Featured
Definition
Japanese Tea Ceremony
The Japanese Tea Ceremony (chanoyu or chado) is a cultural tradition involving very particular places, procedures, and equipment for drinking green tea. Originating as a habit of Chinese Buddhist monks to aid their meditation, tea-drinking in Japan and other parts of East Asia became such a refined activity that, from the 13th...
Featured
Definition
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (1812-1815), referred to by some contemporaries as the Second American Revolution, was fought between the United States and the United Kingdom. Often remembered only as a sideshow...
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12 Blue Riband Ocean Liners, 1838–1938 - A Century of the Transatlantic Speed Race
The Blue Riband of the Atlantic was the unofficial distinction awarded to the passenger liner achieving the highest average speed on a...
Featured
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Twelve Spices That Changed the World - Trade, Empire, and the Global Age of Spices, 1450–1650
Between c. 1450 and 1650, demand for spices and other high-value plant commodities became an important catalyst for European...
Latest Content
Definition
Emancipation Proclamation - Lincoln's Call for Freedom
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by US President Abraham Lincoln on 1 January 1863, at the height of the American Civil War (1861-1865...
Collection
AP World History Unit 2 - Networks of Exchange (c. 1200-1450)
This collection gathers articles, definitions, and maps covering the trade routes, travelers, and networks of exchange related to Unit 2: Networks of...
Collection
AP World History Unit 1 - The Global Tapestry (c. 1200-1450)
This collection gathers articles, definitions, and maps covering the states, cultures, and events related to Unit 1: The Global Tapestry of the AP® World...
Definition
Battle of Mill Springs - The First Union Victory in the Western Theater
The Battle of Mill Springs (19 January 1862) was the first Union victory in the Western theater of the American Civil War and propelled Union...
Definition
Ulysses S. Grant - The General Who Won the American Civil War
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was a Union general in the American Civil War and, later, the 18th president of the United States of America. He is generally...
Article
Why Were Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombed in WWII?
The decision to drop the atomic bomb in August 1945 was taken to avoid further Allied casualties in the Pacific War by forcing Japan into an immediate surrender...
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The 5 Classical Orders of Architecture - Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan & Composite
The five classical orders of architecture: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite, are systems of proportion, structure, and...
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Map of the World Known to Europeans c. 1000 CE - Trade, Travel & the Limits of Geographic Knowledge
Around 1000 CE, European knowledge of the wider world was uneven and depended heavily on geography, trade, religion, and...
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12 Blue Riband Ocean Liners, 1838–1938 - A Century of the Transatlantic Speed Race
The Blue Riband of the Atlantic was the unofficial distinction awarded to the passenger liner achieving the highest average speed on a...
For You
Definition
Cylinder Seal - Ancient Personal Identification
Cylinder Seals were impression stamps used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. Known as kishib in Sumerian and kunukku in Akkadian, the seals were used by everyone...
Definition
Ancient Egyptian Mythology
Egyptian mythology was the belief structure and underlying form of ancient Egyptian culture from at least c. 4000 BCE (as evidenced by burial practices and tomb paintings) to 30...
Article
Louis XVI, the Girondins, & the Road to Revolutionary War (1791-92)
On 20 April 1792, King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) stood before the Legislative Assembly and, with a faltering voice, read a declaration of...
Definition
Byzantine Coinage
The coinage of the Byzantine Empire continued that of its more ancient predecessors and functioned as a convenient method of payment for goods and services, especially to soldiers and officials...
Book Reviews
Book Review
The Army of Alexander the Great
The Army of Alexander the Great (2025) is a highly detailed and insightful examination of one of the most influential military forces in history. Rather than presenting Alexander...
Book Review
Lore
Every seven years, nine of the 12 Olympians are turned mortal and sent to earth for one week, in an event called the Agon. During the Agon, the mortal bloodlines of famous Greek heroes such as Perseus...
