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History

From the powerful civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley, to the fearsome yet sophisticated society of the Vikings, the ancient world was a surprising and challenging place. Here we feature some of the most seminal and influential events and people throughout history, that have helped shape the world we know today.

Medieval stargazers. People have been fascinated by the stars and their possible influence over our lives, long before and after the time of Babylonian astrology.
7 October, 2018 - 17:20 Sarah Roberts

Babylonian Astrology: How Mesopotamian Priests Influenced Your Horoscope

Mankind has always looked up to the sky and wondered at its beauty and secrets. Human beings are also incredibly good at spotting patterns, so it is no wonder that we noticed the changing appearance...
Mongol attac
7 October, 2018 - 13:59 dhwty

The Famous and Powerful Khanates that Followed the Mongol Empire

A khanate was a political entity ruled by a khan. Historically speaking, the ruler of a Mongolian tribe was given the title ‘Khan’. Later on, this title was adopted by many Muslim societies. Although...
Taniec tatarski (Tatar's Dance), a painting by Juliusz Kossak
6 October, 2018 - 23:05 ancient-origins

The Tatars: The Golden Horde, People from Hell, Or Something Else?

Today, Tatars is a collective name given to a number of Turkic-speaking groups that live in Russia and several former Soviet countries. But Tatars has had various other meanings through history. For...
John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I.
6 October, 2018 - 03:19 Riley Winters

John Dee: Scholar, Astrologer, and Occult Practitioner that Captivated the Royal Court of 16th Century England

Born into the era of intellectual and artistic reawakening, John Dee quickly rose through Elizabethan society as a scholar, philosopher, navigator, doctor, and astrologer of the Queen of England...
Men of the Vedda culture.
5 October, 2018 - 22:57 ashley cowie

Meet the Half Million-year-old Jungle People of Sri Lanka! The Fascinating Vedda Culture

In the western world, a statue, monument, or fountain might inspire thoughts and debates about the First World War, the American Civil War, or the Protestant Reformation. What doesn’t often pop up...
Stained glass representation of the Prophet Isaiah by Valentin Bousch.
5 October, 2018 - 18:57 Caleb Strom

What is the Legacy of Isaiah the Prophet?

Isaiah the prophet is known for having urged Israel to rely on Yahweh, their national god, instead of on the political power, and the gods of nations like Egypt or Assyria for protection and...
“Goddess of Luck” Blind Fortuna by Tadeusz Kuntze (1754)
5 October, 2018 - 15:17 ashley cowie

Pure Luck: The Role of Chance in History

Luck is a way of understanding or judging how chance events affect our lives. Chance may be a mixed bag of marshmallows and razor blades, a flowing river of good and bad experiences; positive,...
Wooden funerary figurines of Khitan people returning from a hunt. Liao dynasty (907–1125). Held at the Capital Museum, Beijing. (BabelStone/CC BY SA 3.0) Background: Stone tablet with fake epitaph inscription in the Khitan Large Script. Held at the Nationalities Museum of the Inner Mongolia University, but not on official display. It is an almost complete copy of the Epitaph for the Princess of Yongning Commandery (永寧郡公主墓誌銘) of 1092.
5 October, 2018 - 14:01 dhwty

The Khitan People: Nomadic Tribe, Chinese Dynasty, Lost to the Mongols

The Khitan people were a nomadic tribe that lived in Manchuria, in the northeastern part of China. Towards the end of the 9th century AD, the Khitan people emerged as a powerful force in the northern...
Women Warriors: Queen Zenobia Addressing Her Soldiers by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
5 October, 2018 - 01:47 ancient-origins

Warrior Women: Despite what Gamers Might Believe, the Ancient World was Full of Female Fighters

Eve MacDonald / The Conversation One of the great things about computer games is that anything is possible in the almost endless array of situations on offer, whether they are realistic or fantasy...
Top Image: Napoleon at the Battle of the Pyramids, 21 July 1798, oil on canvas, 1810. By Antoine-Jean Gros; design by Anand Balaji (Public Domain); Deriv.
3 October, 2018 - 16:41 anand balaji

The Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt: Hasty End of a Powerful Dream – Part II

Even though Napoleon Bonaparte had tasted a series of successes within weeks of setting foot in Egypt, including an important victory against the dreaded Mamluks, his plan to conquer the entire...
A portrait of Michelangelo flanked by his sculpture ‘Madonna of Bruges’ and a detail of the Redeemed from his painting of ‘The Last Judgement.’
3 October, 2018 - 03:18 dhwty

Michelangelo: A Mixture of True Talent Meeting Great Luck and Perseverance

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, better known as Michelangelo, is one of the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance period (between the 14th and 16th centuries AD). The Renaissance...
Trash cans in a city park
2 October, 2018 - 19:07 ashley cowie

