History

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History
fromwww.theguardian.com
14 hours ago

Check mates: analysis of medieval chess sets reveal vision of equality and mutual respect

Medieval chess served as an imaginary space where players from different races, religions, and cultures could engage as intellectual equals, challenging social hierarchies through intellectual exchange rather than reinforcing them.
#american-revolution
fromSmithsonian Magazine
3 hours ago
History

A Quaker Woman Eavesdropped on British Soldiers Plotting a Surprise Attack-and Surreptitiously Warned George Washington

Lydia Darragh, a pacifist Quaker, abandoned her religious principles to spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolution, providing crucial intelligence that may have saved soldiers' lives.
fromHarvard Gazette
1 day ago
History

Did the British unleash biological warfare against Washington's troops? - Harvard Gazette

George Washington ordered mass inoculation of Continental Army troops against smallpox in 1777, a pivotal medical intervention that prevented disease devastation and maintained military readiness during the American Revolution.
History
fromHarvard Gazette
1 day ago

Did the British unleash biological warfare against Washington's troops? - Harvard Gazette

George Washington ordered mass inoculation of Continental Army troops against smallpox in 1777, a pivotal medical intervention that prevented disease devastation and maintained military readiness during the American Revolution.
History
fromMedievalists.net
14 hours ago

Medieval Chess Reveals a More Diverse Middle Ages, Study Finds - Medievalists.net

Medieval chess functioned as a rare intellectual arena where people from different cultures and races engaged as equals, challenging assumptions about rigid medieval social hierarchies.
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
15 hours ago

Five more seated Gauls found in Dijon

They were all adult males between 40 and 60 years old when they died, ranging in height from 1.62 to 1.82 meters (5'4-6). They were in good overall health with excellent teeth, but osteoarthritis in the bones, particularly in the legs, attests to them having consistently experienced strenuous physical activity in their lives.
History
#anglo-zulu-war
History
fromThe Nation
1 day ago

The Iran War Is America's Own Suez Crisis

The 1956 Suez Crisis demonstrates how military superiority can fail against strategic asymmetric responses, offering a cautionary parallel for current US intervention in Iran.
History
fromMail Online
18 hours ago

Roman artifact found in the Americas shatters New World history

A Roman terracotta head discovered in a sealed Mexican tomb in 1933 suggests Roman contact with the Americas around 200 AD, predating Columbus by over a thousand years.
History
fromwww.dw.com
20 hours ago

Skeleton in Magdeburg Cathedral is almost certainly Otto I

Skeletal remains found in Magdeburg Cathedral almost certainly belong to 10th century King Otto I of Saxony, confirmed through anthropological analysis and DNA evidence.
fromThe Atlantic
18 hours ago

Today's Atlantic Trivia: 1990s Tech

Over the years, there have been Populists, Progressives, Farmer-Laborers, Unionists, Constitutional Unionists, Unconditional Unionists, Know-Nothings, Nullifiers, Readjusters, and more. My favorite party with a presence in the chamber is the Silver Party, founded to support a platform of bimetallism, or backing the country's money with silver as well as gold.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 day ago

The Crewe Murders: Inside New Zealand's Most Infamous Cold Case

One major concern about this work is that the title might make some individuals think that it is a "true crime" book, or a "whodunnit." Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a history book, albeit a comparatively recent history that took place in the 1970s, and, as such, is exemplary in all possible respects.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
20 hours ago

Medieval Words That Became Slang - Medievalists.net

Many modern slang words originated in the Middle Ages and earlier centuries, often with meanings vastly different from their contemporary usage.
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
1 day ago

Hiker stumbles on rare tiny bull head in Mallorca

A three-centimeter bronze bull head figurine discovered in Mallorca dates to 600-200 B.C. and represents the only known miniature bull head from the post-Talaiotic culture, now preserved for museum exhibition.
History
fromwww.dw.com
2 days ago

