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The Black Death: In the 1300s the world was struck by a deadly disease called the Black Death. It was one of the worst recorded disasters in history. Over one-third of the population of Europe died. Also known as the plague, the disease is thought to have originated...
Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong - Aircraft Landing Videos: The famous (or infamous) Kai Tak International Airport, Hong Kong, had one of the most challenging, exciting and hair-raising airplane landings in the world. Located almost in the center of densely-populated Kowloon in Hong Kong, Kai Tak Ai...
Genghis Khan: Genghis Khan (1167-1227 A.D.) was a Mongol conqueror. He conquered much of modern-day Mongolia and China, Turkistan, Transoxania, and Afghanistan, and raided Persia and eastern Europe. His was the greatest land empire in world history.
French and Indian War: The French and Indian War (1754-60) was a conflict in North America between Britain and France. The conflict was part of the Seven Years' War. Great Britain, its American colonies and Britain's Indian [Native American] allies, the Iroquois confedera...
Queen Elizabeth I of England: Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) ruled England for 45 years. During her reign, Mary, Queen of Scots was executed (1587) and the Spanish Armada was defeated (1588). Elizabeth I is regarded as one of the most greatest English monarchs. She inherited a we...
Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th Edition): The famous 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been nicknamed the "scholar's edition" due to superb quality of the articles and the high caliber of the contributors. It was published in 1875 (and a supplement added...
King Henry VIII of England: King Henry VIII (1491-1547) was strong and ruthless king of the Tudor era. He was appointed Defender of the Faith by the Pope, but when the king decided to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, a split with the Catholic Church occurred. England joi...
James Cook: James Cook (1728-79) was a famous English navigator. He entered the British Navy in 1755 and, after surveying Newfoundland and Labrador, he was asked to command an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the...
The American Revolution: The American Revolution (1775-83) (also known as the American War of Independence) was a major military struggle in which the 13 British colonies of the east coast of North America became independent from Great Britain and became the United Sta...
The Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Revolution proposed using the scientific method of reasoning and experiments to explore the world around us. The Scientific Revolution may be said to have begun with the astronomer Copernicus theorizing that the earth was not...
Charlemagne: Charlemagne (742-814), also known as Charles the Great, was a king and emperor of France. He later extended his empire into Italy. He fought the Moors in northern Spain and his exploits were celebrated in the great poem, the Chansons de Roland. The...
The Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic empire founded in Asia Minor by the Turkish leader Osman I (1259-1326). In 1453 it captured Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire reached its peak in the 16th century under Suleiman the Magnificent, comprising the terr...
Julius Caesar: Julius Caesar (full name: Gaius Julius Caesar) (c. 100 - 44 BC) was a great Roman soldier and statesman. Born into an aristocratic family in ancient Rome, Caesar formed a triumvirate (three-person rule) with Pompey and Crassus in 60 BC. Caesar conduc...
The Industrial Revolution: The industrial revolution was a period in Britain from mid-1700s to the mid-1800s in which power-driven machines in factories replaced manual labor. The industrial revolution resulted from advances in applied science and engineering, such as the deve...
Thomas Jefferson: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the 3rd President of the United States (1801-9). He was also the main author of the Declaration of Independence, and an apostle of agrarian democracy.
The Mayans: The Mayans (or Mayas) are a group of Native American peoples living in southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize, Guatemala, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador). The great period of their civilization was 300-900 A.D. Th...
The American Civil War: The American Civil War (1861-65) was an event that tore America apart and still affects America even today. The war was fought between the federal government of the United States and 11 Southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Ala...
Slavery and the Slave Trade: The brutal institution of slavery -- the ownership of one person by another -- has existed for many thousands of years. From the 15th century, a savage new stage in the slave trade occurred. Europeans began capturing Africans and selling them for pr...
The Crusades: The Crusades were a series of wars undertaken by Christians in the 11th-13th centuries with the aim of recovering control of the Holy Land (Israel; Palestine) from the Muslims.
King Louis XIV, the Sun King: Louis XIV (1643-1715) was a famous king of France, often known as the "Sun King" (le roi soleil) because of the brilliance of his reign and his court at Versailles. The age of Louis XIV saw such great writers and artists as Moliere, Racine, La Fonta...
Florence Nightingale: Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), often known as "the lady with the lamp", was the great reformer of hospital nursing. Her reforms have influenced much of modern health care. Having trained as a nurse (against the wishes of her family), she heard of...
