The Garden of Eden is the biblical earthly paradise created by God to be inhabited by his first human creation - Adam and Eve. Some claim that the name “Eden” derives from the Akkadian term edinu, which...| World History Encyclopedia
The free online history encyclopedia with fact-checked articles, images, videos, maps, timelines and more; operated as a non-profit organization.| www.worldhistory.org
It all began with a farmer shooting at a 'something' in a field. Or it may have started from a dispute with a neighbor. Or it may have never happened at all. However it began, the legend of the Bell Witch has been a popular tale in the United States since the mid-19th century, and today, it attracts an international audience. The feature film An American Haunting (2005), though panned by critics...| World History Encyclopedia
The Franklin-Nashville Campaign (September-December 1864) was the last major military operation in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). After the Southern stronghold of Atlanta fell to Union forces, Confederate General John Bell Hood marched his army into Tennessee to disrupt the enemy supply lines and liberate Nashville from Northern occupation. It was a desperate gambit that...| World History Encyclopedia
The United States remained neutral in the first three years of the First World War (1914-18) but did finally join the conflict at the end of 1917 following the threat of unrestricted submarine warfare on US merchant shipping and a secret telegram which suggested Germany and Mexico would become allies so that the latter could grab control of three southern states. The US government was also motivated...| World History Encyclopedia
Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794-1876) was a general, politician, and six-time president of Mexico. Although he is best-known in the United States for the role he played in the Texas Revolution, the Battle of the Alamo, the Goliad Massacre, and his defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto, he played a much larger role in his nation's history, so much so that the period between 1821 and 1855 is known...| World History Encyclopedia
In this gallery, we present artist Nicha Sursock's series of 43 works representing the history of the USA. The series is titled 400 years of US history 1607-2007. It begins with the first colony at Jamestown and concludes with the invention of the iPhone. Nicha Sursock is an Egyptian born Lebano-Croatian artist, born in 1951, currently residing between Vienna and Split in Croatia. He studied...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Nashville (15-16 December 1864) was the last major battle in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). After suffering a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Franklin (30 November), Lieutenant General John Bell Hood led the once-proud Confederate Army of Tennessee onward in a desperate attempt to capture Nashville, a major supply and manufacturing center. He clashed...| World History Encyclopedia
Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532-1625) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cremona who achieved considerable fame during her lifetime as the first widely-known female artist. She was invited by the Habsburg King Philip II of Spain (reign 1556-1598) to become the painting instructor and lady-in-waiting to his third wife, Elisabeth of Valois (1546-1568). In 1573, she married an Italian nobleman...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of San Jacinto (21 April 1836) was the decisive engagement of the Texas Revolution in which General Sam Houston (1793-1863) defeated the Mexican Army under President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794-1876) in 18 minutes. After Santa Anna was captured the next day, the Texian troops demanded his execution to avenge those who had fallen at the Battle of the Alamo and the Goliad...| World History Encyclopedia
The Goliad Massacre (27 March 1836) was the execution of 350-400 Texians, of the garrison of Fort Defiance at Goliad, by the Mexican Army under orders from Mexican President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794-1876). General José de Urrea (1797-1849) was commanding the troops who had defeated the forces of Texian Colonel James W. Fannin (1804-1836) at the Battle of Coleto (19-20 March...| World History Encyclopedia
The trench warfare of the Western Front during the First World War (1914-18) involved soldiers living and dying in an awful mix of mud, filth, and barbed wire. Trench systems became more sophisticated in layout as the conflict dragged on but remained rudimentary holes in the ground as entire armies attempted to shelter from artillery, gas, machine-gun, and infantry attacks. The stalemate of trench...| World History Encyclopedia
The Atlanta Campaign (7 May to 2 September 1864) was a major military campaign in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It saw a large Union force under Major General William Tecumseh Sherman invade Georgia, constantly outmaneuvering the Confederate Army of Tennessee, until he came to the strategically significant city of Atlanta. After several bloody battles, Sherman captured...| World History Encyclopedia
