Portal:History

The History Portal This is the Place Monument History (from Greek ἱστορία, historia, meaning "inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation") is the study of the past. Events occurring before the invention of writing systems are considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events. Historians place the past in context using historical sources such as written documents, oral accounts, ecological markers, and material objects including art and artifacts. History also includes the academic discipline which uses narrative to describe, examine, question, and analyze a sequence of past events, investigate the patterns of cause and effect that are related to them. Historians seek to understand and represent the past through narratives. They often debate which narrative best explains an event, as well as the significance of different causes and effects. Historians also debate the nature of history and its usefulness by discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present. Stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the tales surrounding King Arthur), are usually classified as cultural heritage or legends. History differs from myth in that it is supported by evidence. However, ancient influences have helped spawn variant interpretations of the nature of history which have evolved over the centuries and continue to change today. The modern study of history is wide-ranging, and includes the study of specific regions and the study of certain topical or thematic elements of historical investigation. History is often taught as part of primary and secondary education, and the academic study of history is a major discipline in university studies. Herodotus, a 5th-century BC Greek historian is often considered (within the Western tradition) to be the "father of history," or, by some, the "father of lies." Along with his contemporary Thucydides, he helped form the foundations for the modern study of human history. Their works continue to be read today, and the gap between the culture-focused Herodotus and the military-focused Thucydides remains a point of contention or approach in modern historical writing. In East Asia, a state chronicle, the Spring and Autumn Annals, was known to be compiled from as early as 722 BC although only 2nd-century BC texts have survived. Featured article - This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.. Richard II meets the rebels on 14 June 1381 in a miniature from a 1470s copy of Jean Froissart's Chronicles. The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death pandemic in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London. The final trigger for the revolt was the intervention of a royal official, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His attempts to collect unpaid poll taxes in Brentwood ended in a violent confrontation, which rapidly spread across the south-east of the country. A wide spectrum of rural society, including many local artisans and village officials, rose up in protest, burning court records and opening the local gaols. The rebels sought a reduction in taxation, an end to the system of unfree labour known as serfdom, and the removal of the King's senior officials and law courts. Inspired by the sermons of the radical cleric John Ball and led by Wat Tyler, a contingent of Kentish rebels advanced on London. They were met at Blackheath by representatives of the royal government, who unsuccessfully attempted to persuade them to return home. King Richard II, then aged 14, retreated to the safety of the Tower of London, but most of the royal forces were abroad or in northern England. On 13 June, the rebels entered London and, joined by many local townsfolk, attacked the gaols, destroyed the Savoy Palace, set fire to law books and buildings in the Temple, and killed anyone associated with the royal government. The following day, Richard met the rebels at Mile End and acceded to most of their demands, including the abolition of serfdom. Meanwhile, rebels entered the Tower of London, killing the Lord Chancellor and the Lord High Treasurer, whom they found inside. Read more... 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In Hinduism, Shiva is the deity of destruction and one of the most important gods; in this sculpture he is dancing as Nataraja, the divine dancer who unravels the world in preparation for it being remade by Brahma. Did you know... ... that Giovanni de Ventura, a plague doctor who may have worn a beak doctor costume (pictured), was restricted by a covenant to treat only infectious patients? In the nose of the mask, there were types of plants that were used to filter the sickness from the wearer. ... that in some archaic Greek alphabets, an Ε could look like a Β, a Β like a C, a Γ like an Ι, an Ι like a Σ, or a Σ like an Μ? ... that the Chinese government has published a list of sixty-four important cultural relics that are forbidden to be exhibited outside of China? ... that the 1886 novel Albertine expedited the abolition of public prostitution in Norway? ... that Carl Sagan worked with the US Air Force on detonating a nuclear device on the Moon? ... that Olympic gold medals have been made out of silver, jade, and glass? ... that in 1945 a Japanese battalion was rearmed to serve alongside the British 5th Parachute Brigade in the Far East? ... that Solomon was accidentally castrated as an infant? Featured biography - This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.. John Treloar in 1922 John Linton Treloar, OBE (10 December 1894 – 28 January 1952) was an Australian archivist and the second director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM). During World War I he served in several staff roles and later headed the First Australian Imperial Force's (AIF) record-keeping unit. From 1920 Treloar played an important role in establishing the AWM as its director. He headed an Australian Government department during the first years of World War II, and spent the remainder of the war in charge of the Australian military's history section. Treloar returned to the AWM in 1946, and continued as its director until his death. Treloar's career was focussed on the Australian military and its history. Prior to World