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Definition
First Anglo-Boer War - Transvaal's Fight for Independence
The First Anglo-Boer War (aka Transvaal War, 1880-1) was a conflict between Britain and the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa. The Boers were fighting for their independence after the British takeover of Transvaal in 1877. The...
Definition
Synod of Whitby
The Synod of Whitby was an assembly held in 664 by King Oswiu of Northumbria, with the aim of deciding whether Oswiu's kingdom should follow Roman Christian customs or those of the Irish Christians at Iona, particularly regarding the calculation...
Definition
Inanna - The Most Popular Goddess of Ancient Mesopotamia
Inanna is the ancient Sumerian goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, and also of war. She later became identified by the Akkadians and Assyrians as the goddess Ishtar, and further with the Hittite Sauska, the Phoenician Astarte...
Definition
Cylinder Seal - Ancient Personal Identification
Cylinder Seals were impression stamps used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. Known as kishib in Sumerian and kunukku in Akkadian, the seals were used by everyone, from royals to slaves, as a means of authenticating identity in correspondence...
Definition
Jameson Raid - The Failed British Coup in Transvaal
The Jameson Raid was an unofficial and failed attempt by the British to take over the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa in December 1895. Masterminded by the millionaire imperialist Cecil Rhodes, the raid failed to gain support...
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Edmund I - The Second King of England
Edmund I ruled the Kingdom of the English from 939 to 946. In his youth, alongside his brother, King Aethelstan (reign 924-939), he defeated a Celtic-Viking alliance at the Battle of Brunanburh (937). Yet when Aethelstan died in 939 and Edmund...
Definition
Code of Hammurabi - The Most Influential Law Code of the Ancient World
The Code of Hammurabi was a set of 282 laws inscribed in stone by the Babylonian king Hammurabi (reign 1792-1750 BCE), who conquered and then ruled ancient Mesopotamia. Although his law code was not the first, it was the most clearly defined...
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Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady of British Politics
Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 November 1979 to 28 November 1990. Although the United Kingdom emerged militarily victorious from World War II (1939-45), it was still struggling with debt and inflation...
Definition
Hammurabi - Conquerer, King, and Law-Giver
Hammurabi (reign 1792-1750 BCE) was the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, best known for his famous law code, which served as the model for others, including the Mosaic Law of the Bible. He was the first ruler able to successfully...
Definition
Fertile Crescent - A Modern Term For An Ancient Region
The Fertile Crescent, often called the 'cradle of civilization', is the region in the Middle East that curves like a quarter-moon shape from the Persian Gulf through modern-day southern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and northern Egypt...