History

The Scandinavians ‘Hitchhiked’ Their Way to the Boons of Empire

The Scandinavians ‘Hitchhiked’ Their Way to the Boons of Empire

February 1, 2018

Plantation Høgensborg on St Croix in the former Danish West Indies (1833) / Wikimedia Commons By Miles...

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What Can Local Circulation of Knowledge Explain? The Case of Helmholtz’s Frog-Drawing-Machine in Berlin

What Can Local Circulation of Knowledge Explain? The Case of Helmholtz’s Frog-Drawing-Machine in Berlin

February 1, 2018

Hermann Von Helmoltz By Dr. M. Norton Wise Professor Emeritus of History University of California, Los Angeles...

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The Horoscope of Iskander Sultan

The Horoscope of Iskander Sultan

October 31, 2023

This 19th century Sudanese drawing of an amulet includes spells against the ‘evil eye’. Wellcome Library reference: MS...

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Early Modern Islam-Christian Transfers of Military Technology, 1730-1918

Early Modern Islam-Christian Transfers of Military Technology, 1730-1918

July 1, 2024

Château de Coussac-Bonneval / Wikimedia Commons By Dr. Virginia H. Aksan / 01.14.2011 Professor Emeritus of History...

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The Dacian Triumph on the Column of Trajan

The Dacian Triumph on the Column of Trajan

February 1, 2018

Column of Trajan, Carrara marble, completed 113 C.E., Rome. Dedicated to Emperor Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus...

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Consequences of the Reformation Continue to Fade Five Centuries Later

Consequences of the Reformation Continue to Fade Five Centuries Later

January 31, 2018

Illustration of a small crowd gathered to watch as Martin Luther directs the posting of his 95...

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The “Decalogue Bill”: When Kansas Assemblyman Charles Walters Tried to Make the Ten Commandments State Law, 1897

The “Decalogue Bill”: When Kansas Assemblyman Charles Walters Tried to Make the Ten Commandments State Law, 1897

January 31, 2018

By Dr. Jenna Weissman Joselit / 08.03.2017 Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of...

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Anglophilia in the Early Modern World

Anglophilia in the Early Modern World

January 31, 2018

Image from Rebloggy By Dr. Michael Maurer / 12.03.2010 Professor of Philosophy Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena Abstract In the 18th...

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The Emergence of the Early Modern Commons: Technology, Heritage, and Enlightenment

The Emergence of the Early Modern Commons: Technology, Heritage, and Enlightenment

January 23, 2023

A photograph of the War Scroll, found in Qumran Cave 1, photographed by Eric Matson of the...

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Landscape and Garden Design in 18th-Century Europe: Architectural Use of the Natural

Landscape and Garden Design in 18th-Century Europe: Architectural Use of the Natural

August 20, 2025

By Dr. Iris Lauterbach / 07.03.2017Professor of HistoryZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (ZI) Abstract The history of landscape design...

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Hieroglyphicks of the City Fathers: London’s Aldermen in the 17th Century

Hieroglyphicks of the City Fathers: London’s Aldermen in the 17th Century

January 30, 2018

Aldermen of the City of London Corporation represented as Chinese and as monsters in procession to Westminster...

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The “South Sea Bubble”: London’s Financial Crash of 1720

The “South Sea Bubble”: London’s Financial Crash of 1720

September 21, 2025

By Dr. Helen J. Paul / 11.04.2015Lecturer in Economics and Economic HistoryUniversity of Southampton Abstract The South...

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A Classical Architectural Revival in the Palatine Chapel at Aachen

A Classical Architectural Revival in the Palatine Chapel at Aachen

October 2, 2025

By Dr. Jennifer Awes-FreemanVisiting Assistant Professor of Art History and Religious StudiesUniversity of St. Thomas Carolingian Art and...

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Basilica of Santa Sabina: Adoption of Administrative Architecture for Sacred Space

Basilica of Santa Sabina: Adoption of Administrative Architecture for Sacred Space

January 30, 2018

Basilica of Santa Sabina, 422-432, Rome By Dr. Allen Farber / 08.08.2015 Professor of Art History State...

