Definitions

Gaia (also Gaea or Ge) is a primordial goddess and the personification of the Earth in Greek mythology. Gaia emerged from Chaos and is considered the supreme or mother goddess by immortals and mortals alike. All gods and goddesses are...

The Merovingian Dynasty was the ruling family of the Franks from roughly 481 when Clovis I ascended the throne of the Salian Franks until 751 when Childeric III was deposed and the Merovingians were supplanted by the Carolingian...

Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) was an English manufacturer and inventor who designed and created pottery of all kinds. Noted for his jasper stoneware, Wedgwood was also innovative in how he set up his factory works, for embracing...

Oceanus (also Okeanos) was the eldest of the Titans and a son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth) in Greek mythology. He was the god and personification of the freshwater river Oceanus, which was thought to encircle the earth and was...

Homo habilis ("handy man") is an extinct species of human that lived in East and South Africa between 2.3 and 1.5 million years ago and plays an interesting role in the discussion surrounding the dawn of our genus of Homo, which...

Dagobert I (l. 605-639) ruled as King of Austrasia from 623 to 634 and as King of All the Franks from 629 to 639. Together with the reign of his father, Chlothar II, the period of Dagobert's rule has been characterized as the peak...

The Thames Tunnel was completed in 1843 and connects the two banks of the River Thames at Rotherhithe and Wapping in London. The 20-year project was masterminded by Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849) and was both the first tunnel...

Narcissus is a figure from Greek mythology who was so impossibly handsome that he fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water. Even the lovely nymph Echo could not tempt him from his self-absorption. Narcissus' name...

Chlothar II was a Merovingian king of the Franks, who reigned from 584 to 629. He inherited the throne of Neustria as an infant, upon the assassination of his father, Chilperic I (r. 561-584). Following a long and bitter power struggle...

The Luddites, named after their legendary leader Ned Ludd, were workers who protested at the mechanization of the textile industry during the Industrial Revolution. From 1811 to 1816, the violent strategy of the Luddites was to smash...