Hummingbirds, called huitzillin ("wee-TZEEL-een") in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, are one of the most recognizable and striking species in the avian world. While these pollinators are known in the Western imagination for their vibrant features, extreme metabolism, and diminutive size, the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica, particularly the Aztecs, identified these extraordinary birds with war...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Franklin (30 November 1864) was a major battle in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). In his push to liberate Nashville from Northern occupation, Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood invaded Tennessee and cornered a Union army under Major General John M. Schofield at the town of Franklin. Despite finding the enemy strongly entrenched, Hood launched a...| World History Encyclopedia
Eustathios Rhomaios was a prominent Byzantine judge and jurist during the late-10th and early- to mid-11th century. He studied Roman Law and began his career under Basil II (reign 976 to 1025) and became the chief judge during the mid-1020s. His legal decisions, collected and compiled into a document called the Peira ('Experience') by a younger colleague of his, were not only celebrated during his...| World History Encyclopedia
John Bell Hood (1831-1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Known for his aggressive style of leadership, he initially led the famous Texas Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia before being promoted to division command and, ultimately, to the command of the Army of Tennessee in the western theater. He was severely wounded several times, losing the use of his...| World History Encyclopedia
The norns were supernatural female entities responsible for the fates of all living beings in Viking Age Scandinavia. Associated with Yggdrasil, the world tree and central element of the nine realms of Norse cosmology, the norns are not active agents in the stories of Odin, Thor, and Loki. Instead, they linger in the shadowy background of the Viking Age imagination as implacable manifestations of...| World History Encyclopedia
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) in the Balkans in the summer of 1914 set off a chain of events that led to the First World War (1914-18). For over a decade before, imperialistic...| World History Encyclopedia
The Akkadian poet Enheduanna (l. 2285-2250 BCE) is the world's first author known by name and was the daughter of Sargon of Akkad (Sargon the Great, r. 2334-2279 BCE). Whether Enheduanna was, in fact...| World History Encyclopedia
Chogha Zanbil (literally "basket mound") is an ancient Elamite temple complex located in the modern-day province of Khuzestan, Iran. It is also known as Dur-Untash (Fortress/City/Town of Untash), Tchogha Zanbil, and Al Untash Napirisha ("Place of Untash Napirisha") and features the largest ziggurat in the world outside of Mesopotamia and the best preserved. It was built circa 1250 BCE during...| World History Encyclopedia
Elam, located in the region of the modern-day provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan in Iran, was one of the most impressive civilizations of the ancient world. It was never a cohesive ethnic kingdom or polity but rather a federation of different tribes governed at various times by cities such as Susa, Anshan, and Shimashki until it was united during the Middle Elamite Period, briefly, as an empire...| World History Encyclopedia
The poster for John Wayne's The Alamo (1960) celebrates its history with the line, "The Mission That Became a Fortress…The Fortress That Became A Shrine…," which is a concise and accurate summary of the story of the structure famously known as the Alamo in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. The Mission Texas was claimed by Spain in the 16th century and began establishing mission complexes between...| World History Encyclopedia
The pre-First World War arms race between Britain and Germany was fuelled by Britain's desire to protect its empire, Germany's desire to build an empire, and a general atmosphere of suspicion amongst...| World History Encyclopedia
The Moroccan Crises were two international incidents, the first in 1905-6 and the second in 1911, when Imperial Germany, eager to expand its empire, threatened France's presence in Morocco. France's...| World History Encyclopedia
The Schlieffen Plan, prepared by German Chief of Staff General Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913) in 1905, was a secret plan of attack by German armed forces against France, should the two countries...| World History Encyclopedia
The January Uprising of 1863 was a conflict between Tsarist Russia and Polish insurgents striving for independence. The uprising continued until October 1864, when it was suppressed by the Russian forces...| World History Encyclopedia
Vinland (Old Norse Vínland, 'Wine Land') is the name given to the lands explored and briefly settled by Norse Vikings in North America around 1000 CE, particularly referring to Newfoundland, where a...| World History Encyclopedia
The alliance system in Europe was one of the causes of the First World War (1914-18), although it did not make war inevitable. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Triple Entente powers of Great...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Gonzales in October 1835 is recognized as the official beginning of the Texas Revolution, even though armed conflict between Texians and the Mexican government had already erupted during...| World History Encyclopedia
