Ivan iv: Did you mean...?

Michael IV the Paphlagonian was Byzantine emperor from 1034 to 1041 CE. He had an affair with Empress Zoe, then married her and was crowned emperor after the death of her first husband, Romanos III. He ran a competent regime that kept the...

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...

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...

The siege of Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) began during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR launched by the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), during the Second World War (1939-45). The siege or blockade lasted from...

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...

This map illustrates the political landscape of Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa around the year 1450 CE—a pivotal moment on the eve of major geopolitical transformations. At this time, the Byzantine Empire clung to its...