All  

Store Banner Desktop

Store Banner Mobile

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.

Medieval miniature of Æthelflæd in genealogical roll of the kings of England 13th century.(Public Domain)/ Æthelflæd as depicted in the cartulary of Abingdon Abbey
13 June, 2017 - 14:03 Riley Winters

Æthelflæd, The Medieval Queen Who Took on the Vikings to Save Her Kingdom

While her name is a mouthful, and quite a convoluted one at that, Æthelflæd of Mercia's role in early medieval England is rather straightforward. More importantly, the part she played in the conquest...
Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
4 June, 2017 - 01:57 dhwty

The Sicarii: The Jewish Daggermen With a Thirst for Roman Blood

The Sicarii - which may be translated as ‘daggermen’ from the Latin - were a group of Jewish zealots who lived during the 1 st century AD. The Sicarii intended to expel the Romans and their...
Left: Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Right: Warrior heroine Saikal
30 May, 2017 - 14:00 ancient-origins

Selling Sex: Wonder Woman and the Ancient Fantasy of Lady Warriors That Goes Back Millennia

When the film Wonder Woman is released in early June, it will surely join the blockbuster ranks of other recent comic book-inspired film franchises. Wonder Woman has long been a bestselling creation...
Anubis Reconstructing Osiris (1350 BC, Tomb of Ramses 1, Egypt).
20 May, 2017 - 13:58 Calumy

The Macabre Mystery of the Missing Prince And ‘Zombie’ King

In “The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun”, by Paul Doherty he remarks, “There is a passivity about Tutankhamun which is quite chilling.” Normally the text in the tombs of other Kings read in the...
James Woodford’s statue of Robin Hood in Nottingham, England
17 May, 2017 - 13:59 dhwty

Robin Hood: Too Good to Be True - A Real Folk Hero or a Romantic Embellishment?

Robin Hood is arguably one of the best-known figures in English folklore. Today, he is generally portrayed as an outlaw dressed in Lincoln green who ‘robbed from the rich to give to the poor’. Now a...
Saint Columba converting King Brude of the Picts to Christianity, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
13 May, 2017 - 01:42 ancient-origins

Does the Fierce Reputation of The Picts Reflect Reality?

It’s not that the Picts, a group of British Isle inhabitants, were that different from native Britons around the fourth century, a historian suggests in a new book. It’s just that Julius Caesar didn’...
Portrait attributed as Christopher Columbus (Public Domain) Deriv.
12 May, 2017 - 14:03 XpoKolon

Christopher Columbus: Master Double Agent and Portugal’s 007

Henry IV of Spain – known as "The Impotent" for his weakness, both on the throne and (allegedly) in the marriage chamber – died in 1474. A long and inconclusive war of succession ensued, pitting...
Imam Ali Mosque - Shrine of: 1st Shia Imam - Ali ibn abi Talib; Prophet Adam; and Prophet Nuh (Noah).
5 May, 2017 - 18:53 Natalia Klimczak

Is this the Final Resting Place of Noah? It is Certainly One of the Contenders

The tale about a huge ship (of Biblical proportions) that enabled the survival of all of the species of animals around the world sounds impressive, but also quite unbelievable. Nonetheless, its...
Moses’ Horns.
3 May, 2017 - 19:13 Mark Oliver

4 Completely Different Versions of the Story of Moses

The story of Moses doesn’t just show up in the Bible. In the ancient world, nearly every culture had their own version of what happened. The Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans all had their own...
Illustration representing an ancient explorer.
2 May, 2017 - 19:04 Mark Oliver

Did This Ancient Explorer Make It to The Arctic In 325 BC?

The first arctic explorer isn’t who you think. More than 2,300 years ago, Pytheas of Massalia traveled to the Arctic Circle and back – and, when he came home, nobody believed him. In a time when most...
The so-called “Brutus” Marble.
1 May, 2017 - 02:02 dhwty

Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger: Ultimate Betrayer or a Hero of the Roman Empire?

Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, commonly referred to as just ‘Brutus’, was a politician who lived towards the end of the Roman Republic. Brutus is best known for being one of the main conspirators...
Examples of Olmec art.
30 April, 2017 - 14:09 JJ Ainsworth

What Makes the Olmec Culture So Unique and Alluring?

