Featured
Definition
Omaha Beach - D-Day's Deadliest Beach
Omaha Beach was one of two beaches attacked by the US armed forces on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Strong German defences on the bluff overlooking the beach made this area the most difficult of the Normandy landings, but by the end of the day, the beachhead...
Featured
Collection
The Normandy Landings
In this collection of resources, we look at the events of D-Day, 6 June 1944, when the Allies stormed the Normandy beaches in France on the first day of a campaign to free Western Europe...
Featured
Image
Map of The D-Day and the Normandy Landings, June 1944 - Operation Overlord & History's Largest Amphibious Invasion
The Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, commonly known as D-Day, marked one of the most significant...
Featured
Image
Alexander the Great’s Eight Bodyguards - The Somatophylakes and the Macedonian Empire
Under Philip II of Macedon (reign 359–336 BCE) and Alexander the Great (reign 336–323 BCE), the somatophylakes (“bodyguards”) formed...
Latest Content
Definition
Almourol Castle - Island Fortress of the Knights Templar
Almourol Castle in Portugal was built on a 310-meter-long and 75-meter-wide granite islet in the middle of the Tagus River. Earlier Roman and Moorish structures...
Definition
George H. Thomas - The Underrated Hero of the Union
George H. Thomas (1816 to 1870) was a Union general in the American Civil War who first came to national attention after his victory at the Battle of Mill Springs...
Article
Why Japan's Kamikaze Attacks Failed in WWII
Kamikaze attacks were made by Japanese servicemen throughout the final, desperate year of the Second World War (1939-45). Planes, piloted rockets, and boats were packed...
Definition
Abraham Lincoln - Preserver of the Union
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the sixteenth president of the United States. He led the country through the tumultuous...
Article
N. Bart Pearce Account of the Battle of Wilson's Creek - The Confederate View of the Conflict
Nicholas Bartlett Pearce (better known as N. Bart Pearce, 1828 to 1894) was a brigadier general in the Arkansas Militia who allied...
Definition
Thaddeus Stevens - American Jacobin
Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was a US politician and abolitionist, who rose to prominence in the 1860s during the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras. A leader of the...
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Image
Map of the Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 1492–1504 - Routes, Landfalls & Colonial Expansion in the Americas
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) led four transatlantic expeditions between 1492 and 1504 under the patronage...
Image
Map of the Norman Conquest of England, 1066–1086 - From Hastings to Domesday – The Making of Norman England
The Norman Conquest of England began in 1066 after the death of Edward the Confessor (reign 1042–1066) without a direct...
Image
Map of the Caucasus after the Peace of Nisibis 299 CE - Roman and Sasanian Power on the Caucasian Frontier
The Peace of Nisibis (299 CE) ended the Roman–Sasanian War of 296–299 CE after Galerius, Caesar under the Roman emperor...
For You
Definition
Torah
The Torah, also known as the Pentateuch (from the Greek for “five books”), is the first collection of texts in the Hebrew Bible. It deals with the origins of not only the Israelites but also the...
Definition
Cave of Letters
Everyone is aware of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but few realise that these were just one find in a region which continues to yield hundreds of finds significant to our understanding of lives...
Article
Overlooked Athens: 5 Ancient Sites
For centuries, the Parthenon has been Athens' biggest tourist magnet. Pausanias gushed over it in the 2nd century CE, Elgin coveted it, Byron mourned for it, and countless...
Definition
Legio X Fretensis
Legio X Fretensis was a legion of the Roman army formed by either Julius Caesar or Augustus. The legion spent most of its existence in the East, primarily in Judea. It participated in Corbulo’s...
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 Van Buren Sisters vs. the Pants Police (Head-to-Head History)
The Van Buren Sisters vs. The Pants Police, by J. F. Fox, illustrated by Anna Kwan, is an informative, entertaining, and historically accurate children’s...
Book Review
Nero: Emperor and Court
Of the many emperors of Rome, there is one who has been given considerable attention and is often portrayed in a negative light. In Nero: Emperor and Court, John F. Drinkwater challenges...
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| 1,749 | articles |
| 19,721 | illustrations |
| 2,623 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 15,788 | translations |
| 47 | languages |
| 1,329 | contributors |
| 15,389 | keywords |
| 54,763 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
Legions of Britain
After the Roman emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 CE) successfully conquered Britain in 43 CE, four legions were left there to maintain the peace: XIV Gemina, II Augusta, IX Hispana, and XX Valeria...
Article
Setna I: A Detailed Summary & Commentary
Setna I (also Setna Khaemaus and the Mummies) is a work of ancient Egyptian literature from the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BCE) written in demotic script. It is part of...
Collection
War, Strategy and Tactics in Ancient Mesopotamia
The ancient Mesopotamians pioneered many strategies, tactics and policies in warfare that would be used for thousands of years to come, some of which continue to...
Definition
Phaedra
Phaedra is a princess of Crete and the wife of the Greek hero Theseus in Greek mythology. She is one of the main characters in Euripides' (c. 484-407 BCE) Greek tragedy Hippolytus, which recounts...
Definition
Yakushiji
The Yakushiji temple, located in Nara, Japan, is the headquarters of the Buddhist Hosso sect and one of the most important temples in the country. Originally founded in 680 CE at Fujiwara-kyo...
Definition
Sabratha
Sabratha was an ancient port city on the coast of North Africa (in modern-day Libya). The site was originally inhabited by the indigenous Berber Zwagha tribe in the 8th century BCE (according...
Definition
Caryatid
Caryatid is the name given to an architectural column which takes the form of a standing female figure. The first examples come from ancient Greek architecture and indeed, the most celebrated...
