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 to the Napoleonic Wars, the war had some long-term impacts like the reduction of Native American political power and the strengthening of US and Canadian national identities. Causes Briefly...
Featured
Definition
Athenian Democracy
Athenian democracy refers to the system of democratic government used in Athens, Greece from the 5th to 4th century BCE. Under this system, all male citizens - the dēmos - had equal political...
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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...
Featured
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Map of the Korean War, 1950–1953 - Major Campaigns and Front-Line Movements
The Korean War (1950–1953) began on 25 June 1950 when communist North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), invaded South...
Latest Content
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...
Article
The Bombing of Tokyo in WWII - How Napalm Firestorms Destroyed a City
The systematic bombing of Tokyo by US aircraft in repeated raids during the Second World War (1939-45) was intended to force Japan's surrender...
Article
The Debate Between Sheep and Grain - A Sumerian Argument Between Animal Husbandry & Agriculture
The Debate Between Sheep and Grain (circa 2000 BCE) is one of the best-known Sumerian literary debates in a genre that was...
Definition
Korean War - How the Cold War Became a Hot War
The Korean War was a Cold War conflict that took place between North and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. It pitted US-led United Nations (UN) forces against the communist...
Article
G. H. Thomas's Account of the Battle of Mill Springs - Excerpts From the Official Action Report
At the Battle of Mill Springs (19 January 1862) in Kentucky, Union Brigadier General George H. Thomas had originally planned...
Definition
Franklin Pierce - The Tragic US President
Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fourteenth president of the United States. An unremarkable politician prior to his...
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Map of the World War I in Europe, May 1917 - Front Lines, Occupation and a Continent in Crisis
By May 1917, the First World War (1914–1918) had transformed the political and military geography of Europe. The Western Front...
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Map of the European Colonization of North America, 1492–1750 - Voyages, Claims, Settlements & Imperial Rivalries
European colonization in North America developed gradually between the late 15th century and the mid-18th century...
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Map of the Spanish Armada, 1588 - Route, Battles & Retreat around Britain and Ireland
The Spanish Armada of 1588 was the naval component of Philip II of Spain's planned invasion of England during the Anglo-Spanish War...
For You
Definition
Underground Railroad - Pathways to Freedom
The Underground Railroad was a decentralized network of White abolitionists, free Blacks, former slaves, Mexicans, Native Americans, and others opposing slavery in the...
Article
Siege of Boston
The Siege of Boston (19 April 1775 to 17 March 1776) was the first major military operation of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). After the first shots were fired at the Battles...
Article
Medieval Cures for the Black Death
The Black Death is the 19th-century CE term for the plague epidemic that ravaged Europe between 1347-1352 CE, killing an estimated 30 million people there and many more worldwide...
Definition
Library of Celsus
The Library of Celsus in ancient Ephesus, located in western Turkey, was a repository of over 12,000 scrolls and one of the most impressive buildings in the Roman Empire. Constructed in...
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
The Landmark Thucydides
Covering the conflict between Sparta and Athens and their respective allies in the 5th century BCE this is a fascinating insight into ancient Greek politics, war and society in a crucial...
Book Review
American Crusade: Christianity, Warfare, and National Identity, 1860–1920
In American Crusade: Christianity, Warfare, and National Identity, 1860-1920, Taylor University's Associate Professor of History Benjamin J...
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| 1,752 | articles |
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| 2,624 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
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| 47 | languages |
| 1,331 | contributors |
| 15,420 | keywords |
| 55,813 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Definition
Plato
Plato (l. 424/423 to 348/347 BCE) is the pre-eminent Greek philosopher, known for his Dialogues and for founding his Academy in Athens, traditionally considered the first university in the Western...
Definition
Polybius
Polybius (l. c. 208-125 BCE) was, whilst a Greek historian, a Roman historian, in that his work dealt with explaining how Rome came to be so great. Like the three Classical Greek Historians, Polybius...
Image Gallery
21 Images of Greek and Roman Charioteers
This gallery features images of Greek and Roman chariot racers. Chariot racing was the most popular spectator sport in ancient times. In Greece, chariot racing was important...
Article
Greek Mathematics
Greek mathematics, the study of numbers and their properties, patterns, structure, space, apparent change, and measurement, is said to have originated with Thales of Miletus (l. c. 585...
Article
10 Virtual Tours of Archaeological Sites & Museums in Turkey
Thanks to the new Sanal Muze digital portal released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey in 2020 CE, history lovers and art enthusiasts can...
Definition
Eris
Eris is the Greek goddess and personification of discord and strife. She is an unpopular figure in Greek mythology due to her problematic behaviour and her ability to stir up trouble wherever she...
Article
Legions of Judea
Judea was initially dependent on its neighbor Syria for military support until it received a Roman legion of its own in 70 CE after the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE. Legio X Fretensis was...
Definition
Trephination
Trephination (also known as trepanning or burr holing) is a surgical intervention where a hole is drilled, incised or scraped into the skull using simple surgical tools. In drilling into the...
Medieval Period
Definition
Kingdom of Abyssinia
The Kingdom of Abyssinia was founded in the 13th century CE and, transforming itself into the Ethiopian Empire via a series of military conquests, lasted until the 20th century CE. It...