The Olmecs were the first true Mesoamerican civilization. There were small villages and groups of people in the area in which the Olmec developed but these societies are referred to as Pre-Olmec. The...
Saint Margaret and Olybrius. Margaret herds sheep when Olybrius arrives by Fouquet 15th Century.
24 April, 2017 - 14:00 dhwty

She Met the Devil, Escaped a Dragon, and Survived Several Attempts on Her Life: The Remarkable Story of St. Margaret of Antioch

St. Margaret of Antioch is a Christian saint venerated in both the Churches of the West and of the East. In the latter, she is known as Saint Marina the Great Martyr. Little is known for certain...
‘Die Amazonenschlacht’ by Anselm Feuerbach, 1873.
23 April, 2017 - 14:06 Natalia Klimczak

Who was the Powerful Amazon Queen Orithyia and What Drove Her to Launch a Fated Attack on Athens?

Orithyia was one of those dangerous women whose beauty was so often described by terrified and excited men that it became legendary. For centuries, the Amazons were believed to be nothing more than a...
Kepler and part of his heliocentric Solar System,
21 April, 2017 - 23:03 Kerry Sullivan

How Did the Skeptical Astrology of Johannes Kepler Contribute to Our View of the Cosmos?

Johannes Kepler, a key figure in the scientific revolution and keen astrologer, paid the bills by writing horoscopes for the rich and famous. The namesake of NASA’s space observatory was a German...
Amerigo Vespucci meeting fair skinned and blond natives upon his arrival on his first voyage to the New World, 1497.
18 April, 2017 - 18:55 Caleb Strom

Did a Welsh Prince Reach the New World Before Columbus?

The Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506 AD) has already been dethroned as the European discoverer of the Americas. Most historians now agree that the first known Europeans in the New...
The Saccara Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt.
11 April, 2017 - 14:01 Natalia Klimczak

The Real Reason Tutankhamun, Akhenaten, and Cleopatra are the Superstars of Ancient Egypt

Archaeology, like every discipline on Earth, cannot be free from the rules of marketing and public relations. The impact of promotion in media and other places affects the lives of millions of people...
Silver reliquary with skull purportedly Saint Agnes' - Santa Agnese in Agone Church at Piazza Navona in Rome.
8 April, 2017 - 22:32 Natalia Klimczak

The Fascinating Catacomb of Saint Agnes, a Young Christian Martyr Who Died for her Beliefs

Beneath the city of Rome, among its ancient remains, lie many complexes of catacombs. One of the oldest of these is the one dedicated to Saint Agnes. Agnes (or Agatha) was a beautiful young woman who...
Cloaked man; Deriv
7 April, 2017 - 13:58 Graham Phillips

Merlin: Warrior & Poet. Two Historical Figures that Inspired the Legend

It’s only a few weeks now until the movie King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hits the big screen. It will be particularly interesting to see how it portrays Merlin, the royal puppet master in the...
Margaret Murray Unwrapping the Khnum-Nakht Mummy
2 April, 2017 - 22:56 Natalia Klimczak

Margaret Murray - Mother of Egyptology, Grandmother of Wicca, or Fairy Godmother?

Margaret Murray is one of the most mysterious Egyptologists. Although many researchers criticize her research, the story behind her writings scares anyone who is wary of the powers of witchcraft...
Terra Cotta Soldiers (CC BY 2.0), and Qin Shi Huang in a 19th century portrait (Public Domain);Deriv.
2 April, 2017 - 14:06 Shibumi

The King Who Made War Illegal! Challenging the Official History of The Art of War and the Terra Cotta Army–Part II

Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of a unified China. His remarkable success in ending 200 years of war and founding the empire through peaceful means had followed a methodology fully articulated...
Penglai, depiction of one of the mythical islands (Public Domain), and Qin Shi Huang in a 19th century portrait (Public Domain);Deriv.
31 March, 2017 - 23:05 Shibumi

The King Who Made War Illegal! Challenging the Official History of The Art of War and the First Emperor –Part I

There are two great mysteries about the life of Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China—and a grand conspiracy. And these tightly related events are of profound significance extending way beyond the...
Roman soldier
28 March, 2017 - 02:00 ancient-origins

How a third-century Roman soldier named Carausius was behind the first ‘Brexit’

From the first to the fifth centuries AD, Britain – though not officially Scotland, which lay beyond the frontier at Hadrian’s Wall – was part of the Roman Empire. It was situated at the empire’s...
Urraca I of Leon by Jose Maria Rodrigues de Losada (deriv.)
26 March, 2017 - 23:01 Natalia Klimczak

Urraca the Reckless: How Did a Child Bride Unify a Kingdom?

Feminine, inspiring, and powerful – these three words could be sufficient to describe the queen whose rule transformed the position of women in medieval courts. Her original stamp on society is felt...

Pages