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Fossil Jaw Bone from Israel is Oldest Modern Human Found Outside Africa

Fossil Jaw Bone from Israel is Oldest Modern Human Found Outside Africa

January 29, 2018

Fossilized teeth from a modern human who lived in Israel close to 200,000 years ago. Israel Hershkovitz, Tel...

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The Röttgen Pietà – A Medieval Shift in Iconic Representation

The Röttgen Pietà – A Medieval Shift in Iconic Representation

January 29, 2018

Röttgen Pietà, c. 1300-25, painted wood, 34 1/2″ high (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn) By Dr. Nancy Ross / 12.19.2016 Assistant...

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Iconoclastic Controversies in Early Christianity

Iconoclastic Controversies in Early Christianity

January 29, 2018

Apa Abraham, c. 590-600, watercolor on panel, Egyptian (Bode Museum, Berlin) By Dr. Davor Džalto / 08.08.2015...

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Hurtling Back through Time – Harvard Wintersession Course and the Atlatl (Spear Thrower)

Hurtling Back through Time – Harvard Wintersession Course and the Atlatl (Spear Thrower)

January 29, 2018

During Wintersession, students learn to make and use the technology that revolutionized human life. The atlatl, or...

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Hesiod and the Poetics of Pan-Hellenism

Hesiod and the Poetics of Pan-Hellenism

December 27, 2023

Alexander the Great Confronts Darius III at the Battle of Issos (or possibly Battle of Gaugamela), floor...

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The Tale of Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Beatrix Potter

January 28, 2018

A teenage Beatrix Potter with her pet mouse Xarifa, 1885, from Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Rare...

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The Early Modern “Spanish Century”

The Early Modern “Spanish Century”

January 28, 2018

The city of Salamanca. / Photo by Laura Tomàs Avellana, Flickr, Creative Commons By Dr. Thomas Weller...

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A Brief History of the Crusades

A Brief History of the Crusades

October 3, 2024

Knight, Psalter, with litany, prayers and Easter tables (The “Westminster Psalter”), c. 1200, f. 220 (British Library)...

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Medieval Pilgrimage Routes and the Cult of the Relic

Medieval Pilgrimage Routes and the Cult of the Relic

January 28, 2018

Basilica Ste-Madeleine, Vézelay, France, dedicated 1104 (photo: Dr. Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By Christine M. Bolli...

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Why Science and Engineering Need to Remind Students of Forgotten Lessons from History

Why Science and Engineering Need to Remind Students of Forgotten Lessons from History

September 16, 2024

Isaac Newton’s portrait. What can students learn from his life? Alessandro Grussu, Creative Commons By Dr. Muhammad H....

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History is a Process, Not a Pile of Flash Card Facts

History is a Process, Not a Pile of Flash Card Facts

January 27, 2018

History is not just a few facts to be memorized. Greg Wass/Flickr, Creative Commons By Dr. Ben Keppel /...

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Are Movies a Good Way to Learn History?

Are Movies a Good Way to Learn History?

January 27, 2018

Daniel Day-Lewis won the 2012 Academy Award for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. Is Spielberg’s historical drama...

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Frozen in Time: Glacial Archaeology on the Roof of Norway

Frozen in Time: Glacial Archaeology on the Roof of Norway

March 24, 2024

Artefacts revealed by melting ice patches in the high mountains of Oppland shed new light on ancient...

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The Transformation of Rome’s Forum Boarium Over the Centuries

The Transformation of Rome’s Forum Boarium Over the Centuries

February 19, 2018

Forum Boarium in the Imperial Age, Lanciani FUR, tab. XXVIII, detail “A very popular area exists that...

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Final and Largest of Rome’s Imperial Fora: The Forum and Markets of Trajan

Final and Largest of Rome’s Imperial Fora: The Forum and Markets of Trajan

January 27, 2018

Apollodorus of Damascus, The Forum of Trajan, dedicated 112 C.E., Rome Apollodorus of Damascus, The Markets of...

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Ignorant Armies: Private Snafu Goes to War

Ignorant Armies: Private Snafu Goes to War

August 24, 2019

Opening card of the U.S. army WWII short animated films “Private Snafu”, 1943 – Wikimedia Commons Between 1943...

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