War I he worked as a clerk in the Department of Defence and, after volunteering for the AIF in 1914, formed part of the Australian Army officer Brudenell White's staff for most of the war's first years. He was appointed commander of the Australian War Records Section (AWRS) in 1917. In this position, he improved the AIF's records and collected a large number of artefacts for later display in Australia. Treloar was appointed the director of what eventually became the AWM in 1920, and was a key figure in establishing the Memorial and raising funds for its permanent building in Canberra. He left the AWM at the outbreak of World War II to lead the Australian Government's Department of Information, but was effectively sidelined for much of 1940. In early 1941 he was appointed to command the Australian military's Military History and Information Section with similar responsibilities to those he had held during World War I. He attempted to intervene in the management of the AWM during his absence, however, to the increasing frustration of its acting director. Treloar worked intensely in all his roles and suffered periods of ill-health as a result. Following the war, he returned to the Memorial in 1946 but his performance deteriorated over time, possibly due to exhaustion. He died in January 1952. Read more... List of featured biographies Alcibiades Blackbeard Ramón Emeterio Betances Harriet Arbuthnot Samuel Adams Nikita Zotov Pedro Álvares Cabral Isaac Brock Joel Brand Daniel Boone Phan Đình Phùng Jack Sheppard Witold Pilecki Wail al-Shehri Pericles George W. Romney Joan of Arc Malcolm X Jovan Vladimir Shen Kuo Cleopatra King Arthur Giovanni Villani Joan of Arc Phan Đình Phùng Malcolm X Ramón Emeterio Betances Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Tom Crean (explorer) Fridtjof Nansen Thomas the Slav Jean-François-Marie de Surville Hasekura Tsunenaga Harriet Tubman On this day August 7: Assyrian Martyrs Day (1933) Badge of Military Merit 1461 – Ming general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the Tianshun Emperor. 1782 – The Badge of Military Merit (pictured), the precursor to the U.S. Purple Heart, was established as a military decoration of the Continental Army. 1946 – The Soviet Union informed Turkey that the way in which the latter was handling the Turkish Straits no longer represented the security interests of its fellow Black Sea nations, escalating the Turkish Straits crisis. 1970 – Jonathan Jackson kidnapped Harold Haley, a judge in Marin County, California, to coerce the release of the Soledad Brothers, including Jackson's brother George. 1985 – Five members of the Bamber family were found murdered at a farmhouse in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, England. Jin Shengtan (d. 1661) Jöns Jacob Berzelius (d. 1848) Brigid Brophy (d. 1995) More anniversaries: August 6 August 7 August 8 Selected quote In truth history does not belong to us but rather we to history. — Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher Subportals Ancient Egypt Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Middle Ages Anglo-Saxon England British Empire History of science Countries War Modern history General images The following are images from various History-related articles on Wikipedia. "If there is something you know, communicate it. If there is something you don't know, search for it." An engraving from the 1772 edition of the Encyclopédie; Truth (center) is surrounded by light and unveiled by the figures to the right, Philosophy and Reason Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in 1190 The Chinese Han Dynasty dominated the East Asia region at the beginning of the first millennium AD The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period 15th century Hanging Houses in Cuenca, Spain from the Early Renaissance, and the Early modern period. Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830). The French Revolution inspired a wave of revolutions across Europe. Liberalism and Nationalism were popular ideas that challenged Absolute Monarchies in the 19th century. Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman Mesopotamia – Sumer A medieval scholar making precise measurements in a 14th-century manuscript illustration Reconstruction of an early medieval peasant village in Bavaria Technical drawing of Roman Ballista mechanism. Barbarian kingdoms and tribes after the end of the Western Roman Empire India – Indus Valley Civilization The Cross of Mathilde, a crux gemmata made for Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the enamel plaque. The figure of Christ is slightly later. Probably made in Cologne or Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques: cast figurative sculpture, filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical cameos and engraved gems. A late Roman sculpture depicting the four Tetrarchs, now in Venice, Italy Agricultural calendar, c. 1470, from a manuscript of Pietro de Crescenzi Engraved world map (including magnetic declination lines) by Leonhard Euler from his school atlas "Geographischer Atlas bestehend in 44 Land-Charten" first published 1753 in Berlin A coin of the Ostrogothic leader Theoderic the Great, struck in Milan, Italy, circa AD 491–501 Map of Europe in 1360 A painting depecting the Qing Chinese celebrating a victory over the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan. This work was a collaboration between Chinese and European painters. Gold stag with eagle's head, and ten further heads in the antlers. From a Xiongnu tomb. 4th–3rd century BC Cossacks became the backbone of the early Russian Army. Painting of Murong Xianbei archer, in Late Antiquity, nomads across Eurasia, began to use the stirrup. Horse riding warriors could be devastating in combat. Khafre's Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. 