Featured
Definition
Commodus
Commodus was Roman emperor from 180 to 192 CE. With the death of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in March of 180 CE, the long reign of the five good emperors came to an end and with it so did the Pax Romana (the Roman Peace). Those emperors who followed for the next century would witness a time of both chaos and decline. The first of these inept emperors was Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, who...
Featured
Definition
Mau Mau Rebellion - Nationalism & Terror in British Kenya
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952-60), led by the Kikuyu people of Kenya, was a guerrilla war conducted against British colonial rule, motivated by anger at land...
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10 Crowned Monarchs on Crusade for the Holy Land (1107–1254) - Kings and Emperors Who Personally Led Crusades to Jerusalem
Between 1107 and 1254, ten crowned European monarchs personally led or joined major Crusades to the Holy...
Featured
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Map of the Allied Pacific Counteroffensive, 1942–1945 - WWII's Pacific War
From mid-1942, the Allied war against Japan shifted from containing expansion to sustained counteroffensive. The Battle of the Coral Sea (May...
Latest Content
Definition
Braxton Bragg - The Most Controversial Confederate General
Braxton Bragg (1817-1876) was a Confederate general from North Carolina, best known for commanding the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater of the American...
Article
Battle of Iwo Jima - The Pacific War's Bloodiest Encounter
The Battle of Iwo Jima (February to March 1945) was the bloodiest battle of WWII's Pacific War. A 72-day bombing campaign pounded the island before 110,000...
Definition
Kish - The First City of Political Prominence in History
Kish was one of the most significant and politically prestigious city-states in ancient Mesopotamia. According to the Sumerian King List, it was the first...
Article
Battle of Guam - The US Takes Back its Territory in WWII
The Battle of Guam, in the Mariana Islands, took place in July and August 1944 during the Pacific War of the Second World War (1939-45). Guam had been US...
Article
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan took place in June-July 1944. US forces engaged in a titanic three-week struggle with Japanese defenders to finally take the island, part of the Mariana Islands, during...
Article
South Carolina Declaration of Secession - Why South Carolina Left the Union
On 20 December 1860, 169 delegates met in Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, to consider the motion of secession from the United...
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10 Crowned Monarchs on Crusade for the Holy Land (1107–1254) - Kings and Emperors Who Personally Led Crusades to Jerusalem
Between 1107 and 1254, ten crowned European monarchs personally led or joined major Crusades to the Holy...
Image
Map of Spanish Conquest in Northern South America - Andes, Amazon & Caribbean Expeditions, 1499–1561
Spain’s rapid expansion into South America followed the consolidation of its Caribbean footholds by 1512, marking a decisive...
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6 Crusader Military Orders of the Latin East - Faith, Warfare & Power in the Outremer
The crusader military orders of the Latin East emerged during the 12th and 13th centuries from the religious, charitable, and military...
For You
Definition
Knap of Howar
The Knap of Howar is a Neolithic site on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland. The name is Old Norse for `mound of mounds' or `large barrow'. The building preserved at the site...
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...
Definition
Marduk - The Great God of Babylon
Marduk was the patron god of Babylon who presided over justice, compassion, healing, regeneration, magic, and fairness, although he is also sometimes referenced as a storm god...
Article
Day of the Dead
The Day of the Dead, known in Spanish as Día de los Muertos, is a holiday that celebrates life and honors the dead through traditions, food, decorations, and activities intended to sustain...
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 Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World
We may not always know why we are drawn to a bygone era or long-dead personality, but once hooked, the well rarely runs dry. Perhaps the reason...
Book Review
The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity
Spread over 16 chapters, the author delves into how the horse played a key role across cultures and geographies changing the course of agriculture, warfare, transportation...
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| 1,744 | articles |
| 19,679 | illustrations |
| 2,619 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 15,621 | translations |
| 47 | languages |
| 1,327 | contributors |
| 15,320 | keywords |
| 52,944 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Definition
Chavin Civilization
The Chavin civilization flourished between 900 and 200 BCE in the northern and central Andes and was one of the earliest pre-Inca cultures. The Chavin religious centre Chavin de Huantar...
Definition
Pushyabhuti Dynasty
The Pushyabhuti Dynasty (c. 500 CE - 647 CE) rose after the downfall of the Gupta Empire (3rd century CE - 6th century CE) in the 6th century CE in northern India. Also known as the Vardhana...
Definition
Gracchi Brothers
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (c. 163-133 BCE) and his younger brother Gaius (c. 154-121 BCE) were tribunes of the plebs in the Roman Republic. Serving in 133 BCE, Tiberius introduced a land...
Article
Julius Caesar: The Faults Behind the Myth
Last March marked the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination over 2,000 years ago, and after two millennia, his legendary achievements still linger in today's consciousness...
Article
Carthaginian Society
The society of Carthage was dominated by an aristocratic trading class who held all of the important political and religious positions, but below this strata was a cosmopolitan mix of...
Definition
Aristides
Aristides (520s – c. 467 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and military commander who gained the honorific title 'the Just' through his consistent selfless behaviour in public office. Although ostracized...
Definition
Bronze Age Aegean
The Bronze Age (c. 3000-1000 BCE) is the period when cultures were either using, producing, or trading bronze. Several cultures flourished around the Aegean Sea during this period: the...
Article
The Papyrus Lansing: Be A Scribe…Or Else!
