Polynesian navigation: Did you mean...?

The Battle of Neerwinden saw the major defeat of a French republican army by an allied force of Austrians and Dutch during the War of the First Coalition (1792-97), part of the broader French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). The battle drove...

Thomas Cavendish (1560-1592 CE) was an Elizabethan mariner and privateer who famously circumnavigated the globe in 1586-88 CE, only the third voyage to do so and the first to set sail with that specific intention. Returning rich from Spanish...

Ptolemaic Egypt was a naval power that exerted influence throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from its foundation in 330 BCE until Cleopatra's defeat by Augustus at the Battle of Actium in 30 BCE. The Ptolemaic Kingdom produced some of the...

One of the most useful skills in early times was to be able to navigate using the stars. With this ability, sailors and explorers were able to venture through their lands and even discover new ones. Here's a little on how they did it...

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-magellan-circumnavigated-the-globe-ewandro-magalhaes On September 6, 1522, the "Victoria" sailed into harbor in southern Spain. The battered vessel and its 18 sailors were all that remained...

Pirates have gained a reputation for wearing bright and distinctive clothing and accessories during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) even if, in reality, most of what we think they wore comes from works of fiction like Robert Louis Stevenson’s...

The camel caravans which crossed the great dunes of the Sahara desert began in antiquity but reached their golden period from the 9th century CE onwards. In their heyday caravans consisted of thousands of camels travelling from North Africa...

Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great, l. 1672-1725) was the Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1721 and the Emperor of Russia from 1721-1725. The lasting impression of Peter's long reign is the significant changes he brought to Russia due to his various...

The most important cash crop in Colonial America was tobacco, first cultivated by the English at their Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 1610 CE by the merchant John Rolfe (l. 1585-1622 CE). Tobacco grew in the wild prior to this time and was...

Scythian women garnered leadership roles and a raised level of status in their day, which is perhaps without parallel until recent times. While many female figures rose to pivotal roles in history, their rise was not a reflection of systemic...