Definition
Medieval Guilds
Guilds of merchants and craft workers were formed in medieval Europe so that their members could benefit from mutual aid. Guilds ensured production standards were maintained and that competition...
Definition
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian poet, writer, and scholar. His most famous and influential work is the Decameron, completed by 1353, in which his ten characters present 100...
Definition
Texcoco
Texcoco (aka Tezcoco or Tetzcoco), located near the eastern shores of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico, was the capital of the Acolhua people. It was a major power in the Aztec period and a...
Article
Life in a Renaissance Artist's Workshop
The majority of great Renaissance works of art were produced in large and busy workshops run by a successful master artist and his team of assistants and apprentices...
Article
1453: The Fall of Constantinople
The city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was founded by Roman emperor Constantine I in 324 CE and it acted as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire...
Definition
Empress Zoe - The Great Byzantine Ruler
Zoe Porphyrogenita was empress of the Byzantine Empire from 1028 CE until her death in 1050 CE. In an eventful career, she reigned alongside three husbands, had a hand...
Interview
Interview: The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown
In this interview, World History Encyclopedia is joined by American author Nancy Marie Brown, who is talking to us about her...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Charles Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805), 1st Marquess and 2nd Earl Cornwallis, was a British military officer and statesman best known for surrendering to George Washington at the Siege of Yorktown...
Definition
Sofonisba Anguissola - The Founder of Feminist Art
Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532-1625) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cremona who achieved considerable fame during her lifetime as the first widely-known...
Definition
Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571 CE) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, medallist, and goldsmith whose most famous works today include the bronze statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa...
Article
Top 5 'Deep-Dive' Virtual Shipwrecks
According to UNESCO, an estimated three million shipwrecks are scattered in the oceans’ deep canyons, trenches, and coral reefs and remain undiscovered. These shipwrecks...
Definition
Henry Clinton
Sir Henry Clinton (l. c. 1730-1795) was a British military officer who served as commander-in-chief of the British Army in the later stages of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Having...
Definition
Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687) was a Polish astronomer based in Danzig (Gdańsk). He worked from his own privately funded observatory, creating maps of the Moon's surface, discovering the...
Article
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile (1-2 August 1798), or the Battle of Aboukir Bay, saw a British fleet led by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) destroy a French fleet at Aboukir Bay near...
Article
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon (29 August to 19 December 1793) was a decisive military operation during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802), conducted by a French Republican army to retake the...
Modern Period
Definition
Titus Andronicus - Shakespeare's Bloodiest Play
Titus Andronicus is the earliest tragedy by William Shakespeare (l. c.1564-1616), probably written sometime between 1589 and 1593, and first performed in 1594. Infamous...
Definition
First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) - The Wake-Up Call for Both Sides in the American Civil War
The First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) on 21 July 1861 was the first major battle of the American Civil War and...
Article
T. R. Dew's A Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831 and 1832
T. R. Dew's A Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831 and 1832 is a pro-slavery work written in response to calls for...
Definition
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of September 1935 were a set of racial laws which set out a number of restrictions on Jewish people such as depriving them of the right to German citizenship and right...
Definition
White Bull
White Bull (Tatanka Ska, l. 1849-1947) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux warrior, nephew of Sitting Bull (l. c. 1837-1890), who is among the many claimed to have killed Lt. Colonel George Armstrong...
Article
Red Horse's Account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Red Horse (Tasunka Luta, l. c. 1822-1907) was a chief of the Miniconjou Lakota Sioux best known for his firsthand account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn...
Definition
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) was a British engineer and a key figure of the British Industrial Revolution (1760-1840). Brunel masterminded the Great Western Railway from London...
Definition
German East Africa
German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a colony of Imperial Germany from 1885 until 1918. The territory, much larger than Germany itself, covered what is today Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
The Sweet Track
The Sweet Track is a Neolithic timber walkway, located in the Somerset Levels, England. It was originally part of a network of tracks built to provide a dry path across the marshy ground...
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
Longmen Grottoes
The Longmen Grottoes, a Buddhist cave complex located 13 kilometers south of Luoyang in China's Henan province, form some of the most significant and exquisite representations of ancient...
Definition
Altamira
Altamira is a Paleolithic cave located in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria region) in northern Spain, containing prehistoric paintings. The cave was inhabited for millennia and so, besides Paleolithic...
Article
The Meaning of European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art
Rock art (also known as parietal art) is an umbrella term which refers to several types of creations including finger markings left on soft surfaces, bas-relief...
Definition
Neanderthal
Neanderthals are an extinct group of fossil humans that appeared in Western Eurasia in the mid-Middle Pleistocene and shared the stage with the first modern humans arriving in Europe from around...
Definition
Long Barrow
A long barrow is a class of Middle Neolithic (approximately 3500-2700 BCE) burial monument which is found extensively throughout the British Isles and is related to other forms of contemporary...
Definition
Homo Floresiensis
Homo floresiensis, nicknamed 'hobbit' because it only stood about 1 meter tall, is an extinct species of fossil human that lived on the island of Flores, Indonesia during the Pleistocene...