The Pilgrim Fathers: The Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers, were a group of English religious dissenters who experienced discrimination in England and, in search of religious freedom, left England to migrate to the Netherlands and later North America. They founded colony at...
Persia and the Persian Empires: Persia was a great civilization that occupied the area now known as Iran. Persia was the scene of a series of three empires that lasted for almost a thousand years: -- the Achaemenid Dynsasty (559-331 BC): ruled by CYRUS THE GREAT, the first "King...
Spanish-American War: The Spanish-American War (1898) was a war between the United States and Spain that began with U.S. intervention in Cuba during the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain. After the mysterious sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana harbor...
The French Revolution: The French Revolution was a political uprising in France that began in 1789. The monarchy was abolished and a republic took its place. The motto of the French Revolution was "liberty, equality, fraternity" and this insistence on human rights for eve...
St. Joan of Arc: Saint Joan of Arc was born into a peasant family in Domremy, France. As a young woman, she saw a number of visions which inspired her to lead the French army and drive the invading English army out of Orleans, France. As a result, Charles VII was cro...
Attila the Hun: Attila the Hun (406-453 A.D.) was the king of the Huns who conquered huge swathes of Europe from the North Sea through to the boundaries of China. He threatened the very existence of the Roman Empire, forcing it to cede territory and to pay him trib...
Vasco da Gama: Vasco da Gama (about 1460-1525) was an adventurous Portuguese navigator who discovered a sea route from Europe to Asia. Earlier Portuguese navigators (such as Diogo Cao and Diaz had explored the west African coast as far as the Cape of Good Hope; an...
The Aztecs: The Aztecs is the name of an ethnic group from central Mexico which ruled a large empire in central America in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries A.D. Over the centuries the Aztecs became skilled engineers and fierce warriors. As engineers, they buil...
Ancient Egypt: Ancient Egypt's history goes back thousands of years. Today we can visit the pyramids and the Sphinx, see King Tut's coffin, and sail up the River Nile. But what was life really like in Ancient Egypt?
Sir Winston Churchill: Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) was a politician and Prime Minister who led Britain to victory during World War II. Churchill joined the British Army in 1895 and saw service in Cuba, India and the Sudan. He served as a war correspondent during t...
Niccolo Machiavelli: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian author and statesman. He was an important figure during the Renaissance period. Macchivelli served the Florentine republic as a political servant and later as defense secretary. He implemented a citizen...
Abraham Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) was the 16th President of the United States. Born on a farm in Kentucky, he became a barrister and then a member of Congress (1847). In 1860 he was elected Republican President of the United States. The following year the A...
Ferdinand de Lesseps: Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805-94) was a French engineer who built the Suez Canal, thus dramatically cutting the travel time for voyages between Europe and Asia. Until the middle of the 19th century, ships sailing from Europe to India, China and other p...
The War of 1812: The War of 1812 was a war between the United States and the Britain in the period 1812-15. The war began when the U.S. demanded the rights of neutral shipping with France, a country then at war with Britain. After early U.S. naval successes and an...
The British Raj in India: The British first arrived in India in the wake of the navigators such as Vasco da Gama. The British East India Company established trading stations in India as early as 1613. The presence, influence and power of Great Britain gradually increased until...
Cleopatra: Cleopatra (69 B.C.-30 B.C.) was a queen in ancient Egypt. At the age of 17, she was married to her brother, Ptolemy XII. With the help of the Roman leader, Julius Caesar, she won the real power of the kingdom of Egypt (under the control of Rome). A...
Mesopotamia: Ancient Mesopotamia (which is Greek for "land in the middle of the rivers") was an area in located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (now mostly in modern-day Iraq). Mesopotamia was home to the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empir...
Horatio Nelson: Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) was a famous English naval commander. He defeated the French at Aboukir Bay -- for which he was rewarded by being created a Baron (1798). His greatest victory was at Trafalgar (1805) where he destroyed the French fleet. S...
Colonialism: Colonialism is the economic and/or political control over a country or an area by another country. Examples are the empires of Portugual, Spain, Britain, France, the United States and Japan.
Leif Ericsson: Leif Ericsson (born about 970 A.D.) sailed to America in about 1000 A.D. and explored the coast of that continent. He named the place Vinland (wine land) from the grapes that he found growing there.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a French emperor and conqueror of Europe. He instituted many important reforms in education, law, and administration.
