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Calypso - The Nymph Who Kept Odysseus Prisoner
In Greek mythology, Calypso, whose name means "to hide" or "to conceal," is a nymph best known from Homer's (c.750 BCE) epic The Odyssey for falling...
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Twelve Steels That Forged History - Metallurgical Revolutions That Changed Civilization.
Steel, an alloy of iron and carbon whose strength, hardness, and flexibility can be modified through composition and processing, has been one of humanity’s...
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Article
Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor?
Without warning or even declaring war, Japan attacked the US naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. Japan's military government, which...
Article
Doubleday's Account of Fort Sumter - He Aimed, Did Not Fire, the First Gun
Abner Doubleday (1819-1893), an officer in the US Army during the American Civil War, is famous today for two events – neither of which actually happened...
Article
The Nimrud Ivories - Their Discovery & History
The Nimrud Ivories are a vast collection of figures, panels, and plaques, carved from ivory, dated to the 9th to 7th centuries BCE, discovered in the...
Article
A Praise Poem of Lipit-Estar - A Popular Sumerian Song
A Praise Poem of Lipit-Estar is a Sumerian praise song honoring Lipit-Estar (also known as Lipit-Ishtar, reign circa 1935 to circa 1924 BCE), the fifth...
Definition
Eridu Genesis - The Oldest Mesopotamian Text on the Great Flood
The Eridu Genesis (also known as the Sumerian Flood Story, The Flood Story, Sumerian creation myth, Sumerian deluge myth) is the oldest Mesopotamian...
Definition
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy (1868-1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who served as regent for the Kingdom of Hungary from 1920 until his forced abdication...
Definition
North American P-51 Mustang - The Fighter that Changed Aerial Warfare
The North American P-51 Mustang was a long-range fighter aircraft used by the air forces of the United States and Great Britain during the Second World...
Article
J. E. B. Stuart's Sabers and Roses Ball of 1862 - An Evening's Break from the War - Almost
In September 1862, while in Urbana, Maryland, on the Maryland Campaign, Confederate Cavalry General J. E. B. Stuart (1833-1864) decided to take a break...
Definition
Winfield Scott - The General Who Mapped the Union Victory
Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was an American military leader famous for his brilliant tactics in battle, for his insistence on the value of a highly trained...
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...
Definition
Battle of Philippi (Philippi Races) - The First Organized Land Battle of the American Civil War
The Battle of Philippi (3 June 1861) was the first organized land engagement of the American Civil War, fought in Philippi, Virginia (present-day West...
Article
The Queen of the Night - The Mysterious Burney Relief
The Queen of the Night (also known as the "Burney Relief") is a high-relief terracotta plaque of baked clay, 19.4 inches (49.5 cm) high, 14.5 inches...
Definition
Early Dynastic Period In Egypt - Unification and the Rise of the First Egyptian Kings
The Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (circa 3150 to circa 2613 BCE) is the beginning of the historical era of the country during which the regions of...
Definition
Hara Castle
Hara Castle was originally built in 1496 as a subsidiary fortification to nearby Hinoe Castle, with upgrades made from 1599 to 1604. Later dismantled...
Definition
Assur - The Supreme God of the Ancient Assyrians
Assur (also Ashur, Anshar) is the god of the ancient Assyrians who was elevated from a local deity of the city of Ashur to the supreme god of the Assyrian...
Definition
Mahmud II - Reformist Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Mahmud II was one of the most influential sultans of the Ottoman Empire. As a radical reformer, he strove to implement military and governmental reforms...