Videos

Dogs were highly valued in ancient Rome, as they were in other cultures, and the Roman dog served many of the same purposes as it did in, say, Egypt and Persia - as hunters, guardians, and companions - but with a significant difference in...

Explore the 6 most common misconceptions about the Middle Ages, and find out what living in medieval times was actually like. Medieval Europe. Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat, thought the Earth was flat, defended...

Thomas Jefferson was a founding father of the United States — but were his principles outweighed by his participation in slavery? Thomas Jefferson, founding father of the United States and primary author of the Declaration of Independence...

Explore the history of the European plague doctor, and find out where their iconic outfit of a beaked mask and robe came from. The year is 1656. Your body is wracked by violent chills. Your head pounds and you're too weak to sit up. In...

Discover what happened when one company's attempt to dominate a key global trade ended in violence. During the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company cornered the booming spice market and pioneered trade routes between Asia and Europe...

Discover what factors helped Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” become the world’s most famous painting. More than 500 years after its creation, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is arguably the world’s most famous painting. Many scholars consider...

Dig into the myth of the Green Knight, who comes to King Arthur’s court to challenge the honor and bravery of Camelot’s knights. It was Christmas in Camelot and King Arthur was throwing a party. In the midst of the revelry, a towering...

Discover the myth of Bellerophon, the hero who battled and killed the Chimera monster atop the winged horse Pegasus. Shielded from the gorgon’s stone gaze, Perseus crept through Medusa’s cave. When he reached her, he drew his sickle and...

Tamerlane was one of history’s greatest conquerors— but was he a great state builder or a bloodthirsty tyrant? You decide. He was born in the 1330s in the Chaghatayid Khanate, formerly the Mongol Empire. On the steppe, he rose from a lowly...

Trace the rise and fall of the Islamic Empire, from the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century to the sacking of Baghdad. In the 7th century CE, the prophet Muhammad united the people of the Arabian Peninsula through the formation of Islam...