Ivan the Terrible: Did you mean...?

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (l.c. 50- 130 CE) following the example of Socrates, wrote none of his teachings down, preferring to impart his wisdom to his students through class discussions. His student Arrian collected and edited the...

Pyotr Stolypin (1862-1911) was a Russian politician who served as prime minister to Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894-1917). Stolypin ruthlessly quashed anti-Tsarist rebellions after the Russian Revolution of 1905 but was also responsible for...

Catherine II of Russia (Catherine the Great) was the empress regent of Russia from 1762 to 1796. During the mid-18th century, Russia was still regarded as culturally behind compared to Western European countries. However, during her reign...

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...

Scandinavians from the island of Gotland began to spread throughout the Baltic region along the Russian rivers in the 700s. While the Vikings of Norway and Denmark from the 8th to 11th centuries are widely recognized as fearsome raiders and...

The siege of Sevastopol (Oct 41 to Jul 42) was an attack by Axis forces on the base of the USSR's Black Sea Fleet during Operation Barbarossa of the Second World War (1939-45). Sevastopol (aka Sebastopol) had one of the world's strongest...

Under the Seljuk rule, Persia gained a period of economic and cultural prosperity. The innovative techniques of the Seljuk period and style in architecture and the arts had a strong influence on later artistic developments. Seljuk art is...

An image portraying Baba Yaga's hut. Baba Yaga was said to live in a hut standing on chicken's legs. In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga was a witch who often preys on children to eat them. However, some accounts present her as a wise and helpful...

The Black Death was a plague pandemic that devastated medieval Europe from 1347 to 1352. The Black Death killed an estimated 25-30 million people. The disease originated in central Asia and was taken to the Crimea by Mongol warriors and traders...

Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea and rivers, creator of storms and floods, and the bringer of earthquakes and destruction. He was perhaps the most disruptive of all the ancient gods but he was not always a negative force. He was a protector...