Almost 700 years of continuous Roman occupation have left impressive traces in the Spanish landscape. Spain was then known as 'Hispania' and is now a fascinating location for the archaeological traveller. The Spanish provinces were amongst...

The Moselle Valley is Germany's oldest winegrowing region. The Romans brought viticulture to this area and planted vines along the Moselle River 2000 years ago. After settling the region c. 50 BCE and establishing the city of Trier (Augusta...

The sunbaked plain of the Alentejo region in central Portugal is called planicie dourada (golden plain) by the Portuguese, and it is dotted with cork oak forests, vineyards, olive groves, and hilltop towns with whitewashed houses. 'Alentejo'...

While Oman is perhaps the most mysterious corner of the Arabian peninsula to Westerners, the country retains a strong sense of identity, a pride in its ancient past, and unique surprises in the domain of cultural heritage. In this exclusive...

During the 18th century, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico formed one of the most strategically contested regions of the Atlantic world. Initially dominated by the Spanish Empire, this maritime zone, often referred to as the Spanish...

One of the Egyptian king's principal duties was to defend and expand the borders of Egypt. This ivory label, once tied to a pair of sandals, depicts king Den smiting a foreigner from the east. Rock carvings of Den near the turquoise mines...

An 1854 diagram of the steam hammer invented by James Nasmyth (1808-1890) in 1839. The hammer used steam power to precision drop a weight which bent metal to specification. (From Cyclopædia of useful arts, mechanical and chemical, manufactures...