Book Review
Dolia: The Containers That Made Rome an Empire of Wine
Caroline Cheung, an assistant professor of Classics at Princeton University, seeks to fill a rather large gap in the scholarship of the ancient Roman wine...
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| 1,752 | articles |
| 19,749 | illustrations |
| 2,625 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 15,904 | translations |
| 47 | languages |
| 1,331 | contributors |
| 15,435 | keywords |
| 56,118 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Collection
Judea under Herod the Great
Herod the Great's 33-year reign (37-4 BCE) as the client king of Rome was a prosperous time for Judea. Herod the Great's building program included over 30 projects throughout the...
Definition
Butrint
Butrint (ancient name Buthrotum) is located on the fertile coast of Epirus in present-day Albania and was an important settlement in Hellenistic and Roman times due to its position on the route...
Definition
Suppliants by Euripides
The Suppliants (also given as Suppliant Women) is a Greek tragedy written by Euripides, not to be confused with Aeschylus' tragedy of the same title. Its exact date of production is...
Article
Enki's Journey to Nippur - A Celebration of Life
Enki's Journey to Nippur (circa 2000 BCE) is a Sumerian origin myth explaining the creation of the temple at Eridu by the god Enki and how musical instruments were...
Article
Biblical Apocalypse
Apocalypse (Greek: apokalypsis, an "unveiling of secrets") is not an event, but a text that contains prophesies concerning God’s future intervention, and apocalypticism is a reference...
Article
The Coffin Texts
The Coffin Texts (c. 2134-2040 BCE) are 1,185 spells, incantations, and other forms of religious writing inscribed on coffins to help the deceased navigate the afterlife. They include the...
Definition
Ahriman
Ahriman is the evil spirit in Early Iranian Religion, Zoroastrianism, and Zorvanism, Lord of Darkness and Chaos, and the source of human confusion, disappointment, and strife. He is also known...
Definition
Noah
Noah is considered one of the patriarchs in the Jewish Scriptures or one of the founding fathers of what became the religion of Judaism. His story begins in Genesis 6 and consists of three elements...
Medieval Period
Definition
Ridda Wars
The Ridda Wars or the Wars of Apostasy (632-633 CE) were a series of military engagements between the armies of the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE) and the renegade tribes of Arabia. The rebels...
Article
Battle of Ashdown - The First Major Defeat of the Great Heathen Army
The Battle of Ashdown, fought on 8th January 871 in southern England, saw the Kingdom of Wessex defeat the Great Heathen (Viking) Army. This was...
Article
Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess Full Text & Summary
The Book of the Duchess is the first major work of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE), best known for his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales...
Article
The Nazca Lines: A Life's Work
The World Heritage-listed Nazca lines are a well-known part of the ancient heritage of Peru. One woman spent over 50 years studying and protecting them. Ana Maria Cogorno Mendoza...
Article
Maya Food & Agriculture
For the Maya, reliable food production was so important to their well-being that they closely linked the agricultural cycle to astronomy and religion. Important rituals and ceremonies...
Definition
Belisarius
Flavius Belisarius (l. 505-565 CE) was born in Illyria (the western part of the Balkan Peninsula) to poor parents and rose to become one of the greatest generals, if not the greatest, of the...
Collection
10 Great Renaissance Artists
The Renaissance of 15th- and 16th-century CE Europe witnessed an extraordinary blossoming of artistic talent. In this collection of resources, we look at ten of the greatest artists...
Collection
Mesoamerican Civilizations
Ancient Mesoamerica (modern-day Mexico and Central America) witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of cultures from the beginnings of the Olmec civilization around 1200 BCE, through...
Early Modern Period
Article
Jeanne de Jussie's Short Chronicle
Jeanne de Jussie's Short Chronicle (1535) is an eyewitness account by the nun Jeanne de Jussie (l. 1503-1561) relating how the Protestant Reformation in Geneva, Switzerland...
Definition
English Civil Wars
The English Civil Wars (1642-1651) witnessed a bitter conflict between Royalists ('Cavaliers') and Parliamentarians ('Roundheads'). The Royalists supported first King Charles I of England...
