African History: Did you mean...?

In 1845 CE, the archaeologist Austen Henry Layard began excavations at the ruins of the city of Nimrud in the region which is northern Iraq in the present day. Layard's expedition was part of a larger movement at the time to uncover ancient...

It began with a bet in 1859 and would end in a burning in 1860, but, for the 110 African men, women, and children who had been illegally smuggled into the United States aboard the Clotilda, the flames that engulfed it were only the beginning...

Phillis Wheatley (l. c. 1753-1784) was the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry and become recognized as a poet, overcoming the prevailing understanding of the time that a Black person was incapable of writing, much less...

Mulan (“magnolia”) is a legendary character in Chinese literature who is best known in the modern day from the Disney filmed adaptations (1998, 2020). Her story, however, about a young girl who takes her father's place in the army to help...

The dog collar, so often taken for granted, has a long and illustrious history. Anyone fortunate enough to share their life with a dog in the present day is participating in an ancient tradition every time they place a collar around their...

The history of green tea in Japan goes back to the 8th century when it was a popular stimulant for meditating monks. In this article, we examine tea's origins and cultivation, how it became an integral part of Japanese culture, the symbolism...

Christmas carols are a much-loved part of the Christmas season and while many have a long history, others are surprisingly recent. From medieval dancing songs to the 19th-century revival, the words and music of carols have evolved over time...

The Swahili Coast on the shores of East Africa was a region where Africans and Arabs mixed to create a unique identity from the 8th century called Swahili Culture. Swahili is the name of their language and means 'people of the coast.' The...

The spices clove, nutmeg, and mace originated on only a handful of tiny islands in the Indonesian archipelago but came to have a dramatic, far-reaching impact on world trade. In antiquity, they became popular in the medicines of India and...

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean on the northwest corner of the Barents Shelf. It is 800 kilometres (497 mi) north of mainland Norway and sits roughly midway between the top of Norway and the North Pole. It is bordered by Greenland...