The Hundred Years' War: The Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict between the English and the French that actually lasted 116 years (1337-1453). The war began when King Edward III of England claimed the French throne. One notable event in the war was the resistance l...
Lucrezia Borgia: Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519) was an Italian noblewoman and an important person in the Italian Renaissance. She was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI. From 1505, as the Duchess of Ferrara, she held sway over a brilliant court with many artists and poe...
The English Civil War: The English Civil War (1642-51) was a struggle that took place in England between the Parliamentarians (known as Roundheads) and the Royalists (known as Cavaliers). The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I and the replacement of the...
Christopher Columbus: Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. He had hoped to find a route to India for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain -- but he found the new continent of America instead. On...
Nationalism: Nationalism is the social and political philosophy in which the nation state is regarded as of supreme importance and that people should be loyal above all to their own country or nation. Nationalists emphasize the shared history and common destiny o...
Simon Bolivar: Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), a soldier and revolutionary leader who was ultimately responsible for the liberation from Spanish rule of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. (Bolivia was named after him in his honor.)
Sir Richard Francis Burton: "Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (March 19, 1821 – October 20, 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels a...
Ferdinand Magellan: Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) was a Portuguese navigator who organized the first round-the-world voyage. In 1519 Magellan, under Spanish patronage, led an expedition of five ships to seek a westward passage to the Moluccas Islands. He discovered...
Alexander the Great: Alexander the Great (or Alexander III) (356-323 B.C.) was a king of Macedon who, during his short life, conquered much of Asia and established a huge empire which comprised over 90% of the known world of his time.
Tutankhamun: Tutankhamun was a king of ancient Egypt who lived around 1350 B.C. King Tutankhamun (or Tutankhamen, or King Tut, as he is popularly nicknamed) became famous when, in 1922, his tomb was found almost intact by the explorers Howard Carter and the earl...
William the Conqueror: William the Conqueror (or William I) (1027-1087) came from Normandy and conquered England in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He was King of England from 1066 until 1087.
William Robertson Smith: "William Robertson Smith (8 November 1846 – 31 March 1894) was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He became popularly known because of his trial for heresy in...
Ancient Rome: The ancient Romans left us many things: the rule of law, good road systems, efficient armies, the Latin language, and much more. Let us explore the world of Ancient Rome...
Boer War: The war often called as the Boer War (1899-1902) was the first major international conflict of the 20th century. It was fought between the British Empire and two independent republics (Orange Free State; South African Republic) of the Boers (the desc...
Trade Unions...: Trade unions are associations of working people which try to improve their pay and conditions of work.
Marco Polo: Marco Polo was a famous Italian traveler who visited China and southeast Asia in the 13th century. Few Western travelers had ever visited China before Marco Polo. Marco Polo came back to Europe and published a book describing the splendors he had se...
Oliver Cromwell: Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was an English military and political leader and was involved in making England into a republican Commonwealth. During the English Civil War, he was the leader of the Roundheads in their fight against the Cavaliers. After...
Duke of Wellington: The Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) was a famous British soldier and politician. He fought against the French in the Peninsula War in 1809-14, during which he succeeded in driving the French out of Spain and Portugal. In 1815 Wellington (in alliance...
William Penn: William Penn (1644-1718) was born in London. He became a Quaker and was imprisoned for his faith half a dozen times. An advocate of democracy and religious freedom, he went to North America in 1682 and founded Pennsylvania as a refuge for Quakers an...
The Anglo-Saxons: The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were tribes in ancient Germany. In the period 449-825 A.D. they conquered Britain and pushed the native Celts westwards into Wales and Cornwall. Under the leadership of King Egbert, these tribes, now known as the Anglo-S...
Imperialism: Imperialism is defined as the rule or strong influence of one nation or society over another. Examples are: British imperialism; American imperialism; Chinese imperialism; and Western imperialism.
The Incas: The Incas were an American Indian tribe that ruled over an empire over the area that we now call Peru, Ecuador and the north of Chile. About 110 A.D. the Incas made their capital in Cuzco (in present-day Peru). The Incas were excellent engineers. Th...
The Vikings: The Vikings (8th-11th century A.D.) were fierce warriors who came from lands that we now know as Denmark, Sweden and Norway. They were great shipbuilders and sailors. They would use their ships to undertake trading missions and also to raid places s...