Ancient graffiti reveals scenes of everyday life in Pompeii

Ancient graffiti from Pompeii and Herculaneum reveals spontaneous messages from everyday people including slaves and soldiers, providing direct insight into daily life in the Roman empire.
fromFrenchly
1 day ago

La Francophonie: How Louisiana Keeps the French Language Alive - Frenchly

The territory was named La Louisiane in 1682 by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, in honor of King Louis XIV, who claimed for France the vast Mississippi River basin. When French settlers later founded New Orleans in 1718, the region quickly became a center of French culture in North America.
History
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 days ago

These connections are overlooked': how British companies profited from slavery in Brazil long after abolition

The case is one of the most notorious examples of British involvement in illegal enslavement in Brazil, said historian Joseph Mulhern and a stark symbol of how, even after the UK Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, British citizens and companies profited from slavery in Latin America's biggest country for another half century.
History
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 days ago

Country diary: A wildflower display of astonishing richness | Mark Cocker

The fierce Maniot people were well described by Patrick Leigh Fermor in his book Mani (1958), but the region has been more recently celebrated in Charles Foster's brilliant The Edges of the World, published in January. In history the Mani was known variously for the relentless and sometimes centuries-long vendettas between its local clans, as a fertile recruiting ground for Mediterranean piracy and as an early outpost for Greek liberation from Ottoman rule.
History
#archimedes-palimpsest
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
2 days ago

Only image of Gallo-Roman god found in Burgundy sanctuary

The only known pictorial depiction of Gallic god Sucellus was discovered at the Mancey sanctuary in Burgundy, a religious complex continuously used from the late Iron Age to the 4th century.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
2 days ago

What made Zulu regiments so feared across Africa?

The Zulu Kingdom became a dominant Southern African power under King Shaka's leadership through military innovation, but was conquered by the British in 1879 and eventually incorporated into South Africa.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 day ago

Hymn to Inanna: An Ancient Praise Poem

Enheduanna's Hymn to Inanna elevates the goddess above all others, emphasizing her transformative power to destroy, create, and transcend gender boundaries.
fromSmithsonian Magazine
2 days ago

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas' Father, a Trailblazing Black General

Born enslaved, he became France's first Black general-a war hero, a champion of liberty and a pioneer of equality during the French Revolutionary Wars. Dumas' fall from grace, however, was swift. Fellow general Napoleon Bonaparte envied and feared him. His nation betrayed him.
History
History
fromFortune
2 days ago

Ray Dalio sees a pattern that shows China killing America's economy. This 2,000-year chart explains why | Fortune

The United States' postwar economic dominance was historically exceptional but temporary; global economic power is shifting back toward Asia and China, reversing a 20th-century anomaly.
History
fromThe New Yorker
3 days ago

Who Bankrolled the American Revolution?

Historical narratives neglect financial mechanisms that enabled major events, obscuring how money actually funded armies, movements, and pivotal moments.
History
fromYanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News
2 days ago

This $56 Machete Multitool Borrows Its Best Idea From WWII Survival Gear - Yanko Design

The Delacour Multi-Use Axe Machete offers a more affordable alternative to the classic Woodman's Pal, using stainless steel instead of high-carbon spring steel while maintaining the same proven multi-tool design geometry.
History
fromMedievalists.net
6 days ago

Legacy of the Geats: How the Memory of Beowulf's Tribe Survives in Modern Sweden - Medievalists.net

The Geats' identity as a distinct people likely survived Swedish expansion and remains conceptually present in modern Sweden, despite Beowulf's poem suggesting their ultimate defeat and absorption.
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 days ago

Heresiology in the Twelfth Century, with Alessandra Bucossi - Medievalists.net

Twelfth-century Byzantine preoccupation with heresy prompted production of extensive anti-heretical treatises addressing theological deviations in Latin and Armenian Churches from Constantinople's orthodoxy.
#sargon-of-akkad
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
3 days ago

