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Washington Irving (1783-1859) was an American author, essayist, and diplomat best known for his short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. He was the first professional American author and also the first to...

Thomas J. Jackson (1824-1863), better known as Stonewall Jackson, was one of the most famous Confederate generals of the American Civil War (1861-1865). A veteran of the Mexican-American War and a former...

Pankration is an ancient martial art which mixes wrestling and boxing. The sport can be traced as far back as the second millennium BCE in the territory of ancient Greece. Its name derives from the ancient Greek words pan (all) and...

Approximately 67 miles (107 km) to the north of Aurangabad in the Indhyadri range of Western Ghats lie the caves of Ajanta. The 30 caves, famous for their early Buddhist temple architecture and many delicately drawn murals, are located...

The Mongol Empire was the largest land empire in world history, at about 22,000,000 square kilometers (850,000 square miles). The term Pax Mongolica (Mongol Peace) refers to the way this massive...

Narmer (c. 3150 BCE) was the first king of Egypt who unified the country peacefully at the beginning of the First Dynastic Period (c. 3150 - 2613 BCE). He has also, however, been cited as the last king of the Predynastic Period (c. 6000...

Enki (also known as Ea, Enkig, Dis, Nagbu, Nissiku Nudimmud) was the Sumerian god of wisdom, freshwater, intelligence, trickery and mischief, crafts, magic, exorcism, healing, creation, virility, fertility...

Empress Wu Zetian (Empress Consort Wu, Wu Hou, Wu Mei Niang, Mei-Niang, and Wu Zhao, l. 624-705 CE, r. 690-704 CE) was the only female emperor of Imperial China. She reigned during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and was one of the most...

Bai Juyi (l. 772-846) was one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) along with Li Po (l. 701-762) and Du Fu (l. 712-770). He was a government official who got in trouble with authorities a number of times for not following...

Philippi was an important city in eastern Macedon which flourished in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Periods. Situated between the Strymon and Nestos rivers, the city was valued in antiquity for its nearby gold mines. Site of...