The Inquisition: The infamous Inquisition was a religious court that terrorized the Christian world for hundreds of years. Thousands of people (including Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno) were accused of heresy, thrown into secret prisons, tortured and put to death...
Civil Rights Movement: The Civil Rights Movement was a popular movement of ideas and politics in the United States and other Western countries in the period from 1960 to 1980 that aimed at greater equality under the law.
The Renaissance: As Western countries emerged from the medieval period, there was a rediscovery of the Greek and Roman classics and the rise of the belief that each individual had importance and value in society. Intellectual life underwent rapid changes. Many great...
The Age of Enlightenment: Rising against the corrupt power of kings, the aristocracy, and the church, a small number of thinkers in the 1700s argued for human rights, science, and the use of reason. These thinkers included Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau, the period was known...
Ancient Greece: The ancient Greeks gave us science, medicine, democracy, philosophy, drama, and much more. Let's explore the world of Ancient Greece...
The Byzantine Empire: The Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) was an empire in southeast Europe and Asia Minor. Its capital was Constantinople (or Byzantium; modern day Istanbul). The Byzantine Empire came into being when the Roman Empire was broken...
The Louisiana Purchase: The Louisiana Purchase was a transfer of North American land in 1803 from the possession of France to the possession of the United States. The price paid by the U.S. was 15 million dollars. The land transferred was a huge area that extended from the...
Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) was a famous American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer. As one the Founding Fathers of the United States, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signers. Franklin made important contr...
The Reformation (Protestant Reformation): The Reformation was a religious revolution in western Europe in the 16th century, arising from the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic church in the medieval period. The Reformation finally led to the founding of Protestantism (the Protestan...
Catherine the Great: Catherine the Great (1729-96), officially known as Empress Catherine II, was a clever and energetic empress of Russia. Early in her 34 year reign, Catherine intended to reform her country and bring in more enlightened laws; but as time went on she b...
George Washington: George Washington (1732-99) was an American statesman and the first President of the United States. During the American War of Independence, he became commander-in-chief of the American army. He was one of the founders of the American republic and be...
Alfred the Great: Alfred the Great (c. 849-901) was an early Anglo-Saxon king of England. During his reign there were many raids by the Danes (or Vikings), which finally stopped after the Treaty of Wedmore (878), after which Alfred ruled the western part of England a...
The Cold War...: After the end of the Second World War in 1945, another war began between the Western and the Communist countries: the Cold War.
World War II (Second World War)...: World War II was a terrible war that began almost 60 years ago.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition: The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-06) was a military exploring expedition across North America, financed by the U.S. Congress and led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The expedition followed the Missouri River to its source, crossed the con...
Women's Movement: The Women's Movement was a struggle for rights for women which began back in the 18th century and continues to this day. This struggle included fight for women's right to vote (woman suffrage) in the later part of the 19th century and in the 20th an...
World War I (First World War): World War I (the First World War) began in 1914 and lasted four terrible years. The whole of Europe was engulfed by war: on one side, Britain, France, Russia, and their associated empires, and, later, Italy and the United States; on the other, Germa...
Sir Francis Drake: Sir Francis Drake (1540-96) was an English seaman and navigator of the Elizabethan period. In 1570-73 he made three voyages to the West Indies. Drake was a privateer, attacking Spanish ships and settlements and looting them. In 1577 he became the f...
Giuseppe Garibaldi: Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82) was an Italian patriot and liberator, who (with his followers called the Red Shirts) rid Italy of the hated Austrian occupation troops and united the many kingdoms of Italy into one unified country. He had to flee Italy...
David Livingstone: David Livingstone (1813-73) was a Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa. Born into a poor family, he was determined to become a medical missionary. To this end he worked in a cotton mill and saved every penny so that he could study Greek, theol...
Queen Victoria: Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901).
Peter the Great: Peter the Great (or Peter I) (1672-1725) was the czar of Russia in the period 1682-1725. Peter the Great was "a relentless improver, innovator, experimenter, architect and strategist, [and] one of the most ingenious and hyperactive leaders in histor...
The British Empire: The British Empire was one of the greatest empires in the history of the world. At its peak just before World War I, this empire had colonies in every continent and it was said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire".
The Middle Ages: The Middle Ages (or Medieval Era) was the period in western Europe that lasted from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century until the 15th century and the Renaissance. The Middle Ages were the time of kings, queens, nobles, knights, c...