Jean-Paul Marat: Prophet of Terror

Baker, an experienced historian on Early Modern Europe and J.E. Wallace Sterling Professor in Humanities at Stanford University, aims to 'make sense of those 'sublime words of the prophet-Marat,' the radical journalist and martyred deputy who notorious calls for blood gave voice to some of the most frightful impulses of the French Revolution.'
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
2 days ago

Two Medieval Men Found Buried in Prehistoric Site - Medievalists.net

Medieval men were buried in the Menga dolmen, a Neolithic monument in Spain, over 4,000 years after its construction, demonstrating the site's enduring symbolic importance across millennia.
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
3 days ago

Carthaginian coin used to pay bus fare donated to Leeds Museum

A 2,000-year-old Carthaginian bronze coin used as bus fare in 1950s Leeds has been donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries after decades in private hands.
History
fromenglish.elpais.com
4 days ago

The new robber barons are the tech tycoons

19th-century American magnates built monopolies through exploitative labor practices, paralleling modern tech billionaires' consolidation strategies and raising concerns about concentrated economic power.
History
from24/7 Wall St.
3 days ago

25 Weapons That Changed Warfare Over the Last Century

Technological breakthroughs over the last century transformed warfare by introducing tanks, missiles, stealth aircraft, and precision-guided weapons that forced armies to continuously adapt tactics and reshape military doctrine globally.
History
fromMedievalists.net
3 days ago

10 Men Who Nearly Became King of England - Medievalists.net

Medieval England had numerous men who came close to ruling but never secured the throne due to death, overthrow, or military defeat.
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
4 days ago

43,000 ostraca found at one site shed light on social history of Egypt

Excavations at Athribis in Lower Egypt uncovered 13,000 ostraca, bringing the total to 43,000 fragments—the largest collection at any single Egyptian archaeological site, spanning from the 3rd century BCE to the 11th century CE.
History
fromenglish.elpais.com
5 days ago

The hidden history of Afro-Bolivians: From slavery in silver mines to fighting for power

Cerro Rico produced massive quantities of global silver through enslaved African labor under brutal conditions in colonial Bolivia.
History
fromwww.aljazeera.com
5 days ago

Kill the people'

Trapped artisanal miners in a South African gold mine were abandoned underground for weeks without food, water, or supplies after surface operations ceased, leading to starvation and death.
History
fromTasting Table
5 days ago

10 Foods Ancient Romans Loved That We Still Eat Today - Tasting Table

Ancient Romans consumed many foods similar to modern diets, including eggs, fruits, vegetables, and seafood, with dishes like deviled eggs originating from Roman banquets.
History
fromMedievalists.net
5 days ago

Did Medieval People Have Bad Teeth and Bad Breath? - Medievalists.net

Medieval people actively maintained oral hygiene and were concerned about dental health, contrary to the stereotype of universal tooth decay and foul breath.
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
5 days ago

Mosaics from early Christian churches found in Albania

Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unique historic downtown characterized by 18th and 19th century Ottoman structures and urban design, but human presence in the area goes back to the 4th/3rd millennium B.C. and there is evidence of an urban settlement in Berat defined by defensive walls dating to the 7th-6th century B.C.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
4 days ago

New Medieval Books: Widow City - Medievalists.net

Late medieval Italian widows mourned their spouses and navigated their lives through religious or secular paths, evolving from allegorical subjects to prominent authors who reshaped public discourse on widowed identity.
fromMedievalists.net
4 days ago

Political Borders Shaped the Spread of Medieval Chant, Study Finds - Medievalists.net

Tropes were additions inserted into established Gregorian chants. They could include new words, new melodies, or a combination of both, expanding the original liturgical piece and sometimes offering additional theological or rhetorical commentary. In many cases, tropes circulated long before they were recorded in writing. Their melodies and texts were transmitted orally for centuries before being preserved in medieval manuscripts, creating a complex web of regional variants across Europe.
History
History
fromFortune
6 days ago

The U.S. Mint just dropped the olive branch from the dime. What does that mean for the country? | Fortune