2500 BC or perhaps earlier) Map of the Islamic Gunpowders, the Mughal Empire being the orange one. Charlemagne's palace chapel at Aachen, completed in 805 Krak des Chevaliers was built during the Crusades for the Knights Hospitallers. Waldseemüller map with joint sheets, 1507 Joan of Arc in a 15th-century depiction Ottoman Empire 1481–1683 Execution of some of the ringleaders of the jacquerie, from a 14th-century manuscript of the Chroniques de France ou de St Denis Map of the approximate political boundaries in Europe around 450 AD China – Erlitou An 11th-century illustration of Gregory the Great dictating to a secretary Roman cast terracotta of ram-horned Jupiter Ammon, a form of Zeus 1st century AD. Gods, could sometimes be transferred or adopted by many civilizations, and then adjusted for local conditions. The Iron Age kingdom of Israel (blue) and kingdom of Judah (yellow) Cishou Temple Pagoda, built in 1576: the Chinese believed that building pagodas on certain sites according to geomantic principles brought about auspicious events; merchant-funding for such projects was needed by the late Ming period. Oracle bone script from the Shang Dynasty. Measoamerica – Olmec Map of the late Bronze Age collapse, c. 1200 BC Geographical extent of Iranian influence in the 1st century BC. The Parthian Empire (mostly Western Iranian) is shown in red, other areas, dominated by Scythia (mostly Eastern Iranian), in orange. The Persian Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC The ruins of Mesoamerican city Teotihuacan Silver, valued as a precious metal, has been used to make expensive ornaments, fine jewelry, high-value tableware and utensils (silverware), and currency coins. Spices were among the most luxurious products, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Andean – Norte Chico John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence, showing the Committee of Five in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia Francis of Assisi, depicted by Bonaventura Berlinghieri in 1235, founded the Franciscan Order. Bronze Mirror, from the Yayoi period of Japan Pharaohs of Nubia A possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva", 2600–1900 BCE Ferdinand Pauwels – Martin Luther hammers his 95 theses to the door February scene from the 15th-century illuminated manuscript Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry Gold fueled European exploration of the Americas. Explorers reported Native Americans in Central America, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia were to have had large amounts. World Colonization of 1492 (Early Modern World), 1550, 1660, 1754 (Age of Enlightenment), 1822 (Industrial revolution), 1885 (European Hegemony), 1914 (World War I era), 1938 (World War II era), 1959 (Cold War era) and 1974, 2008 (Recent history). Clerics studying astronomy and geometry, French, early 15th century The early Muslim conquests   Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632   Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632–661   Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750 A page from the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript created in the British Isles in the late 8th or early 9th century Gutenberg reviewing a press proof (a colored engraving created probably in the 19th century) The Territory of the Adal Sultanate and its vassal states circa 1500. A mosaic showing Justinian with the bishop of Ravenna (Italy), bodyguards, and courtiers. The Romanesque Church of Maria Laach, Germany Medieval illustration of the spherical Earth in a 14th-century copy of L'Image du monde The Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct in France. Europe in 814 Model for the Three Superior Planets and Venus from Georg von Peuerbach, Theoricae novae planetarum. Nok sculpture of a sitted person The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, built of marble and limestone between circa 460-406 BC, is a symbol not just of Ancient Greek architecture, but for Antiquity in general The Cantino planisphere (1502), the oldest surviving Portuguese nautical chart showing the results of the explorations of Vasco da Gama to India, Columbus to Central America, Gaspar Corte-Real to Newfoundland and Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil. The meridian of Tordesillas, separating the Portuguese and Spanish halves of the world is also depicted Byzantine Empire in 1265 13th-century illustration of a Jew (in pointed Jewish hat) and the Christian Petrus Alphonsi debating The Ezana Stone records negus Ezana's conversion to Christianity and conquests of his neighbors. Portrait of Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher by Tommaso da Modena, 1352, the first known depiction of spectacles Terracotta Warriors from the time of Qin Shi Huang Roman Empire 117 AD. The Senatorial provinces were acquired first under the Roman Republic and were under the Roman Senate's control; the Imperial provinces were controlled directly by the Roman emperor. The Bayeux Tapestry (detail) showing William the Conqueror (centre), his half-brothers Robert, Count of Mortain (right) and Odo, Bishop of Bayeux in the Duchy of Normandy (left) Largest expansion of Kingdom of Armenia under Tigranes the Great The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, located on the Acropolis in Athens The Gothic interior of Laon Cathedral, France Standing Greek-Buddha, Gandhara, 1st century AD. Medieval French manuscript illustration of the three classes of medieval society: those who prayed (the clergy) those who fought (the knights), and those who worked (the peasantry). The relationship between these classes was governed by feudalism and manorialism. (Li Livres dou Sante, 13th century) 10th-century Ottonian ivory plaque depicting Christ receiving a church from Otto I Egyptian soldiers from Hatshepsut's expedition to the Land of Punt as depicted from her temple at Deir el-Bahri. Map showing growth of Frankish power from 481 to 814 Battle of Vienna, 12 September 1683 The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. Guy of Boulogne crowning Pope Gregory XI in a 15th-century miniature from Froissart's Chroniques A political map of the Mauryan Empire, including notable cities, such as the capital Pataliputra, and site of the Buddha's enlightenment. Sénanque Abbey, Gordes, France The Age of Migrations in Europe was deeply detrimental to the late Roman Empire. Overview map in the 15th century BC showing the core territory of Assyria with its two major cities Assur and Nineveh wedged between Babylonia downstream and the states of Mitanni and Hatti upstream. 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