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Famous People

In this section, we shed light on some of the most famous and infamous people known throughout history, from powerful pharaohs, to emperors and empresses, acclaimed military leaders, or just regular civilians who’ve been thrown into the spotlight for great crimes or for heroic actions, leaving an indelible mark on the world.

Could the origins of Jewish New Year really lie in the coronation of Akhenaten? Source: On the left Jon Bodsworth. Background image Arthur Szyk / CC BY-SA 4.0
17 September, 2020 - 13:56 Jonathon Perrin

Surprising Links Between Pharaoh Akhenaten and the Jewish New Year

The origin of Jewish New Year celebrations has long been shrouded in mystery. Families around the world celebrate it during autumn with sweet delicacies, joyous prayers, and the blasting of the...
Romulus and Remus placed in the river
16 September, 2020 - 02:06 ML Childs

Romulus and Remus, Osiris and Moses: Are the Storytelling Similarities a Mere Coincidence?

The stories of Romulus and Remus, Osiris, and Moses all share a common element. Why is it that the overarching theme surrounding ancient people and the start of their legacy is a male floating down...
Igor of Kiev wasn’t the most successful ruler of the Kievan Rus’. Source: Public domain
15 September, 2020 - 14:03 Aleksa Vučković

Prince Igor of Kiev (Kyiv): War and Diplomacy in the Early Rus’

The early beginnings of the Kievan (Kyivan) Rus’ are a highly researched subject that is a defining part of the history of the eastern Slavic peoples. The roots of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia are...
In the face of all the odds, the lives of Empress Nur Jahan and Queen Elizabeth I continue to inspire generations of women, as their strength turned them into feminist icons ahead of their time. Source: Left - Public domain. Right - Public domain.
12 September, 2020 - 22:56 Khadija Tauseef

Empress Nur Jahan and Queen Elizabeth I: Female Icons Ahead of Their Time

Our world has numerous examples of kings who have left a significant impact upon the lives of their people. As the saying goes, “behind every powerful man is an extraordinary woman.” Queen Elizabeth...
There seems to have been a concerted effort to keep scientific data conducted after the 1952 discovery of the remains of Pakal the Great under wraps. What are they hiding? Source: Jeffrey Holstein
9 September, 2020 - 18:50 Mark A. Carpenter

The Secret Skull of Pakal the Great: An Academic Cover-Up?

In 1952, deep within the smoldering cedar and mahogany forests of southern Mexico , and after four years of arduous toiling, the archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier finally finished removing the...
Star-Crossed Lovers? Criminals? Or Strangers? The Mystery of the Windeby Bog Bodies
3 September, 2020 - 21:27 dhwty

Star-Crossed Lovers? Criminals? Or Strangers? The Mystery of the Windeby Bog Bodies

Windeby I is a bog body that was discovered in a peat bog located in the town of Windeby, near Schleswig, in the northern part of Germany. This bog body was discovered in the middle of the 20th...
Considering how important the illumined sun disk was to Akhenaten and the Amarna period, it would be fascinating if we could detect any possible connection, correlation and perhaps even causation between historical events and ancient Egyptian solar eclipses of the Amarna era. Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin / CC BY-SA 4.0
2 September, 2020 - 18:56 Jonathon Perrin

Egyptian Eclipse Enigmas: Wild Solar Influences in the Amarna Age

The Amarna age of ancient Egypt lasted only twenty years, a relatively tiny slice of time, yet it irrevocably altered the course of the country’s art, religion, and language. From ~1350-1334 BC a...
Komnenian Dynasty mosaic in the Hagia Sofia, Istanbul, Turkey. The Virgin Mary and baby Jesus are flanked by John II Komnenos and his wife, Irene of Hungary.
30 August, 2020 - 23:55 dhwty

The Komnenian Dynasty: The Byzantine Royal Family that Kept Coming Back

The Komnenos (also spelled as Comnenus) family was a medieval noble family from Paphlagonia, Anatolia, in modern day Turkey. During the 11th century, the Komnenian Dynasty was founded. This dynasty...
While little is known about Flamma the gladiator, the details we have give rise to questions about his origins and the quality of life for a gladiator during his era. Source: zamuruev / Adobe Stock
30 August, 2020 - 18:38 B. B. Wagner

Flamma the Syrian: The Mysterious Gladiator Who Refused Freedom

"Flamma, secutor, lived thirty years. Fought thirty-four times, won twenty-one times, stood to draw nine times. Won a reprieve four times. Of Syrian extraction.” An eroded inscription on an ancient...
Sultan Razia never gave up her rightful place as heir. One Friday, dressed in red, the color of protest, she visited Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque to appeal to her people for justice. Source: kharchenkoirina / Adobe Stock
23 August, 2020 - 14:02 Khadija Tauseef

Sultan Razia: The First and Only Female Royal of Delhi

On the eve of October 1240, two armies faced one another ready for battle. This was a last-ditch effort by Sultan Razia to recapture her throne which had been usurped by her brother. Razia was the...
Dušan the Mighty, seen here in a detail of a 14th century fresco at Lesnovo Monastery in the Republic of Macedonia, ousted the Byzantine Empire from power in the region to create the great Serbian Empire which rose in the 1340s to become the leading political and economic power in the Balkans. Source: Public domain.
18 August, 2020 - 22:29 Aleksa Vučković