The U.S. Mint's 250th anniversary dime redesign omits the olive branch from the Great Seal, removing a founding symbol of peace preference that balanced the arrows of war.
History
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
6 days ago

Why Friday the 13th is a mathematical inevitability

Friday the 13th occurs more frequently than any other day of the week for the 13th of a month, and mathematical analysis proves superstitions about it are unfounded.
fromwww.dw.com
5 days ago

US-Israeli strikes damage Iran's cultural heritage sites

UNESCO, the UN's cultural body, has expressed its concern about the cultural heritage sites, saying in a statement that it had 'communicated to all parties concerned the geographical coordinates of sites on the World Heritage List as well as those of national significance, to avoid any potential damage.' 'UNESCO continues to closely monitor the situation of cultural heritage in the country and across the region, with a view to ensuring its protection.'
History
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
6 days ago

American Crusade: Christianity, Warfare, and National Identity, 1860-1920

Religious ideology and social location shaped how American Christians viewed war and national identity between 1860-1920, with Congregationalist preachers dominating religious and social narratives.
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
5 days ago

Mesopotamian Literature: The Earliest Works of the Imagination

Writing was created in response to the need to communicate over long distances in trade and, initially, was focused on the purely practical aspects of record-keeping. Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia recorded what commercial goods had been shipped to which destination, their quantity, purpose, and cost.
History
fromMedievalists.net
5 days ago

New Medieval Books: Approaching Records of the Household and Wardrobe - Medievalists.net

The Household and Wardrobe Accounts are English records that document the daily needs of the king and his family. This book serves as a guide to these sources, showing how they can be used and what valuable insights they offer into medieval government.
History
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
6 days ago

2,000-year-old bronze drum found by farmer in China

A 2,000-year-old bronze drum from the Eastern Han Dynasty was discovered in Yunnan Province, China, representing a significant archaeological find of the Shizhaishan type used in ancient Dian Kingdom rituals and warfare.
History
fromianVisits
6 days ago

Looted from a royal palace: The medieval jug now on display in London

A medieval English bronze jug looted from Ghana's Asante kingdom reveals how European luxury goods became valued ceremonial objects through trans-continental trade networks before colonial appropriation.
History
fromOpen Culture
1 week ago

How the Long-Lost Body of Richard III Was Found Under a Parking Lot: Solving a 500-Year-Old Mystery

Richard III's remains were discovered in Leicester in the early 2000s after centuries of mystery following his burial at Greyfriars Church and the church's demolition by Henry VIII.
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
1 week ago

Samnite burials of children with bronze warrior belts found

The excavation ultimately unearthed 34 burials, 15 of them belonging to children between two and ten years old when they died. The graves are clustered in groups, probably reflecting family nuclei. Most the grave types are earthen pits covered with roof tiles angled against each other.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
6 days ago

New Medieval Books: Chronicle of Michael the Great - Medievalists.net

Michael the Great's Chronicle is a crucial 12th-century Near Eastern historical account, now available in English translation of its Armenian abridged version.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
6 days ago

Who was the world's first named author?

Enheduanna, the world's first known author, was a high priestess who created foundational literary genres and unified Akkadian and Sumerian religious traditions, profoundly influencing ancient and biblical literature.
fromMedievalists.net
6 days ago

Medieval Hand Cannon Discovered in Germany - Medievalists.net

The Kletzke Hand Cannon, a small bronze fragment discovered in 2023 during a field survey in northern Germany, represents potentially the earliest portable firearm technology found in Europe. Measuring approximately six centimetres and decorated with ornamental details, the artifact appears to be the front portion of a medieval hand cannon. Archaeologists estimate it dates to around 1390.
History
History
fromJezebel
1 week ago

America Could Learn a Lot from Its 'Bandit Queen' of the Wild West

Pearl Hart, America's female stagecoach robber in the late 19th century, challenged gender norms by pursuing a male-dominated criminal career and protesting her trial as unconstitutional due to women's lack of voting rights.
History
fromArs Technica
6 days ago

