Articles

Abner Doubleday (1819-1893), an officer in the US Army during the American Civil War, is famous today for two events – neither of which actually happened: - Firing the first shot from Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861 - Inventing the game...

The Nimrud Ivories are a vast collection of figures, panels, and plaques, carved from ivory, dated to the 9th to 7th centuries BCE, discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Nimrud. Today, they are considered among the finest archaeological...

A Praise Poem of Lipit-Estar is a Sumerian praise song honoring Lipit-Estar (also known as Lipit-Ishtar, reign circa 1935 to circa 1924 BCE), the fifth king of the First Dynasty of Isin, best known for his legal code written between the time...

In September 1862, while in Urbana, Maryland, on the Maryland Campaign, Confederate Cavalry General J. E. B. Stuart (1833-1864) decided to take a break from the American Civil War and stage a grand party at the Landon House (also known, since...

Enki's Journey to Nippur (circa 2000 BCE) is a Sumerian origin myth explaining the creation of the temple at Eridu by the god Enki and how musical instruments were ordained for use in festivals in ancient Mesopotamia. The poem formed part...

The Queen of the Night (also known as the "Burney Relief") is a high-relief terracotta plaque of baked clay, 19.4 inches (49.5 cm) high, 14.5 inches (37 cm) wide, with a thickness of 1.8 inches (4.8 cm), depicting a naked winged woman flanked...

The Hymn to Nungal (circa 1894-1595 BCE) is a Sumerian poem praising Nungal, the goddess of prisons and rehabilitation (also associated with the underworld), as well as the prison house she presided over. Her name means "Great Princess,"...

The Allies met in several conferences from 1941 to 1945 to discuss how to guarantee a more peaceful and cooperative world once the Second World War (1939-45) was concluded. To foster global cooperation, facilitate free trade, and give aid...

The Hymn to Nisaba (circa 3rd millennium BCE) is a poem praising Nisaba, the Sumerian goddess of writing and accounts who also served as scribe of the gods. The poem is officially dedicated to Enki, the god of wisdom (sometimes given as her...

On the evening of 14 April 1865, US President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth, while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. He died the next morning. The assassination rocked the broken...