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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.

Holocene Extinction, Anthropocene Extinction, or Merely the Dust in the Wind?
27 July, 2021 - 19:04 B. B. Wagner

Holocene Extinction, Anthropocene Extinction, or Merely the Dust in the Wind?

The Holocene extinction is considered by most scientists to be Earth’s sixth mass extinction event that has been occurring since the last ice age 11,700 years ago. But what exactly does it mean and...
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in a painting that was formerly attributed to the Flemish painter Steven van der Meulen (active 1543–1563). Source: Public domain
26 July, 2021 - 22:49 dhwty

Robert Dudley: A Virgin Queen's Great Love, Despite His Many Mistakes

Robert Dudley was an English courtier who lived during the 16th century. He is best known as being a favorite of Elizabeth I, the Queen of England. He had been a suitor of the queen for many years...
Reconstruction of a Guanche settlement of Tenerife (CC BY-SA 3.0) and reconstructed face(Provided by author) Deriv.
26 July, 2021 - 20:34 Gustavo Sanchez...

The Face Of A Canary Island Guanche Woman, Reconstructing Ancestors

The narratives of history relate the fates and dates of nameless, faceless people who came before us, often reduced only to numbers, but when forensic facial reconstruction puts a face to history,...
Misleading 19th century depicting the “barbarian” Visigoths sack of Rome in Late Antiquity Source: Public domain
24 July, 2021 - 18:54 Meagan Dickerson

Barbarians versus Romans: Violence and Urban Life in Late Antiquity

The image of the savage, violent barbarian is well-entrenched in Western culture and has been a part of our literary, popular culture and even our language for centuries. Most people would not...
Sunset silhouette of Orford castle in Suffolk (Steve Mann / Adobe Stock)
23 July, 2021 - 20:38 Charles Christian

Shuckland: Where Legends Haunt The Landscape

Shuckland encompasses haunted landscapes where legends, folklore, history and even tales of villains and heroes (but mainly villains) seemed to permeate the very fabric of the place and imprint their...
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, one of the Navratnas, presenting Emperor Akbar with the Akbarnama. Source: Public domain
22 July, 2021 - 19:12 Khadija Tauseef

The Navratnas: Nine Jewels of Emperor Akbar’s Mughal Court

In Mughal history, it is a well-known fact that Emperor Akbar’s court was exceptionally enlightened. Akbar sat at the helm of one of the most progressive courts of his time, ruling the Mughal Empire...
Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus (:Dmitry Bogdanov/ CC BY-SA 3.0)
21 July, 2021 - 21:11 ashley cowie

Dragon Sharks, Fish Flippers And Other Real Life Monsters Of The Primordial Soup

From the human perspective oceans appear endless and unchanging, but in reality they are in a constant state of flux, continuously evolving over vast periods of time. Many modern humans seem...
Sybil Ludington rode through the night to warn Patriots that the British were coming. Source: Cattallina / Adobe Stock
21 July, 2021 - 18:54 Aleksa Vučković

Sybil Ludington: Unsung Heroine of the American Revolutionary War

Sometimes we fail to notice the greatest heroes . Courage and daring can hide even in the smallest of characters, springing up unexpectedly and just in the nick of time. Sybil Ludington was just...
Haunting and beautiful Middle-Earth-like elves by artist
21 July, 2021 - 08:44 Alda S

Icelanders Believed in Elves, But it is Probably Not What You Think

Icelanders believe in elves. They refuse to begin major construction projects unless they consult with elves first. They lobby their politicians on behalf of elf colonies. They run “elf schools” and...
Akhenaten pic compliments of Jo from her trip. Osiris is a bronze/gold statue of the god, Louvre (Rama / CC BY-SA 3.0) (author created).
19 July, 2021 - 16:13 Jonathon Perrin

Akhenaten Heretic Pharaoh: The New Osiris

Did Egypt’s Heretic Pharaoh outlaw the God of the Dead, or become him? Akhenaten has been called ancient Egypt’s ‘Heretic Pharaoh’. From 1354-1337 BC Akhenaten so drastically altered his country’s...
La Voisin is believed to have poisoned thousands of people. Source: Igor Igorevich / Adobe Stock.
18 July, 2021 - 22:47 Bipin Dimri

Who Was La Voisin? France’s Socialite Poisoner For Hire

In a darkened room stands a 40-year-old woman named Catherine Monvoisin. Her figure is lit only by torches held by the faceless men standing in front of her, men who are sentencing her to death by...
Dark Age Britain is the name given to the post-Roman era, remembered as a time when British kingdoms descended into a fight for supremacy. Source: Stanislav / Adobe Stock
17 July, 2021 - 14:58 Meagan Dickerson

‘Just’ War and Martialism in Dark Age Britain

Dark Age Britain has been remembered as a time of great chaos and constant war. After the Romans withdrew from Britain in 410 AD, taking the stability of their imperial structures and large armies...
Two images of Aghori.
17 July, 2021 - 02:00 dhwty

