Prostitution is often described as the world’s oldest profession. Although this isn’t true – hunters, farmers, and shepherds predate prostitution – the sale of sex traces back to time immemorial. The...
The hair of black boys and girls was, and continues to be, an object of ridicule and discrimination. This kind of distain is a throwback to a more openly racist era, steeped in beliefs of African...
When studying ancient societies, it isn’t uncommon to experience some culture shock. Even after researching a society for years, you’ll come across something that will stop you straight in your...
It has long been known from carvings and tomb paintings that the ancient Egyptians used branding irons to mark their cattle. Now a new study presents evidence that they also used branding stamps on...
Today, slavery is seen as one of the worst atrocities mankind has ever committed, but once slavery was seen as just another part of everyday life. The Hellenistic world of ancient Greece was no...
When people think about love and sex in ancient Rome, it tends to be pretty scandalous: orgies here, there, and everywhere! But the truth is rarely black and white. Were the Romans more sexually...
The shortest war in recorded history began at 9 am on August 27, 1896. It was over in less than three-quarters of an hour, with a shocking toll of 501 killed or wounded soldiers. This is the story of...
After more than a year-and-a-half of study and contemplation, the District Council that governs Stroud, Gloucestershire, England has voted to seek the removal of a controversial statue from its perch...
In an intriguing discovery, the remains of an African man who died just 350 years ago have been found buried in a prehistoric shell midden in Amoreira in Portugal. The middens in Amoreira and other...
Overall, the nineteenth century saw women continue to fight to improve their own roles, as well as the rights of others, like slaves. Women participated in a series of conventions and protests to...
The Asante Empire (also known as the Ashanti Empire) was an African state that existed between the 18th and 20th centuries. This empire occupied the area of modern-day Ghana and benefitted greatly...
The remains of the last known active slave ship in the United States have been marooned in the mud at the bottom of the Mobile Delta for more than 160 years. Since the wreckage of the ship known as...
Sarah Forbes Bonetta was born as Omoba Aina in 1843, a princess of West Africa’s Yoruba people. At an early age, Omoba’s parents were killed and she was kidnapped by one of their rival kings. Fate...
A “secret” United Nations committee in China has stripped the English city of Liverpool of its status as a Unesco World Heritage Site . Speaking with the Guardian , Liverpool mayor Joanne Anderson...
Much attention and condemnation has been directed towards the tragedy of the African slave trade , which took place between the 16th and the 19th centuries. However, another equally despicable trade...
The President of Mexico has written a letter to Pope Francis asking for an apology over the Catholic Church’s role in the brutal repression of indigenous people during the Spanish conquest of the...
A shipwreck identified in the Gulf of Mexico has thrown a light on a forgotten and dark episode in Mexican history. Archaeologists have identified a 19th-century slave ship. Before it sank, this...
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...
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...
The Roman Empire is ironically known for both its greatness and its weaknesses. The Roman economy is no exception. The Roman economy represents an ancient economy that was large and powerful enough...
A historic but very controversial statue has been toppled in Bristol, England. Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors pulled down a statue of a figure who was prominent in the development of the...
Throughout Africa, many impressive monuments have been raised to commemorate the struggle for independence. Particularly striking is the Reunification Monument in Cameroon. It symbolizes the...
Queen Anna Nzinga, also known as Ana de Sousa Nzinga Mbande, was a queen of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms (occupying what is today the country of Angola in the southern part of Africa) who lived...
The history of our world has always been a bloody and difficult affair, full of struggles, wars and conquests. And in the centuries before our own, tribes and chieftains, kingdoms and empires, all...