Article
Clothes in the Elizabethan Era
Clothes in the Elizabethan era (1558-1603 CE) became much more colourful, elaborate, and flamboyant than in previous periods. With Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE) herself...
Definition
Francisco Pizarro
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...
Definition
Myles Standish
Myles Standish (l. c. 1584-1656 CE) was the military advisor to the Plymouth Colony who traveled with the colonists (later known as pilgrims) aboard the Mayflower in 1620 CE. The colonists...
Definition
Kingdom of Benin
The Kingdom of Benin, located in the southern forests of West Africa (modern Nigeria) and formed by the Edo people, flourished from the 13th to 19th century CE. The capital, also called...
Definition
Philip Sidney - The Gentleman-Poet of Elizabethan England
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) was an English poet, scholar, soldier, and courtier, one of the most prominent figures at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of...
Definition
Charlotte Corday
Charlotte Corday (1768-1793) played a prominent role in the French Revolution (1789-1799) when she assassinated radical activist Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub on 13 July 1793. Despite her...
Modern Period
Definition
Stono Rebellion
The Stono Rebellion (also known as Cato's Rebellion or Cato's Conspiracy, 9 September 1739) was the largest slave revolt in the British colonies of North America. Led by an educated slave...
Article
Battle of Stalingrad - The Destruction of Germany's Sixth Army
The Battle of Stalingrad (now Volgograd, July 1942 to February 1943) was an attempt by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) to control the USSR's access to the Caucasus...
Definition
John Wilkes Booth - The Actor Who Killed A President
John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) was a 19th-century American stage actor who assassinated US President Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865. Born to a family of famous...
Article
The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky
The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky is a folktale from the Arapaho nation about a girl, Sapana, who is tricked by a supernatural sky-being into traveling to his home, where he keeps...
Article
Battle of Kiev in 1941
The Battle of Kiev (Kyiv) in July-September 1941 was a major Axis victory in Operation Barbarossa, Adolf Hitler's attack on the USSR during the Second World War (1939-45). Hitler wanted...
Definition
Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer of Romantic music best known for his songs, symphonies, piano music, and chamber music. Schubert's career lasted only 15 years, but he...
Definition
Northern Cheyenne Exodus
The Northern Cheyenne Exodus (1878-1879) is the modern-day term for the attempt by the Northern Cheyenne under chiefs Morning Star (Dull Knife, l. c. 1810-1883) and Little Wolf (also...
Definition
1811 German Coast Uprising
The 1811 German Coast Uprising (8-11 January 1811) was the largest slave revolt in US history involving between 300-500 enslaved and free Blacks in the Louisiana parishes of St...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Denisovan
The Denisovans are an extinct group of fossil humans who, along with their sister group the Neanderthals, also share an ancestor with Homo sapiens. Thus far, they are known only from Denisova...
Definition
Ceide Fields
The Ceide Fields, near Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, on the western coast of Ireland, are recognised as one of the oldest and largest Stone Age farming sites in the world, dating back to c. 3700 BCE...
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...
Image Gallery
Prehistoric Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly are a small island group west of Cornwall. Despite their small size, they abound in prehistoric sites dating from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, including...
Article
Prehistoric Alpine Stilt Houses
Alpine stilt houses are a unique and fascinating aspect of prehistoric architecture in the Alps, which provide valuable insights into the lives and culture of the ancient communities...
Article
Early Human Migration
Disregarding the extremely inhospitable spots even the most stubborn of us have enough common sense to avoid, humans have managed to cover an extraordinary amount of territory on this...
Definition
Ҫatalhöyük
Ҫatalhöyük is one of the largest Neolithic settlements ever discovered. Built more than 9000 years ago in modern Konya Plain, central Turkey, it is known in archaeology as a proto-city, a link...
Article
Dynamics of the Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution began between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago at several widely dispersed locations across the world, when our ancestors first began planting and raising...
