Videos

Explore the history of the European plague doctor, and find out where their iconic outfit of a beaked mask and robe came from. The year is 1656. Your body is wracked by violent chills. Your head pounds and you're too weak to sit up. In...

Discover what happened when one company's attempt to dominate a key global trade ended in violence. During the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company cornered the booming spice market and pioneered trade routes between Asia and Europe...

Discover what factors helped Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” become the world’s most famous painting. More than 500 years after its creation, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is arguably the world’s most famous painting. Many scholars consider...

Dig into the myth of the Green Knight, who comes to King Arthur’s court to challenge the honor and bravery of Camelot’s knights. It was Christmas in Camelot and King Arthur was throwing a party. In the midst of the revelry, a towering...

Discover the myth of Bellerophon, the hero who battled and killed the Chimera monster atop the winged horse Pegasus. Shielded from the gorgon’s stone gaze, Perseus crept through Medusa’s cave. When he reached her, he drew his sickle and...

Tamerlane was one of history’s greatest conquerors— but was he a great state builder or a bloodthirsty tyrant? You decide. He was born in the 1330s in the Chaghatayid Khanate, formerly the Mongol Empire. On the steppe, he rose from a lowly...

Trace the rise and fall of the Islamic Empire, from the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century to the sacking of Baghdad. In the 7th century CE, the prophet Muhammad united the people of the Arabian Peninsula through the formation of Islam...

Explore how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid, a tomb created for Pharaoh Khufu which took over 20 years to complete. As soon as Pharaoh Khufu ascended the throne circa 2575 BCE, work on his eternal resting place began. The...

Join siblings Hisham and Asma in medieval Baghdad as they prepare and gather supplies for the hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca. It’s 791 CE. As the morning sun shines on the Golden Gate Palace, brother and sister Hisham and Asma prepare...

Trace the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire, which became one of the wealthiest and most powerful states in the early modern world. Though he was descended from some of the world’s most successful conquerors, Babur struggled to gain a...