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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...
Featured
Article
Dogs in the Ancient World
Dogs have been a part of the history of human beings since before the written word. The ancient temple of Gobekli-Tepe in Turkey, dated to at least 12,000 years BCE, has provided...
Featured
Image
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...
Featured
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12 Ancient Scripts We Still Cannot Read - Undeciphered Scripts & Lost Languages of the Ancient World
Throughout history, writing enabled societies to record administration, trade, law, religion, and historical events. From...
Latest Content
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...
Article
Jefferson Davis' Message to Congress - States' Rights and Defense of Slavery
There were many events leading up to the American Civil War, with tensions becoming increasingly heightened between the Fugitive Slave Act...
Definition
Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign - The US Island-Hopping Advance in the Pacific
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign (November 1943 to February 1944), a key strategic step forward in WWII's Pacific War, saw...
Article
Georgia's Declaration of Secession - Why Georgia Left the Union
On 19 January 1861, at a state convention held in Milledgeville, Georgia voted to secede from the United States of America, becoming the fifth state...
Definition
Bronze Age Collapse - The Decline and Fall of Mediterranean Civilization
The Bronze Age Collapse (also known as Late Bronze Age Collapse) is a modern-day term referring to the decline and fall of major Mediterranean...
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Crusader Military Orders of the Latin East - Faith, Warfare & Power in the Outremer
The military orders of the Latin East emerged during the 12th and 13th centuries as institutions combining religious devotion, communal...
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Map of the Spanish Main & Golden Age of Piracy - Treasure Fleets, Buccaneers & Pirate Havens, c. 1650–1730
Between c. 1650 and 1730, the Caribbean formed the maritime heart of Spain’s American empire and one of the principal...
Image
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...
For You
Definition
Devi
Devi, also known as Mahadevi or 'Great Goddess', is an all-embracing Mother Goddess first worshipped in India in Prehistoric times. In the Vedic period, she was assimilated into the Hindu pantheon...
Article
Trade in the Byzantine Empire
Trade and commerce were essential components of the success and expansion of the Byzantine Empire. Trade was carried out by ship over vast distances, although for safety, most...
Article
Rome's Egyptian Heritage
The Eternal City of Rome is one of the places in the world with the most historical sites to visit. The list of ancient ruins, museums, churches, and other historical landmarks makes...
Definition
Medieval Folklore
Medieval folklore is a body of work, originally transmitted orally, which was composed between the 5th and 15th centuries in Europe. Although folktales are a common attribute of every civilization...
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
Uncovering the Culture of Ancient Egypt
Uncovering the Culture of Ancient Egypt by Alix Wood is a part of the Archaeology and Ancient Cultures series. It is designed for younger, elementary school-aged children...
Book Review
Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland's Elves Can Save the Earth
I was intrigued by the title of Nancy Marie Brown’s latest book Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland’s Elves Can Help Save the Earth. In many...
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| 1,742 | articles |
| 19,674 | illustrations |
| 2,619 | videos |
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| 47 | languages |
| 1,326 | contributors |
| 15,311 | keywords |
| 52,529 | registered users |
Ancient Period
Article
The Origin of Satan
Satan, or the Devil, is one of the best-known characters in the Western traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Surprisingly, this entity was a late-comer in the ancient world...
Definition
Pharisees
The Pharisees were a Jewish sect that emerged c. 150 BCE and promoted the idea of priestly purity for all Jews, belief in providence or fate, and the concept of the resurrection of the dead...
Definition
Cynane
Cynane (l. c. 357- 323 BCE, pronounced `Keenahnay') was the daughter of the Illyrian Princess Audata and King Philip II of Macedon, making her the half-sister of Alexander the Great (l.356-323 BCE...
Article
Aztec Food & Agriculture
The Aztec civilization, which flourished in central Mexico between c. 1345 and 1521 CE, was able to provide an astonishingly wide range of agricultural produce thanks to a combination...
Definition
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Jewish scriptures and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Genesis takes its name from the opening line in Hebrew – beresit, ("in the beginning"...
Definition
Syracuse
The city of Syracuse is located on the east coast of Sicily and was originally a Greek colony founded by Corinth in 734 BCE. The city enjoyed a period of expansion and prosperity under the tyrant...
Definition
Delos
Delos is a Greek island in the Cyclades archipelago which was both an influential political force and, with its sanctuary to the god Apollo, an important religious centre in the Archaic and Classical...
