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World History

Does history really repeat itself, or can we learn from the mistakes of those who came before us? History provides a chronological, statistical, and cultural record of the events, people, and movements that have made an impact on humankind and the world at large throughout the ages.
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Accidents & Disasters Age of Revolutions The Ancient World Historians Historic Dynasties & Families Historic Nobility Global Exploration The Middle Ages Military Leaders The Modern World Prehistoric Age United States History Wars, Battles & Armed Conflicts

Featured content, March 13, 2025

Joan of Arc at the Coronation of King Charles VII at Reims Cathedral, July 1429 by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Oil on canvas, 240 x 178 cm, 1854. In the Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
7 Women Warriors
Seven women who weren’t afraid to fight.
The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., April 14th, 1865; from a lithograph by Currier and Ives.
9 Infamous Assassins and the World Leaders They Dispatched
Meet the people behind the guns.
Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.
How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?
In 1946 deaf-blind writer and activist Helen Keller piloted a plane over the Mediterranean. How?
High school recess period, Manzanar Relocation Center (internment camp, Japanese-Americans), near Lone Pine, California. Photograph by Ansel Adams, 1943.
What Was Life Like in Japanese American Internment Camps?
Internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II were a combination of barbed wire and baseball games.
Encyclopædia Britannica: first edition, map of Europe
history of Europe
History of Europe, history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous...
South African War: Boer troops
South African War
South African War, war fought from October 11, 1899, to May 31, 1902, between Great Britain and the two Boer (Afrikaner)...
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was the principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier, and statesman who led his country’s communist revolution....
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan was a Mongolian warrior-ruler, one of the most famous conquerors of history, who consolidated tribes into a...

World History Quizzes

Tecumseh. Battle of the Thames, Ontario, Canada, and the death of Tecumseh. Col. Richard M. Johnson with the Kentucky volunteers on left battle with Tecumseh and his Native troops. Native American Shawnee chief. North American indian. (See Notes)
Military History Buff Quiz
Can you tell your Salamis from your Stalingrad? Test your knowledge of some of the greatest moments in military history.
The Warwick Regiment on the main road, Simonstown, South Africa, during the Boer War, c. 1901
Name the African Battle
Are you a fan of African history? Test your knowledge with this quiz.
Vietnam War. Operation Georgia. U.S. Marines bombing bunkers and tunnels used by the Viet Cong. May 6, 1966
The Vietnam War Quiz
Who backed whom? How was the U.S. involved? Which foreign leaders were involved? Test your knowledge of the Vietnam War with...
Visualization of the Columbian Exchange. North America. South America. Europe. Asia. Africa.
Columbian Exchange: New World or Old World?
Do you know the origins of the crops and livestock exchanged between the Old and the New World following Christopher Columbus’s...
The Pulitzer wall at the New York Times, celebrating the journalistic awards received by the newspaper and its journalists. Pulitzer prize
Pulitzer Prize
Who was Joseph Pulitzer? What is the Pulitzer Prize? Who has won it? Take this quiz to find out just how much you know about...
Ancient Egyptian carving of Pharaoh Seti I holding his flail before the god of the underworld Osiris with Horus behind him. Abydos Temple, Egypt. Ancient carving, on public display for 2,000 years
Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Ancient Egypt had a huge pantheon of gods and goddesses. How many of them do you know?
Adolf Hitler, giving Nazi salute. To Hitler's right is Rudolph Hess. 1939.
Adolf Hitler
How much do you know about Adolf Hitler? Test your knowledge with this quiz.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Premier Joseph Stalin pose with leading Allied officers at the Yalta Conference, 1945. The Big Three leaders met in In February 1945. World War II, WWII.
WWII: Allies, Axis, or Associates?
Test your knowledge about which countries fought on which side during World War II.
Amelia Earhart seated on top of an autogiro in Los Angeles, after completing a transcontinental flight. She had hoped to become the first person to fly an autogiro across the United States, but another pilot accomplished the feat days before her.
Women’s History: Famous Firsts
Women have accomplished some fantastic feats in the course of history. Test your knowledge of some famous firsts for women.
Portrait of Anne Boleyn (Queen of England), oil on panel by an unknown English artist, late 16th century, based on a work c. 1533-36; in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. (54.30 x 41.60 cm. )
Not-So-Common Knowledge
It is well known that Mount Everest at about 8,850 meters is the world’s highest mountain, but did you know that K2 at about...