Making America Great Again, With Some Seriously Ancient Trash Talk

I bet it’s been a while since you stopped to think about the garbage you generate? As we navigate the corridors of life we each leave behind us a trail of trash but with trash cans and dumpsters in...
The Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt: The Path to Conquest and Glory
1 October, 2018 - 16:31 anand balaji

The Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt: The Path to Conquest and Glory – Part I

At the end of the 18th century, Great Britain and France were vying to dominate one another by colonizing several territories across the globe. The English were already ahead in this race – but only...
Wampanoag Tribe Helped the Mayflower Pilgrims Survive But Peace Was Fleeting
1 October, 2018 - 14:00 Mark Miller

Wampanoag Tribe Helped the Mayflower Pilgrims Survive But Peace Was Fleeting

The Wampanoag nation was unfortunate to be among the first people in the Northeast United States to have contact with European explorers and later English colonists in the early 16 th and 17 th...
The Coronation of Powhatan’ (circa 1835) by John Cadsby Chapman
1 October, 2018 - 02:04 Mark Miller

Powhatan: The Powerful Native American Chief and His Kingdom

Powhatan was the name of both a powerful Native American chief (king) and the confederacy he ruled at the time of the arrival of English Colonists in Virginia in 1607. Powhatan reigned over several...
Till Eulenspiegel fountain in Mölln
30 September, 2018 - 23:06 dhwty

Till Eulenspiegel: The Crude Pranks and Hilarious Hi-jinks of a 14th Century German Fool

Till Eulenspiegel is a notable character from German folklore and the protagonist in a number of folktales. Most recognized for his trickery, it may surprise people to know that Till Eulenspiegel...
Democritus’ (1630) by Johannes Moreelse. There have certainly been some strange and funny events in history.
29 September, 2018 - 18:57 ashley cowie

Monumentally Funny Events in History: From Napoléon’s Petit Package to Pythagoras’ Fear of Farts

History is often presented in grey, rather dry terms, but when you do a bit of digging, our past is full of remarkable people who had wicked senses of humor and died with as much vigor as they lived...
Nestled and sheltered by the mountain ranges, lies the hidden Hunza Valley, inspiration to the Shangri-La legend.
28 September, 2018 - 16:10 Willem Daffue

Was Alexander the Great Responsible for Creating Shangri-La in the Hunza Valley in Pakistan?

In his book Lost Horizon (1933) James Hilton created the legend of Shangri-La, a peaceful Himalayan valley of long-lived people. Where the northern border of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan...
Comanche Feats of Horsemanship (1834-1835) by George Catlin.
28 September, 2018 - 14:01 Mark Miller

Comanche Tribe History is One of Conquest

The history of the Native American Comanche tribe includes their move from ancestral homelands in Wyoming to more southerly parts and conquering new lands. They were then in turn conquered, after...
‘The Storyteller’ by L.F. Tantillo depicting Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) people.
27 September, 2018 - 02:07 Mark Miller

Surviving a Hostile New World: The Iroquois Confederacy's Struggle Against Disease, Starvation, Enslavement and Warfare

The founding of the Iroquois Confederacy of Five Nations came about in a campaign to bring peace to the warring, yet related tribes of the region around New York and the eastern Great Lakes. In 1722...
Ancient Sorcery: Antique witch book, black candle and ritual objects.
26 September, 2018 - 15:48 Charles Christian

From Sorcerer to Saint: The Arcane Life and Magickal Times of Saint Cyprian

Of all the saints of the Christian church, one of the most anomalous must surely be St Cyprian who, after his martyrdom in the early 4th century AD, became known as the patron saint of sorcerers...
Alaric entering Athens
26 September, 2018 - 02:21 dhwty

King Alaric: His Famous Sacking of Rome, Secretive Burial, and Lost Treasure

The Sack of Rome in 410 AD by the Visigoths is often regarded as an event that marked the beginning of the end of the Western Roman Empire. The man responsible for the second sacking of Rome (the...
This is an untitled ledger drawing in pencil and colored pencil by a Lakota tribe artist and leader named Black Hawk, born ca. 1832. This work also appears in Janet Catherine Berlo's ‘Spirit Beings and Sun Dancers: Black Hawk's Vision of the Lakota World.’
25 September, 2018 - 02:00 Mark Miller

Lakota Tribes Inhabited Two Rich Wildernesses, Both were Stolen, But The People Resisted

The Lakota tribe of the Sioux people are vivid in the world’s imagination as buffalo hunters and warriors who fought the U.S. Calvary from horseback in feather bonnets on the Great Plains and Wild...
Sacking of Rome in 1527 by Johannes Lingelbach (17th century) 14,000 mercenaries under George von Frundsberg joined the Duke of Bourbon and the Constable of France, Charles III, to lead them towards Rome.
24 September, 2018 - 15:31 Cam Rea

Soldiers for Sale: Mercenaries from Ancient Times to Medieval Times

Mercenaries are soldiers who are paid for their martial services from the pocket of their employer and from the spoils obtained in war. Most mercenaries once fought in professional armies before...

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