Volunteer: Did you mean...?

During the First World War (1914-18), as governments sought to field the largest armies possible and so conscripted millions of men to the fighting fronts, the role of women in society was greatly expanded. Women worked as nurses and medical...

The evacuation of children from British cities during the Second World War (1939-45) was the largest population movement the country has ever experienced. Some 6 million women and children voluntarily evacuated from large cities to live with...

The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of the "Five Civilized Tribes" – the Choctaw, Seminole, Muscogee Creek, Chickasaw, and Cherokee – between 1831 and 1850, from their ancestral homes in the Southeast USA to "Indian Territory"...

For the ancient Greeks, the quality of arete (personal excellence) and the concept of eusebia (social duty) were most important. Aristotle discusses both of these at length in his Nichomachean Ethics and relates arete to eudaimonia - translated...

Our CEO Jan van der Crabben writes about the organization's history for its 10th anniversary in 2019 (when it was still called Ancient History Encyclopedia). Ancient History Encyclopedia just turned ten! On 25 August 2009, we officially...

The encomienda was a system where Spanish adventurers and settlers were granted the legal right to extract forced labour from indigenous tribal chiefs in the Americas colonies of the Spanish Empire. In return, the Europeans were expected...

The Siege of the Alamo (23 February to 6 March 1836) was an engagement of Texian forces with the Mexican Army, leading up to the Battle of the Alamo on the morning of 6 March 1836. The 13-day siege and battle has become legendary and is among...

Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca civilization from 1532. With only a small group of men, Pizarro took advantage of his superior weapons and the fact that the Incas were weakened...

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French impressionist painter who used many different media to capture dancers, bathers, horse races, and scenes from Parisian café society. A keen photographer, Degas' paintings frequently show real-life captured...

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an American printer, writer, scientist, inventor, and diplomat, often regarded as a Founding Father of the United States. He rose to prominence as editor of The Pennsylvania Gazette and author of Poor Richard's...