The Constantinian Excerpts, or Excerpta Constantiniana is the conventional name given to the mid-10th Century Byzantine palace encyclopedia commissioned by the scholar emperor Constantine VII ‘Porphyrogenitus’...| World History Encyclopedia
Although the Battle of Gonzales (2 October 1835) is recognized as the first of the Texas Revolution of 1835-1836, hostilities actually began in 1832 with the Anahuac Disturbances and the Battle of Velasco...| World History Encyclopedia
The Texas Revolution (Texas War of Independence, 1835 to 1836) was a conflict between the Anglo and Tejano residents of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas (Texas) and the Mexican government over...| World History Encyclopedia
Sultan Razia (Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, r. 1236-1240) was one of the few women rulers in the Indian subcontinent and the first and only female Sultan of Delhi. Despite facing Herculean challenges...| World History Encyclopedia
People have been sending letters to each other ever since paper and pen were invented, but it was not until 1840 that a new idea was introduced where people could prepay the cost of delivering their...| World History Encyclopedia
Charles VI (lived 1368-1422) reigned as King of France from 1380 to 1422, during an important phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against England. Known as the 'Mad King' due to his frequent...| World History Encyclopedia
The Ottoman Sultanate (1299-1922 as an empire; 1922-1924 as caliphate only), also referred to as the Ottoman Empire, written in Turkish as Osmanlı Devleti, was a Turkic imperial state that was conceived...| World History Encyclopedia
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) was the founder of fascism and dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. He led the country into a highly authoritarian regime and then dragged it into the Second World War (1939-45...| World History Encyclopedia
The history of Italian colonialism unfolded in a relatively short period, between the late 19th century and the Second World War (1939-45). After the unification of Italy, the young kingdom sought to...| World History Encyclopedia
The Bolshevik Revolution occurred on 7 November 1917 (old calendar 25 October) and established a new republic: Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks were radical socialists led by Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924...| World History Encyclopedia
A mandala (Sanskrit for “circle”) is an artistic representation of higher thought and deeper meaning given as a geometric symbol used in spiritual, emotional, or psychological work to focus one's attention...| World History Encyclopedia
Crucifixion as a punishment was practiced by several ancient cultures, but most notably adopted by the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire. Crucifixion was a method of hanging or suspending someone...| World History Encyclopedia
The Yuan Dynasty was established by the Mongols and ruled China from 1271 to 1368. Their first emperor was Kublai Khan (r. 1260-1294) who finally defeated the Song Dynasty which had reigned in China...| World History Encyclopedia
The War of 1812 (1812-1815), referred to by some contemporaries as the Second American Revolution, was fought between the United States and the United Kingdom. Often remembered only as a sideshow to...| World History Encyclopedia
The Sioux are a native North American nation who inhabited the Great Plains region of, roughly, modern Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. They are one of the many...| World History Encyclopedia
The Hussite Wars (1419 to c. 1434) were a series of conflicts fought in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) between followers of the reformer Jan Hus and Catholic loyalists toward the end of the Bohemian...| World History Encyclopedia
Sanskrit is regarded as the ancient language in Hinduism, where it was used as a means of communication and dialogue by the Hindu Celestial Gods, and then by the Indo-Aryans. Sanskrit is also widely...| World History Encyclopedia
Josef Mengele (1911-1979) was a Nazi doctor who performed horrific pseudo-scientific experiments on detainees in the Auschwitz concentration camp where he was a medical officer from 1943 to 1945. Thousands...| World History Encyclopedia
Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) was the head of the Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel) organisation. One of the most powerful individuals in Nazi Germany, Himmler built up the SS from a small paramilitary unit to...| World History Encyclopedia
Tamahay (Tahama, Tamaha,| World History Encyclopedia
The Gestapo was the secret political police organisation of Nazi Germany. Created in 1933, the Gestapo became one of the most feared instruments of state terror, its members having few or no legal restrictions...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Lundy's Lane (25 July 1814) was one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812. Fought near the location of present-day Niagara Falls, it saw a US army under Jacob Brown clash with a...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Chippawa (5 July 1814) was a major battle in the War of 1812, in which a US army proved its newfound discipline by defeating British regulars during the Americans' third attempted invasion...| World History Encyclopedia