Centuries before the Inca, Peru's wealthy imported parrots from afar

The Ychsma kingdom maintained a sophisticated long-distance trade network spanning hundreds of kilometers across the Andes to import live parrots from the Amazon rainforest centuries before the Inca Empire.
History
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother

A grandson attending his Welsh grandmother's funeral in a Methodist chapel experiences a profound connection to his Welsh heritage through the singing of a traditional hymn, despite not understanding the Welsh language spoken throughout the service.
History
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

Michelangelo or bust? Researcher divides experts with attribution of sculpture

A marble bust of Christ at a Rome church is claimed to be a Michelangelo sculpture based on newly discovered archival documents, attracting visitors and debate among art experts.
fromArchDaily
1 week ago

The Aubusson Tapestry Museum Extension / Projectiles

The Aubusson Tapestry Museum is situated in an exceptional context shaped by a rich history and a powerful natural environment. The Creuse capital of tapestry has been marked by its history since the royal manufactory of the 14th century.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 week ago

Liberty's Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America

The street plan of the Valley is 'the street plan of America.' By this, he means that streets in cities across the U.S. offer rectilinear uniformity: 'broad, arrow-straight avenues, regularly spaced and perfectly parallel to one another, are met at fixed intervals by equally straight and parallel streets that intersect them at precise right angles.'
History
fromSmithsonian Magazine
1 week ago

A Native Soldier Allied With the British Killed a Young White Woman in 1777. Propaganda Transformed Her Into a Martyr of the American Revolution

She became a useful tool. She became a saint, you might say, of the Revolution. People felt as though they could feel her fear, feel her death, feel her love for her fiancé. Underlying all of that was the sense that American leaders can't let this happen to white families ever again, this in spite of the fact that white Americans were just as vicious to Native Americans.
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
1 week ago

Coffins of Amun's singers, sealed papyri found at Luxor

The coffins are elaborately painted in vivid polychrome. They were stacked in layers and carefully arranged so the 22 coffins fit into the constricted space. They were placed in 10 horizontal rows and the lids separated from the body of the coffin to maximize the limited space. There are no personal names on most of the coffins, but there are titles. The most common title found in the coffin is Singer of Amun or Chantress of Amun.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

Betrayal or Mistake? Rethinking the Defeat at Manzikert - Medievalists.net

Few figures in Byzantine military history have been so harshly condemned in the aftermath of a single defeat as Josef Trachaneiotes, Roussel of Bailleul, and Andronikos Doukas. According to the dominant narrative, the first two disobeyed their emperor by failing to return and support him at a critical moment, while the third allegedly abandoned Romanos on the battlefield, ordering a withdrawal precisely when his intervention was needed to prevent the encirclement and collapse of the imperial line.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

The Medieval Jug that Travelled from England to West Africa and Back - Medievalists.net

A medieval English bronze ewer traveled to West Africa, became sacred in the Asante royal palace, and returned to Britain after colonial warfare, demonstrating Africa's pre-modern global connections.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 week ago

What Defines a Civilization?

Civilization requires a writing system, government, food surplus, labor division, and urbanization, with Mesopotamia recognized as the birthplace of civilization due to its early city construction around 5400 BCE.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

Medieval Bronze Doors by Donatello Return to Florence After Restoration - Medievalists.net

Donatello's fifteenth-century bronze doors have been restored and returned to the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo in Florence, showcasing innovative sculptural techniques and Medici family patronage.
fromThe Atlantic
1 week ago

Play It Again, Claude

By the early 1900s, player pianos had evolved to more fully reproduce a human performance, including subtle dynamics like tempo changes and the introduction of a damper pedal. The human role went from deskilled to fully deprecated as electric motors replaced foot-powered bellows. With the Seeburg Lilliputian Model L, the only job left for humans who wanted to play the piano in the 1920s was to put in a coin.
History
History
fromHarvard Gazette
1 week ago