Definition
Hyangga
Hyangga was a form poetical 'country song,' distinct from contemporary Chinese songs, which were written in the Silla and Goryeo kingdoms of ancient Korea between the 7th and 10th century CE. The...
Medieval Period
Definition
Greek Fire - The Byzantines' Seceret Weapon
Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon first used in Byzantine warfare in 678 CE. The napalm of ancient warfare, the highly flammable liquid was made of secret ingredients...
Article
The Portuguese Colonization of Cape Verde
The Portuguese colonization of the Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) Islands began from 1462. Initially envisaged as a base to give mariners direct access to West African trade...
Definition
Isabella d'Este
Isabella d’Este (l. 1474-1539), was the leading lady of Renaissance Italy who funded the works of such renowned artists as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Many of the greatest Renaissance...
Definition
John II Komnenos
John II Komnenos “the Handsome” was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 1118 CE to 1143 CE. John, almost constantly on campaign throughout his reign, would continue the military successes...
Collection
A History of the Crusades
The Crusades were a series of military campaigns waged between Christians and Muslims, Christians and pagans (the Northern Crusades), and Christians against Christians (the Fourth...
Definition
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China in 130 BCE, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce between 130 BCE-1453...
Article
La Rochelle, a Protestant Stronghold of the French Reformation
La Rochelle emerged early in the French Reformation as a Protestant political and military center. The city's fortifications withstood repeated sieges...
Definition
Chidambaram
Chidambaram (Cidambaram) is an important Chola temple site in Tamil Nadu, southern India. Most of the temples at Chidambaram were built in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The site is dominated...
Early Modern Period
Article
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the foundational document of the United States of America. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it explains why the Thirteen Colonies decided...
Definition
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies of British North America that gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 5 September...
Article
A Brief History of Tobacco in the Americas
The history of tobacco use in the Americas goes back over 1,000 years when natives of the region chewed or smoked the leaves of the plant now known as Nicotiana rustica...
Definition
Mayflower
The Mayflower is the name of the cargo ship that brought the Puritan separatists (known as pilgrims) to North America in 1620 CE. It was a type of sailing ship known as a carrack with three masts...
Definition
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act of 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act, was legislation passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764 to crack down on molasses smuggling in the American colonies...
Definition
Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was a French cavalry officer who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) and Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). He was appointed marshal of the French Empire...
Definition
Kremlin
The Kremlin is a fortified complex located in the centre of Moscow, Russia, which is made up of towers, high walls, palaces, and cathedrals. Construction of the Kremlin began as early as the 12th...
Article
Death of Admiral Coligny
The assassination attempt on Gaspard II de Coligny, Admiral of France (l. 1519-1572) on 22 August 1572 was the spark igniting the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre beginning on 24 August...
Modern Period
Article
The Causes of WWI
The origins of the First World War (1914-18) are many and varied, with some even dating back several decades, but a political assassination in the Balkans in the summer of 1914 was the...
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
Escaping Colditz - WWII's Notorious Prison Camp
Colditz Castle in Saxony, Germany, sits high on a precipitous cliff face that towers above a tributary of the river Mulde. First built in the 11th century, the forbidding...
Definition
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was a concentration and extermination camp in German-occupied Poland operated by the Nazi SS from 1940 to 1945. Around 1.1 million people died at the Auschwitz complex from overwork...
Article
How Germany Lost World War I
Germany started the First World War (1914-18) with the belief its armed forces could win a quick and decisive victory over France and then Russia. The reality turned out to be...
Article
Ellen and William Craft's Escape Through Canada - The Challenges of Racial Prejudice
Among the most daring escapes from slavery in the United States in the 19th century was the flight of Ellen and William Craft from the...
Definition
U-Boat - Germany's Submarines of WWI & WWII
The U-boat, short for Unterseeboot (undersea boat), was the name for submarines used by the German Navy during the First World War (1914-18) and Second World War (1939-45...
Article
Persian Miniature Painting
Persian miniature painting is a courtly and aristocratic art, with exquisite colors, balanced compositions, and meticulous attention to detail. Although its origins can be difficult...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Migration Age
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or German: Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between 300 to 700 CE...
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
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara is an ancient Neolithic Age site in County Meath, Ireland. It was known as the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, the site of coronations, a place of assembly for the enacting...
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
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
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...
Definition
Poulnabrone
Poulnabrone is a portal tomb in the region known as the Burren, County Clare, Ireland and the oldest dated megalithic monument in the land. The name means "Hole of the Quern Stones", but the...
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...