The Immortal Legacy: Dušan the Mighty and the Birth of the Serbian Empire

The medieval history of Serbia is an inspiring tale filled with great achievements, toil and struggle, and the strife of a small nation and its people as they attempt to rise to independence and...
Giulia Tofana was a 17th century leader of a poison cartel responsible for over 600 deaths thanks to her trademark poison Aqua Tofana. Source: Public domain
16 August, 2020 - 23:02 B. B. Wagner

Giulia Tofana: Queenpin of the Criminal Magical Underworld

Between the years of 1630 to 1655, Giulia Tofana and her poison cartel were the primary facilitators of well over 600 deaths, by way of disgruntled wife, through their trademark poison known as Aqua...
Statue of Raja Bhoja in Bhopal at the time of sunset. Source: yash / Adobe Stock
15 August, 2020 - 23:01 Saurav Ranjan Datta

The Curious Case of Multiple Raja Bhojas of India

Sometimes, a man acquires a legendary aura due to the benevolence of his heart or due to the greatness of his deeds. But often legends accumulate the collective qualities of various heroes and give...
Mimir, the bodiless god of wisdom, plays a fundamental role in the stories of Odin and the Norse gods.
11 August, 2020 - 12:49 Riley Winters

The Bodiless God of Wisdom: Mimir in Norse Mythology

The god who transcends even Odin’s power, Mimir (or sometimes called Mim) is remembered throughout Norse mythology as the oracular head from which the two races of gods, the Aesir and Vanir, seek...
Pope Alexander VI inspired the Showtime mini-series “The Borgias”,
10 August, 2020 - 22:55 dhwty

Pope Alexander VI: Unscrupulous Borgia Patriarch With a Lust for Power

Alexander VI was a pope who lived during the 15 th century, when Italy was experiencing the Renaissance . He is considered to be one of the most controversial popes in the history of the Roman...
Prester John was a legendary Medieval king. Source: diter / Adobe Stock
9 August, 2020 - 14:07 dhwty

The Legend of Prester John and His Lost Kingdom in the East

Prester John (known also as Presbyter John or John the Elder) was a legendary figure in Europe during the Medieval and Early Modern periods. Europeans living at that time believed that Prester John...
The Second Scorpion King of Ancient Egypt
6 August, 2020 - 18:59 Natalia Klimczak

Searching for the Lost Footsteps of the Scorpion Kings

There were two Scorpion Kings in the pre-dynastic period of ancient Egypt. They were forgotten by most of the world until Dwayne Johnson played one of the rulers in the famous movie ‘The Scorpion...
King Arthur. Detail. Charles Ernest Butler, 1903.
4 August, 2020 - 18:49 Graham Phillips

Archaeologists May Have Discovered the Birthplace of King Arthur: Legends Come to Life?

The discovery of 1500-year-old ruins at Tintagel in south-west England made headlines around the world. What appear to the be the walls of a Dark Age palace have been found in the exact place, and...
African slave turned king. Credit: Max / Adobe Stock
1 August, 2020 - 19:05 B. B. Wagner

Slave Turned King: The Rule of Miguel De Buria of Venezuela

In Venezuela’s early history, between 1552 to 1555, lies the first and most famous historical account of a slave revolt in the new world. This rebellion was led by Miguel de Buria, who not only won...
Mother Shipton's Cave
31 July, 2020 - 23:11 Natalia Klimczak

Mother Shipton’s Cave of Magic, Mystery, and Prophecy

According to legend, one of the most famous mystical women of England was born in a cave in Knaresborough, Yorkshire. The place of her birth, now known as Mother Shipton’s Cave, continues to be a...
Barbara Erni was a famous con artist in the 1700s whose treacherous trunk trick earned her a reputation, and ultimately an untimely end. Source: Thicha & Andrey Kiselev / Adobe Stock
30 July, 2020 - 22:51 Aleksa Vučković

The Brazen Cons of Barbara Erni and Gregor MacGregor

Throughout our relatively modern history, con artists, thieves, and scammers have been a dime a dozen. In dire times of poverty and lawlessness, shrewd and mischievous people resorted to the world of...
Darya Saltykova, aka Saltychikha, was an abusive and unchecked aristocrat, known for murdering 139 serfs on Yroitskoe estate near Moscow in Russia. Adapted from Portrait of Countess Darya Petrovna Saltykova by François-Hubert Drouais. Source: Public domain
25 July, 2020 - 18:58 B. B. Wagner

Darya Saltykova: Cruel Russian Aristocrat with a Taste for Murder

In 1768, Darya Nokolayevna Ivanova Saltykova, better known as Saltychikha , was found guilty for the murder of 139 serfs under her care. Of that number, only 38 were confirmed due to the immense fear...
Ancient Bengali Buddhists helped spread the religion to Tibet.
20 July, 2020 - 18:51 Saurav Ranjan Datta

How Ancient Bengalis Established Buddhism in Tibet

The history of the Indian sub-continent’s Bengal region dates back to ancient times. This long history includes India’s most famous epic stories including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata . Ancient...
Sophocles
18 July, 2020 - 15:51 dhwty

Sophocles: Archetypal Master of Greek Tragedy

Sophocles was a playwright who lived in Greece during the 5 th century BC. He is one of the three Greek writers of tragedy (the other two being Aeschylus and Euripides) whose works have survived till...

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