How Ben Franklin put a charge into American independence- Harvard Gazette

Benjamin Franklin's scientific reputation, particularly his electricity research, provided the authority and credibility that enabled his political influence during the American Revolution.
fromThe Nation
1 week ago

The Global Politics of Kwame Nkrumah

In the park's center is an eye-catching bronze statue of a larger-than-life Nkrumah, clad in royal kente cloth, with an outstretched hand pointing ahead and one foot in front of the other as if he were advancing forward. Erected on top of a pedestal at the spot where Nkrumah stood to declare Ghana's independence from Britain, it channels the slogan of Nkrumah's political party: 'Forward ever, backward never.'
History
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 week ago

From Clay to Culture: The Power of Written Language

Cuneiform, invented in Sumer around 3500 BCE, was the first script, enabling civilizations to record human thought and preserve all aspects of human experience through written communication.
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 week ago

Cuneiform: From trade lists to epic tales of gods

Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia circa 3600/3500 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian city of Uruk, which further developed and advanced cuneiform circa 3200 BCE and allowed for the creation of literature.
History
fromOpen Culture
1 week ago

Who Would Be Emperor If the Roman Empire Still Existed Today?

Very rare to see this level of tailoring nowadays, even on the wealthy. Even when not attending major sporting events, the king's collars always hug his neck, his lapels are always well-proportioned, the lines of his coat always flow into his trousers, and his four-in-hand always has just the right asymmetry.
History
History
fromArs Technica
1 week ago

An unlikely set of clues helps reconstruct ancient Chinese disasters

Warmer Pacific waters intensified typhoons that caused devastating floods in ancient China 3,000 years ago, linking climate patterns to the collapse of Shang Dynasty settlements.
fromianVisits
1 week ago

Suffragette medal awarded to Pankhurst's nurse goes on display

The circular medal is decorated with eleven silver bars and the purple, white and green ribbon of the suffragette movement. It was awarded "For Duty" by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), the militant suffrage organisation founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.
History
fromwww.mercurynews.com
1 week ago

Today in History: March 9, Barbie doll makes its debut

In 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. The Amistad, ruled 7-1 in favor of a group of illegally enslaved Africans who were captured off the U.S. coast after seizing control of a Spanish schooner, La Amistad. The justices ruled that the Africans should be set free.
History
History
fromHigh Country News
1 week ago

How Montana tribes are using sovereignty to restore their waterways - High Country News

The 2015 CSKT-Montana Compact Water Rights settlement restores tribal water rights from the 1855 Hellgate Treaty while enabling river restoration and shared management of the Jocko River watershed.
History
fromTasting Table
1 week ago

This West Virginia Tavern Was A Civil War Hangout Spot For 2 US Presidents - Tasting Table

Foster's Main Street Tavern in Beckley, West Virginia, operated as Davis Cottage during the Civil War where Union generals William McKinley and Rutherford B. Hayes strategized before both became U.S. presidents.
History
fromwww.aljazeera.com
1 week ago

Walid Khalidi, historian of the Palestinian cause, dies aged 100

Walid Khalidi, a leading Palestinian historian who documented the Nakba and co-founded the Institute for Palestine Studies, died at age 100 in Massachusetts.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

New Medieval Books: Othon de Grandson - Medievalists.net

Othon de Grandson was Edward I's leading household knight who survived decades of military campaigns, crusades, and diplomatic missions across Wales, the Holy Land, and continental Europe.
History
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 week ago

How Rome's Commoners Won Their Rights by Fleeing the City

Plebeian secessions were general strikes where Roman commoners left the city to protest patrician rule, achieving political rights and compromises through collective action.
History
fromSmithsonian Magazine
1 week ago

Tudor Courtiers Exchanged Portrait Miniatures as Love Tokens. Centuries Later, New Research Is Unlocking the Secrets of These Intimate Artworks

Nicholas Hilliard, England's first internationally famous native-born artist, created exquisitely detailed miniature watercolor portraits on vellum that served as portable intimate keepsakes and diplomatic gifts in Elizabethan England.
fromWorld History Encyclopedia
1 week ago