World History Videos

American Revolution: Paul Revere
American Revolution: Paul Revere
American Civil War: Vicksburg Campaign
American Civil War: Vicksburg Campaign
The history of land ownership in post-Reformation Ireland
The history of land ownership in post-Reformation Ireland
What artifacts teach us about the Vikings
What artifacts teach us about the Vikings
Find out how the 13 American colonies gained their political independence from Great Britain
Find out how the 13 American colonies gained their political independence from Great Britain
Learn how reading Shakespeare and the King James Bible helped Abraham Lincoln compose his best-remembered address in American history
Learn how reading Shakespeare and the King James Bible helped Abraham Lincoln compose his best-remembered address in American history
Examine African American soldiers' involvement in the American Civil War
Examine African American soldiers' involvement in the American Civil War
Watch the Viet Cong's guerrilla communist forces move down the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and Cambodia
Watch the Viet Cong's guerrilla communist forces move down the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and Cambodia
Experience the archaeological excavations of the Undo Cave, a paleolithic site in Georgia
Experience the archaeological excavations of the Undo Cave, a paleolithic site in Georgia
What led to the fall of Germany's Weimar Republic?
What led to the fall of Germany's Weimar Republic?
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World History
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World History Subcategories

Chile earthquake of 2010 Accidents & Disasters
Nature isn’t always peaceful and idyllic. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and other powerful natural phenomena can have devastating consequences on communities and regions throughout the world. But nature is far from the only instigator of large-scale misfortune; human-made disasters and tragedies, both accidental and intentional, can cause significant misery, damage, and loss of life.
Articles
Louis XVI: execution by guillotine Age of Revolutions
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
ancient Middle East The Ancient World
The modern world may look very different from the world that existed in the time of ancient civilizations, but our modern-day life continues to show the influence of cultures, traditions, ideas, and innovations from hundreds of years ago. Learn more about important historical civilizations, sites, people, and events.
Articles
Livy Historians
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
branches of the Medici family Historic Dynasties & Families
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
subcategory placeholder Historic Nobility
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
David Livingstone. Global Exploration
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
The Western Schism and the Roman Catholic Church The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages comprise the period in European history that began with the collapse of Roman civilization in the 5th century CE and lasted until the dawn of the Renaissance in the 13th, 14th, or 15th century. This interval of time saw the development of the Gothic style of art and architecture, flying buttresses and all. It was also the era of the Crusades and of papal monarchy, and it was during this period that the idea of Europe as a distinct cultural unit emerged.
Articles
Kemal Atatürk Military Leaders
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
Kindertransport The Modern World
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
Mississippian culture: Ocmulgee National Monument Prehistoric Age
The prehistoric age covers the millions of years that took place before human beings began to create written records of their life and of the world in which they lived. Archaeology and similar fields of study allow us to fill in the gaps and piece together an image of what life was like for our ancestors, including what kinds of flora and fauna they might have encountered.
Articles
Pearl Harbor attack United States History
As with most nations, the history of the United States contains a number of twists and turns throughout the centuries, from the time of the English colonization of North America up to the modern-day America that we're familiar with. Learn more about the people, events, and movements that left an indelible mark in history and shaped the development of the United States as a nation.
Articles
World War I Wars, Battles & Armed Conflicts
Wars, battles, and other domestic or international conflicts, whether armed or diplomatic, are often the outcome of a dispute over natural resources or a struggle for power, influence, and wealth. Major conflicts between nations, peoples, and political groups can end up shifting the cultural and political geography of the world and can also effect change, whether intentional or not, in societal values and the balance of power.
Articles
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