Definition
Hades
Hades was both the name of the ancient Greek god of the underworld (Roman name: Pluto) and the name of the shadowy place below the earth which was considered the final destination for the souls...
Medieval Period
Definition
Birka
Birka, located on the island of Björkö in present-day Sweden, was an important trading center and strongly fortified town in the Viking Age which flourished from the 8th through the 10th centuries...
Definition
Medieval Castle
Medieval castles were built from the 11th century CE for rulers to demonstrate their wealth and power to the local populace, to provide a place of defence and safe retreat in the case of...
Article
Christianization of Iceland
The Christianization of Iceland was a smooth transition compared to other Scandinavian countries. While in Norway, Denmark, or Sweden, royal authority played a crucial role in conversion...
Interview
Interview: Early Medieval Irish Book Art
Early medieval Irish book art is both beautiful and fascinating. It reflects a flourishing monastic culture which played a key role in the cultural development of Europe...
Definition
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate of Epirus was one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire when it disintegrated following the Fourth Crusade's capture of Constantinople in 1204 CE. It was originally...
Definition
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located on a strategically important rocky outcrop by the River Forth in central Scotland, was a key royal residence from the late 11th century into the early modern period...
Definition
Doctrine of Discovery
The Doctrine of Discovery is a policy enacted initially by the 15th-century Catholic Church proclaiming the right of Christian nations to take possession of the lands of non-Christians...
Article
How to Become a Medieval Knight
In medieval society a knight enjoyed a position of high status and often wealth, they were feared on the battlefield and known for their chivalry off it, but it took a long time...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and political thinker. His most famous work is Reflections on the Revolution in France a critique of the social and political turmoil in...
Article
Baroque, Age of Contrasts - Exhibition Interview Schweizerisches Landesmuseum
The Baroque era, which lasted from roughly 1580 and 1780, was a time of enormous contrasts: Opulence and innovation, on the one hand; death...
Article
Coal Mining in the British Industrial Revolution
Coal mining boomed during the British Industrial Revolution as it provided fuel for steam engines of all kinds in factories, transport, and agriculture. Draining...
Definition
Nasta 'liq
Nasta 'liq is one of the styles of Islamic calligraphy that was developed on Persian grounds by Persian calligraphers. The art of calligraphy has always held a prominent position in Persia...
Definition
Estado da India
The Estado da India (1505-1961) was the name the Portuguese gave to that part of their empire which stretched from India to East Asia. However, in its widest sense, the name includes all...
Article
Ten Pilgrim Facts You Need to Know
The story of the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony is well known regarding the basic facts: they sailed on the Mayflower, arrived off the coast of Massachusetts on 11 November 1620...
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...
Image Gallery
10 Maps on European History
In this gallery of 10 maps on European history, we explore the dynamic borders and the fragile quest for peace on the continent. Witness the shifting borders and the persistent...
Modern Period
Image Gallery
10 Maps of World War I
This collection of maps tells the story of World War I (1914-1918), a global conflict that originated in Europe and emerged from a combination of militarism, alliance systems, imperial...
Article
Italian Colonialism in Libya
One of the most coveted projects of Italian colonial policy was to secure an African colony in the Mediterranean. For this reason, Italy fought and won the Italo-Turkish war of...
Definition
Black Codes - Slavery Under a New Name During Reconstruction
The Black Codes were a series of racist and discriminatory policies enacted by several former slave states in the United States during the early years...
Article
Battle of Lundy's Lane
The Battle of Lundy's Lane (25 July 1814) was one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812. Fought near the location of present-day Niagara Falls, it saw a US army under Jacob Brown...
Definition
Fashoda Incident - When Britain and France Almost Went to War in Africa
The Fashoda Incident of 1898 occurred in Sudan and caused a diplomatic crisis between the British and French empires. A small French force claimed...
Article
Wallace Turnage - The Slave Who Freed Himself
Many enslaved African Americans in the United States escaped bondage with the help of the Underground Railroad, but many others took it upon themselves to seize their...
Article
A Storm Eagle
A Storm Eagle is a Cheyenne story recounting a battle fought between the Cheyenne and Pawnee in the winter of 1854-1855 when the Cheyenne retrieved the horses that the Pawnee had stolen from...
Definition
Matabeleland (Kingdom) - The Ndebele Empire in Southern Africa
Matabeleland (1838-1897), also known as the Ndebele Empire or Mthwakazi by the Ndebele themselves, was an African state covering what is today part of...
Prehistoric Period
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Historical Maps
This gallery of 30 maps traces the history of cartography, with examples of maps made by cultures from the Paleolithic to the early modern period. The maps cover cities, states...
Definition
Homo Heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of human that is identified in both Africa and western Eurasia from roughly 700,000 years ago onwards until around 200,000 years ago – fitting...
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...
Definition
Woolly Mammoth
The woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, is an extinct herbivore related to elephants who trudged across the steppe-tundras of Eurasia and North America from around 300,000 years ago until...
Definition
Ness of Brodgar
The Ness of Brodgar is a Neolithic Age site discovered in 2002 CE through a geophysical survey of the area of land in Stenness in Orkney, Scotland, which separates the salt water Stenness...
Article
Lost Civilisations of Anatolia: Göbekli Tepe
Göbekli Tepe is the world's oldest example of monumental architecture; a 'temple' built at the end of the last Ice Age, 12,000 years ago. It was discovered in 1995...
Definition
Clava Cairns - Monuments to Memory and More
Clava Cairns is an early Bronze Age site in Scotland, located east of the city of Inverness, consisting of three well-preserved cairns (two of which are passage graves...
Definition
Homo Erectus
Homo erectus, or 'upright man', is an extinct species of human that occupies an intriguing spot within the human evolutionary lineage. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers were highly successful...