The Aghori and Their Unorthodox Path to Enlightenment

The Aghori are followers of a Hindu sect believed to be 1000 years old. These ascetics are often regarded as sadhus (Sanskrit for ‘good/holy man’), and have devoted their entire lives to the...
Galleons, Stallions Of The Seas
16 July, 2021 - 20:45 Aaronne Colagrossi

Galleons, Stallions Of The Seas

The 17th-century was of fundamental importance for everything related to naval design in the centuries to follow. In the 1600s a vessel called a galleon, took center stage in international maritime...
A Visit to the Witch by Edward Frederick Brewtnall
16 July, 2021 - 02:01 Riley Winters

Bubbling Brews and Broomsticks: How Alewives Became the Stereotypical Witch

"Brewing", "herbs," "broomsticks," "woman." When one hears these words together, most often the assumption is that the person in question is a witch. Yet brewing has a very human meaning as well, one...
Summer Solstice Sunset at Stonehenge, UK (Phil/ Adobe Stock)
14 July, 2021 - 18:03 ashley cowie

The Lonely Stones That Square The Cosmic Circle

Both beneath and beyond Stonehenge in England, the Great Sphinx and Pyramid of Khafre in Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, Chichen Itza in Mexico and Newgrange in Ireland, exists an underlying code that...
Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation Flag (Ramapoughnative/ CC BY-SA 4.0)
13 July, 2021 - 20:25 Glenn M. Kreisberg

Modern Science Steps In To Revive Ancient Ceremonial Stone Landscapes

On the winter solstice of December 20, 2019, Chief Vincent Mann of the Ramapough Lunaape Munsee Nation Turtle Clan, accompanied by some members of the Turtle Clan, ‘keepers of the pass’, and members...
Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan friars order, as depicted in the Madonna del Sasso Sanctuary in Locarno, Switzerland.
11 July, 2021 - 14:56 Meagan Dickerson

Ireland’s Franciscan Friars: Men in the Middle of a Divided Society

The origins of Christianity in Ireland trace back as far as the 5th century, when the Bishop Palladius was sent from Rome on a mission to convert the Irish people in 431 AD. Palladius was followed a...
A man contorting his face at the idea of some of the weirdest foods in history. Source: Kurhan / Adobe Stock
10 July, 2021 - 18:24 Aleksa Vučković

A Test for the Taste Buds: The 7 Weirdest Foods in History

In many ways, the culinary arts of preparing food are the oldest in the world. Ever since becoming sentient, humans had to experiment with cooking in order to sustain themselves. From the dawn of...
Ta’ Cenc dolmen, one of the best-preserved Megalithic dolmens in Malta, sits on the edge of the Ta' Cenc Cliffs.
8 July, 2021 - 14:58 Laura Tabone

Secrets Of The Stones: Malta’s Lesser-Known Megalithic Design

Malta’s prehistory is as dazzling as it is opaque. The excavations and research by archaeologists and other academics have been incredibly thorough, and have helped to create fantastic insights into...
12th page of Kunijo Kabuki Ekotoba showing Izumo no Okuni, the founder of kabuki theatre, on stage. Edo Period, Keichō era (1596—1615) (Public Domain)
7 July, 2021 - 16:39 MartiniF

Asian Storytelling: Rakugo, Pingshu And The Art Of Sitting Seiza

Intertwined with the development of mythologies, storytelling predates writing and the earliest oral storytelling was animated with gestures and expressions thrown in for good measure. Tools to...
The decadence of Rome, as depicted in Thomas Couture's famous painting, is still celebrated today in film and literature. And no event was reported as more scandalous than the Banquet of Chestnuts in 1501, held the night before Halloween.
6 July, 2021 - 18:59 B. B. Wagner

The Banquet of Chestnuts: A Perverse Pastime at the House of Borgia?

On October 30, 1501, the most decadence of festivals occurred in the papal palace of Cardinal Cesare Borgia. A party that his own father, Pope Alexander VI, not only attended but participated in. The...
Attack of the Sea Peoples on Syrian fortification. Historical illustration. ( Lunstream / Adobe Stock)
5 July, 2021 - 20:25 pkoutoupis

The Elusive Origins Of The Danuna Of The Sea People

Scholars tend to lean more on archaeology and ancient Egyptian inscriptions to seek the identities of the elusive Sea Peoples. This is not a simple endeavor, but in summary the Sea Peoples were an...
Healing Temple of Aesculapius (Asklepios) by Robert Thom
3 July, 2021 - 01:58 Sarah Janes

The Healing Power of Dream Incubation in Ancient Greece

In the ancient world, many cultures built elaborate temple complexes dedicated to their healer gods - Imhotep in Egypt and Asklepios in Greece for example. These gods were recognized as having the...

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