Einsatzgruppen ('deployment groups') were secret Nazi killing units, who systematically sought out and murdered civilians identified as enemies of the Third Reich. Operating without any legal restrictions...| World History Encyclopedia
Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962), a lieutenant-colonel in the Nazi SS, was responsible for organising the transportation of Jewish people and other victims of Nazism to concentration, labour, and death camps...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Crysler's Farm (11 November 1813) was a major battle in the War of 1812. Fought along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, it saw a British and Canadian force defeat a much larger American...| World History Encyclopedia
Writing is the physical manifestation of a spoken language. It is thought that human beings developed language c. 35,000 BCE as evidenced by cave paintings from the period of the Cro-Magnon Man (c...| World History Encyclopedia
The Vikings were originally diverse Scandinavian seafarers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (though other nationalities were later involved) whose raids and subsequent settlements significantly impacted...| World History Encyclopedia
The Saxons were a Germanic people of the region north of the Elbe River stretching from Holstein (in modern-day Germany) to the North Sea. The Saxons who migrated to Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries...| World History Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Wessex (c. 519-927 CE or c. 519-1066 CE) was a political entity founded by the West Saxon Chieftain Cerdic (r. 519-540 CE) in 519 CE in the Upper Thames Valley of modern-day Britain which...| World History Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Mercia (c. 527-879 CE) was an Anglo-Saxon political entity located in the midlands of present-day Britain and bordered on the south by the Kingdom of Wessex, on the west by Wales, north...| World History Encyclopedia
Egbert of Wessex (l. c. 770-839 CE, r. 802-839 CE; also given as Ecgberht, Ecbert) was the most powerful and influential king of Wessex prior to the reign of Alfred the Great (r. 871-899 CE). Egbert...| World History Encyclopedia
Edward the Elder (r. 899-924) was the son of Alfred the Great (r. 871-899) and the King of the Anglo-Saxons in the early 10th century. He is known for his military victories over the Vikings of East...| World History Encyclopedia
Bede (c. 673-735 CE) was an English monk, historian, and scholar who lived in the Kingdom of Northumbria. He is at times referred to as the Venerable Bede or Bede the Venerable. He was a monk at the...| World History Encyclopedia
Alfred the Great (r. 871-899 CE) was the king of Wessex in Britain but came to be known as King of the Anglo-Saxons after his military victories over Viking adversaries and later successful negotiations...| World History Encyclopedia
Aethelflaed (r. 911-918 CE) was the daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex (r. 871-899 CE) and became queen of Mercia following the death of her husband Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians (r. 883-911...| World History Encyclopedia
Operation Torch (aka the North Africa landings) landed Allied troops in French Morocco and Algeria on 8 November 1942 with the aim of removing German and Italian forces from North Africa. The first...| World History Encyclopedia
The Mediterranean island of Sicily, with its natural resources and strategic position on ancient trading routes, aroused the intense interest of successive empires from Carthage to Athens to Rome. Consequently...| World History Encyclopedia
Burial of the dead is the act of placing the corpse of a deceased person in a tomb constructed for that purpose or in a grave dug into the earth. Archaeological excavations have revealed Neanderthal...| World History Encyclopedia
The Desert Rats was the nickname of the 7th Armoured Division of the British Eighth Army, which first fought in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). Fighting in the Western Desert Campaigns...| World History Encyclopedia
In the study of the ancient world a City is generally defined as a large populated urban center of commerce and administration with a system of laws and, usually, regulated means of sanitation. This...| World History Encyclopedia
The English word 'wall' is derived from the Latin, vallus meaning 'a stake' or 'post' and designated the wood-stake and earth palisade which formed the outer edge of a fortification. The palisades were...| World History Encyclopedia
Gold, chemical symbol Au (from the Latin aurum meaning 'shining dawn'), is a precious metal which has been used since antiquity in the production of jewellery, coinage, sculpture, vessels and as a decoration...| World History Encyclopedia
'God' is the common word for the identity of a higher being in the universe beyond our world, the creator of all known existence, and who rules in conjunction with lower gradients of divinity (angels...| World History Encyclopedia
Tiberius was Roman emperor from 14 to 37 CE. Tiberius, the adopted son of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, never aspired to follow in his stepfather's footsteps — that path was chosen by his domineering...| World History Encyclopedia