The Heretic of Cacheu: Crispina Peres and the Struggle over Life in Seventeenth-Century West Africa

Cacheu, located in present-day Guinea-Bissau, was a small but vital Atlantic port where African, European, and Afro-Portuguese communities interacted daily. It functioned as a hub linking West Africa to Brazil and the wider Atlantic world. Rather than presenting Cacheu as a peripheral outpost of European expansion, Green shows it to be a dynamic society with its own social hierarchies, customs, and systems of authority.
History
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

Newly Discovered Document Confirms a 'Legendary' African King - Medievalists.net

An Arabic document from Old Dongola confirms King Qashqash's historical existence and reveals how Nubian rulers exercised power through coordinated gift exchanges with subordinates and merchants.
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
1 week ago

Ritual site at summit of rock formation identified

The two socketed axes were discovered last year by a metal detectorist who recognized that their careful positioning could not have been a natural process. He reported the find to the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL). The subsequent excavation of the find site revealed a far more complex depositional context. Beneath the axes is a pit carved into the rock.
History
History
fromThe Washington Post
1 week ago

Letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots, prior to beheading draws crowds

Mary, Queen of Scots' final letter, written hours before her 1587 execution, is now publicly displayed in Perth, Scotland, drawing large crowds and continuing her four-century legacy as a cultural icon.
History
fromOpen Culture
1 week ago

Inside the Automats Where Coin-Operated Machines Created a Modern, Democratic Dining Experience

Horn & Hardart automats revolutionized urban dining in Philadelphia and New York by offering self-service, coin-operated meals without waiters, becoming the world's largest restaurant chain at its peak.
History
fromMail Online
1 week ago

Ancient Egyptians used 'tippex' to fix their paintings 3,000 years ago

Ancient Egyptians used white pigment to correct errors on papyrus paintings at least 3,000 years ago, similar to modern correction fluid.
History
fromianVisits
1 week ago

Why Mother's Day used to be about churches, not mums

Mother's Day originated as Mothering Sunday, a religious tradition where people visited their baptism church, later becoming a chance for industrial workers to return home and see their families.
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

German grandmaster's vast collection of chess memorabilia to be sold in London

He was crazy for the game and everything to do with it. He travelled to five continents to buy up artefacts he had fallen in love with, once to South America for a book he told us children was as expensive as a house.
History
History
fromMail Online
1 week ago

The island paradise that claims to house the Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant may be buried in the Solomon Islands according to a theory based on local Hebrew traditions and claims of a hidden temple in Malaita's rainforest.
History
fromIndependent
1 week ago

Shane Ross: Phil Hogan's Lazarus act proves you can't keep a well-connected man down

Phil Hogan demonstrates exceptional political resilience through multiple career resurrections across various governmental positions despite repeated controversies.
History
fromwww.thehistoryblog.com
1 week ago

Two rare Roman lead ingots found in Wales

Two rare Roman lead ingots from 87 A.D. discovered in Wales represent the first such artifacts found in west Wales and provide evidence of Roman metal exploitation in Britain.
History
fromMedievalists.net
1 week ago

10 Ways Video Games Have Rewritten the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net

Video games have become a primary way modern audiences encounter the Middle Ages, creating a distinctive form of medievalism shaped by gameplay mechanics that emphasizes warfare and reshapes historical reality.
History
fromFrenchly
1 week ago

Hidden Figures: 9 French Women Who Shaped History - Frenchly

Francophone women have made significant but often overlooked contributions to politics, law, science, arts, and education, fundamentally advancing human rights and culture.
fromLos Angeles Times
40 years ago

Daughter Traces Builder's Role at Hearst Castle

He was flamboyant, all right. But he was much more than that. He was an extremely colorful personality and a close friend of The Chief (Hearst). His input went beyond that of the builder and overlapped into the interior design and even in the choice of furnishings.
History
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