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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.

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...
The 15th-century, ninth European Map (Nona Europae Tabula), depicting the Balkans, from a medieval edition of Ptolemy's Geography. (Public Domain)
14 August, 2020 - 19:57 ashley cowie

Antiquarian Treasures Worth 150,000,000 Dollars

Before the invention of the Gutenberg printing press in Mainz, Germany, around 1440 AD, recognizable systems of writing had developed in three major ancient cultures: around 3000 BC Mesopotamian...
Artistic representation of a standing Gigantopithecus
14 August, 2020 - 17:10 Caleb Strom

The REAL Bigfoot: Gigantopithecus Would Have Been Terrifying to our Ancient Ancestors

From legends of Bigfoot to films like Mighty Joe Young, humans seem to have a fascination with giant ape-like creatures. This leads to the question of whether stories about giant apes have a basis in...
Known to all and feared by many, the Curonians were famed for their prowess in battle, strong warrior culture, and an infamous reputation of raiding and plundering their neighboring shores. Source: destillat / Adobe Stock
13 August, 2020 - 01:59 Aleksa Vučković

Men from the Land of Amber: The Shocking History of the Fierce Curonians

The modern Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania owe a lot to their fierce and rich history. The fearsome tribes of Balts – close cousins to the neighboring Slavs – carved for themselves a small...
Burning of a heretic by Sassetta (1423) Melburn Museum(Public Domain)
12 August, 2020 - 20:42 Roberto Volterri

The Jester of God and Murderous Heretic of 14th-Century Italy

" Penitenzàgite! (Do penance) ", shouted Gherardo Segarelli, a young and eccentric peasant, with flaming, hallucinated eyes and a long beard, as he wandered barefoot, wrapped only in a cloak, in the...
Painting titled ‘Free Women of Color with their Children and Servants in a Landscape.’ Life changed for American women as the eighteenth century progressed. Source: Public Domain
11 August, 2020 - 23:08 Anthony Ruggiero

Culturally Misunderstood: The Struggles and Advances of Early American Women

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw a series of transitions in life in America, as many, particularly women, strove to find their identities in patriarchal society. Early American women were...
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...
The Sati of Ramabai, Wife of Madhavrao Peshwa (reigned 1761-1772) (Public Domain)
10 August, 2020 - 19:39 MartiniF

The Bitter Battle of Bubat: Divorcing the Javanese and the Sundanese

The modern-day Java Island of Indonesia now boasts diverse ethnic and religious communities, but the island was once divided by the bitter Battle of Bubat, when a royal wedding turned into a blood...
Assyrian soldiers carry beheaded heads of their prisoners as depicted on a wall in the South-West Palace at Nineveh, during the “First” Fall of Neneveh. Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin / CC BY-SA 4.0
10 August, 2020 - 18:34 ashley cowie

August 10 612 BC: Nineveh, the Largest City in the World, Fell

On this day, 2,632 years ago, the ancient metropolis of Nineveh fell. “ ABC 3 ” is a historiographical text from ancient Babylonia which records August 10th 612 BC as the date of this dramatic...
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...
Hagia Sophia in February 2020 (A.Savin/ Public Domain)
7 August, 2020 - 20:31 jim willis

The Storied Past of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia

On July 12, 2020, Pope Francis stood silently in a pulpit placed in the large window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in Rome. He had just delivered the weekly Angelus prayer given each...
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...
The Unfinished Obelisk at Aswan (Image: © David H Childress)
6 August, 2020 - 00:40 davidchildress

The Enigma Of The Unfinished Obelisk At Aswan

The standard definition of an obelisk is a monolithic stone monument whose four sides, which generally carry inscriptions, gently taper into a pyramidion at the top. These massive, pointed shafts of...
Shadow of a eunuch in the Forbidden City of China
5 August, 2020 - 21:51 dhwty

The Fascinating Life of a Chinese Eunuch in the Forbidden City

The Inner Court of China’s Forbidden City was the emperor’s private realm, where no other men were allowed to linger for too long. Officials, military personnel, and even male relatives of the...
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...
Orion and adjacent constellations.( Sanu N/ CC BY-SA 4.0)
3 August, 2020 - 18:51 jim willis

Orion, Cygnus And The Mysteries Of The North Sky

Of all the mysteries and forgotten wisdom of lost civilizations, perhaps the most profound examples are to be found in their study of the heavens. It is not that modern man lacks information about...
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...
Transcript of The Silvery Water by Ibn Umayl at-Tamîmî by An Islamic artist 739H/1339, probably in Baghdad. Topkapi Library (Public Domain)
1 August, 2020 - 00:04 ashley cowie

Grandfathers of Alchemy, Forefathers Of Chemistry

Alchemy is a word almost everyone has heard of, but few have ever committed more than a handful of hours trying to grasp what this heavily loaded symbolic word actually means, in its entirely. So...
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...
Ancient Greek Olympics were a fundamental aspect of ancient Greek culture. Various types of running took place during the games, along with equestrian sports and combat sports. Source: sebos / Adobe Stock
31 July, 2020 - 14:02 Riley Winters

From Myth to Reality: Olympia and the Ancient Greek Olympics

The Olympics , as they exist today, are but a shadow of their former glory. Though there are more activities and participants in the modern games, they do little to entice and arouse the Greek...
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...
Cupid the Honey Thief by Albrecht Dürer (1514) Kunsthistorisches Museum (Public Domain)
29 July, 2020 - 18:12 Roberto Volterri

To Bee Or Not to Bee In The History Of Mankind

“ Sì come schiera d'ape, che s'infiora / as a host of bees, which blooms” said Dante Alighieri in Paradiso , XXXI, v.7 The Popol Vuh , the sacred book of the mythology of the Maya, tells how the bee...
The Classis Britannica was an important fleet in the Roman Navy. Source: RadoJavor/Deviant Art
29 July, 2020 - 13:59 John S. Richardson

Powerhouse of the Roman Navy: The Classis Britannica

The Roman Empire is perhaps best known for its legions, which were famous for their ability to overcome even their greatest defeats. However, while the legions of Rome were the all-conquering land...

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