The Papyrus Lansing is an ancient Egyptian document that dates to the reign of the Pharaoh Senusret III (also known as Sesostris III, and, arguably, the legendary Sesostris...
Medieval Period
Definition
Ghent Altarpiece
The Ghent Altarpiece, otherwise known as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, is a painted panel altarpiece created in 1432 for the Vijd Chapel in the church of St. John the Baptist, now St...
Definition
The Mórrigan
The Mórrigan (also Morrighan, Môr-Riogain or Morrigu), usually referred to with the definite article, was a great warrior-queen goddess in Irish-Celtic mythology. She was most associated with...
Definition
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506 CE) was an Italian Renaissance artist most famous for his use of foreshortening and other perspective techniques in engravings, paintings, and frescoes. Another...
Article
Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon
It is a breathtaking flight with dramatic sweeps over fertile valleys and blue pine forests. You fly past Mt. Everest, Mt. Kanchenjunga and Mt. Gangkhar Puensum, which is...
Interview
Interview: The Werewolf in the Ancient World by Daniel Ogden
In this interview, World History Encyclopedia is talking to author Daniel Ogden about his new book The Werewolf in the Ancient World. Daniel Ogden (Author...
Collection
The Arthurian Legend
The Arthurian Legend developed in Europe between c. 830, when the Welsh historian Nennius first mentions King Arthur through c. 1469 when Sir Thomas Malory composes Le Morte D’Arthur...
Definition
Isaac I Komnenos
Isaac I Komnenos was the Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059 CE. Although his reign was brief, he was known for being a capable and militarily astute general and emperor. As the first emperor...
Article
An Illustrated Glossary of Castle Architecture
Alure (Wall Walk) The walkway along the higher and interior part of a wall which often gives access to the higher floors of towers within the wall. Typically protected...
Early Modern Period
Article
Jesuit Influence on Post-medieval Chinese Astronomy
Ancient China had seen little Western contact before the 16th century CE, the language, culture and science all being allowed to develop independently of foreign...
Definition
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four laws passed by President John Adams and the Federalist-controlled Congress in 1798 that restricted immigration and free speech in the United States...
Article
4 Lesser-Known Elizabethan Playwrights and Poets
The Elizabethan era is often regarded as a golden age for English culture, language, and literature. Though William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson...
Definition
Bartholomew Roberts
Bartholomew Roberts, aka 'Black Bart' Roberts (c. 1682-1722), was a Welsh pirate and one of the most successful villains of the Golden Age of Piracy. Roberts plundered over 400 ships...
Definition
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. A prominent figure of the American Revolution, he wrote the Declaration...
Definition
Great Fear
The Great Fear (French: la Grande Peur) was a wave of panic that swept the French countryside in late July and early August 1789. Fearful of plots by aristocrats to undermine the budding French...
Article
Battle of Dunbar in 1650
The battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650 between the English Parliament's New Model Army led by Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and Scotland's army led by David Leslie (c. 1600-1682...
Article
Battles & Conquests Of The Ottoman Empire (1299-1683)
Spanning across three continents and holding dominance over the Black and Mediterranean Seas, the Ottoman Sultanate (1299-1922) was a global military superpower...
Modern Period
Article
Eastman's Biography of Red Cloud
Eastman's biography of Red Cloud (l. 1822-1909) is the first narrative of his Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains (1916), and it sets the tone for those that follow, including...
Article
Siege of Fort Erie
The Siege of Fort Erie (4 August to 21 September 1814) was one of the last major military operations of the War of 1812. Following the bloody Battle of Lundy's Lane, a US army retreated...
Definition
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author and poet, often credited as the father of the short story, a pioneer of science fiction, the inventor of the detective story, and the master...
Definition
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (l. 1839-1876) was an officer in the US Army, serving in the cavalry from 1861 to 1865 during the American Civil War and the wars against the Plains Indians...
Definition
Zheng Yi Sao
Zheng Yi Sao (aka Ching Shih, Cheng I Sao, Ching Yih Saou or Mrs Cheng, d. 1844) was the chief of a massive pirate confederation which plundered the South China Sea in the early 19th century...
Article
The Gilded Age Estates of Staatsburg, New York
The great estates of the Gilded Age were more than lavish displays of wealth for the American aristocracy c. 1870-1917, they supported the economy of the local communities...
Article
The Red Army in WWII
The Red Army of the USSR began the Second World War (1939-45) with a series of shocking defeats, but from late 1942, it rallied and held on to key cities like the capital Moscow, Leningrad...
Definition
Alexandra David-Néel
Alexandra David-Néel (l. 1868-1969) was a world traveler, writer, and Buddhist spiritualist who wrote over 30 books on her journeys which took her 18,641.136 miles (30,000 km) around...
Prehistoric Period
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
Venus Figurine
The term Venus figurine is used to describe the more than 200 small statuettes of voluptuous female figures that have been found at Upper Paleolithic sites across Europe and some parts of...
Article
Origins of World Agriculture
Agriculture arose independently at several locations across the world, beginning about 12,000 years ago. The first crops and livestock were domesticated in six rather diffuse areas...
Image Gallery
Paleolithic Art
The first non-functional human-made objects that could be clearly classified as art date back to the Upper Paleolithic (c. 50,000 to c. 12,000 years ago) in Europe. Although Upper 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...
Article
The Dolmens of Sicily
It is a well-known fact that Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean sea, went through a quite complex prehistoric period. So much so that it is difficult to navigate through...
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...
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...