Jerusalem is a major holy city for the three Western traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It sits on spurs of bedrock between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea area. To the north and...| World History Encyclopedia
India is a country in South Asia whose name comes from the Indus River. The name 'Bharata' is used as a designation for the country in their constitution referencing the ancient mythological emperor...| World History Encyclopedia
A December 1941 photograph of a disabled British Matilda tank near Tobruk during the Western Desert Campaigns in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)| World History Encyclopedia
Greece is a country in southeastern Europe, known in Greek as Hellas or Ellada, and consisting of a mainland and an archipelago of islands. Ancient Greece is the birthplace of Western philosophy (Socrates...| World History Encyclopedia
The Horae (Horai, sing. Hora) were the personification and goddesses of the seasons and the hours and, later on, were regarded as goddesses of order and justice in Greek mythology. They were the daughters...| World History Encyclopedia
A February 1942 photograph of a column of US-made Grant tanks of the British 5th Royal Tank Regiment during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)| World History Encyclopedia
An empire is a political construct in which one state dominates over another state, or a series of states. At its heart, an empire is ruled by an emperor, even though many states in history without...| World History Encyclopedia
Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is home to one of the oldest civilizations on earth. The name 'Egypt' comes from the Greek Aegyptos which was the Greek pronunciation...| World History Encyclopedia
Alexandria is a port city on the Mediterranean Sea in northern Egypt founded in 331 BCE by Alexander the Great. It was the site of the Pharos (lighthouse), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world...| World History Encyclopedia
The London Blitz was the sustained bombing of Britain's capital by the German and Italian air forces from September 1940 to May 1941 during the Second World War (1939-45). The objective was to bomb...| World History Encyclopedia
The Dunkirk Evacuation of 26 May to 4 June 1940, known as Operation Dynamo, was the attempt to save the British Expeditionary Force in France from total defeat by an advancing German army. Nearly 1,000...| World History Encyclopedia
Warfare is generally understood to be the controlled and systematic waging of armed conflict between sovereign nations or states, using military might and strategy, until one opponent is defeated on...| World History Encyclopedia
The word 'war' comes to English from the old High German language word Werran (to confuse or to cause confusion) through the Old English Werre (meaning the same), and is a state of open and usually...| World History Encyclopedia
Europe is a continent forming the westernmost part of the land mass of Eurasia and comprised of 49 sovereign states. Its name may come from the Greek myth of Europa, but human habitation of the region...| World History Encyclopedia
There are multiple pages about 'Mediterranean' on our website. Here's a list.| www.worldhistory.org
There are multiple pages about 'Battle' on our website. Here's a list.| www.worldhistory.org
There are multiple pages about 'Africa' on our website. Here's a list.| www.worldhistory.org
Ancient Britain was a landmass on the northwest of the continent of Europe first occupied by humans c. 800,000 years ago prior to it becoming an island c. 6000 BCE due to flooding which separated it...| World History Encyclopedia
The Battle of Gazala in Libya in May-June 1942 was a decisive victory for German and Italian forces led by General Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) against British, Commonwealth, and Free French forces during...| World History Encyclopedia
The defence by Free French forces of the remote desert watering hole of Bir Hakeim (Hacheim) in Libya, North Africa in May-June 1942 during the Second World War (1939-45) is one of the most heroic episodes...| World History Encyclopedia
The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seater fighter plane, one of the most important aircraft of the Second World War (1939-45). Employed by the Royal Air Force in such crucial encounters as the Battle...| World History Encyclopedia
Silver had great value and aesthetic appeal in many ancient cultures where it was used to make jewellery, tableware, figurines, ritual objects and rough-cut pieces known as hacksilver which could be...| World History Encyclopedia
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, also known as the Me 109, was Germany's most important single-seater fighter plane throughout the Second World War (1939-45). Produced in greater numbers than any other German...| World History Encyclopedia
The Junkers Ju 88 was a two-engined medium bomber plane used by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) throughout the Second World War (1939-45). Ju 88s were involved in the Battle of Britain and London Blitz...| World History Encyclopedia
The Hawker Hurricane was a single-seat fighter plane, Britain's first monoplane, which fought in the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. Slower but more numerous than the Supermarine Spitfire...| World History Encyclopedia
