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Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies like Brazil...

Definition
War in Ancient Times
The word 'war' comes to English from the old High German language word Werran (to confuse or to cause confusion) through the Old English Werre (meaning the same), and is a state of open and usually declared armed conflict between political...

Definition
Operation Barbarossa - Hitler's Invasion of the USSR
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), leader of Nazi Germany, attacked the USSR on 22 June 1941 with the largest army ever assembled. The Axis offensive of June-December 1941 was code-named Operation Barbarossa ('Redbeard') after Frederick Barbarossa...

Definition
Pre-Colonial North America
Pre-Colonial North America (also known as Pre-Columbian, Prehistoric, and Precontact) is the period between the migration of the Paleo-Indians to the region between 40,000-14,000 years ago and contact between indigenous tribes and European...

Definition
Odysseus
Odysseus (Roman name: Ulysses) was one of the great pan-Hellenic heroes of Greek mythology. He was famous for his courage, intelligence, and leadership. Odysseus' resourcefulness and oratory skills were instrumental in the Greek victory in...

Definition
Greek Colonization
From around 800 BCE, ancient Greek city-states, most of which were maritime powers, began to look beyond Greece for land and resources. As a consequence, they founded colonies across the Mediterranean. Trade was usually the first step in...

Definition
Thoth
Thoth is the Egyptian god of writing, magic, wisdom, and the moon. He was one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt alternately said to be self-created or born of the seed of Horus from the forehead of Set. As the son of these two deities...

Definition
Oracle Bones
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...

Definition
Warfare
Warfare is generally understood to be the controlled and systematic waging of armed conflict between sovereign nations or states, using military might and strategy, until one opponent is defeated on the field or sues for peace in the face...

Definition
Hypatia of Alexandria
Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 370 - March 415) was a female philosopher and mathematician, born in Alexandria, Egypt possibly in 370 (although some scholars cite her birth as c. 350). Little is known of her life but her dramatic death at the...