Latest Content
Featured Definition
Definition
Athena
Athena was the goddess of wisdom, war, and the crafts. She was the favourite daughter of Zeus and was, perhaps, the wisest, most courageous, and certainly...
Featured Image
Image
The African Slave Trade, c. 1750
By 1750, Africa had emerged as the center of three major slave-trading systems: the transatlantic, trans-Saharan, and Indian Ocean trades. These interconnected...
Free for the World, Supported by You
World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Please support free history education for millions of learners worldwide for only $5 per month by becoming a member. Thank you!
World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Please support free history education for millions of learners worldwide for only $5 per month by becoming a member. Thank you!
Become a Member Donate
Definition
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (l. c. 1797-1883) was an African American abolitionist, women's suffrage advocate, and civil rights activist who famously "walked away"...
Article
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (now Volgograd, July 1942 to February 1943) was an attempt by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) to control the USSR's access to the...
Definition
Harriet Jacobs
Harriet Jacobs (l. c. 1813-1897) was a former slave, abolitionist, and author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), her autobiography, describing...
Article
Italian Colonialism in Eritrea
Eritrea, located on the Red Sea coast of the Horn of Africa, was the ‘firstborn’ colony of Italy. The potential of a trade centre and naval base at...
Article
Education in Roman Spain
There was no compulsory state education for children in any of the western provinces of the Roman Empire. The primary sources are sparse when it comes...
Article
Battle of Edington
The Battle of Edington, fought in May 878 in southwest England, saw Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (r. 871-899), win a decisive victory over the Viking...
Article
Fear of Insurrection
Fear of Insurrection comes from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) by Harriet Jacobs (l. c. 1813-1897) describing the reaction of the White...
Definition
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is the earliest tragedy by William Shakespeare (l. c.1564-1616), probably written sometime between 1589 and 1593, and first performed...
Article
Battle of Moscow in 1941-2
The Battle of Moscow (Oct 41 to Jan 42) was Germany's first major land defeat in the Second World War (1939-45). Although Axis panzer divisions reached...
Article
Notes on the State of Virginia
Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) is the only full-length work by Thomas Jefferson (l. 1743-1826) published in his lifetime and was written in response...
Article
Poems of Phillis Wheatley and Jefferson's Criticism
Although Phillis Wheatley's poetry found an audience upon publication, it was not well received by everyone and some, notably Thomas Jefferson (l. 1743-1826...
Article
Christian Celibate Martyrs
Martyrologies, a unique genre of Christian literature, appeared from the 2nd century CE. A martyrology tells the story of the suffering and ordeals...
Article
Siege of Sevastopol in 1941-2
The siege of Sevastopol (Oct 41 to Jul 42) was an attack by Axis forces on the base of the USSR's Black Sea Fleet during Operation Barbarossa of the...
Article
Ellen and William Craft's Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom
Ellen and William Craft's Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom (1860) tells the story of the couple's escape from slavery, with Ellen disguised as a...
Article
Views of the Afterlife in Roman Tombstone Inscriptions
Ancient views of the afterlife are reflected in literature, tomb inscriptions, and grave goods. Then, as now, a belief in another stage of existence...
Image Gallery
Europe 1914–1949: History Maps of the World Wars
This map collection explores the geopolitical transformation of Europe between 1914 and 1949. From the First World War (1914-18) and the collapse of...
