history

More than 300 years ago, a Spanish ship laden with unspeakable treasure sank after a battle. Because of greed, the treasure remains on the sea floor.

The role of the Devil’s advocate was to argue against the beatification of mystics. Contrary to popular belief, they did not wear Prada. 

Long before tobacco arrived from the Americas, ancient civilizations in the Old World were getting high off hemp smoke and opium. 

It might seem like science and faith are at war, but the two have a historical synergy that extends back in time for centuries.

Three out of four Russians accused of witchcraft were men.

Here’s why mega-eruptions like the ones that covered North America in ash are the least of your worries.

The Netflix show about a Birmingham crime family and their personal demons concluded earlier this month. 

The architecture and infrastructure found may well have required the greatest amount of skilled labor of any construction from the same time period in the entire continent. 

The weird and wild ways mummy fever swept through Europe.

Unlike other world rulers, Genghis Khan was laid to rest not inside an elaborate mausoleum but an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia. Maybe.

Before gunpowder was introduced to the West, medieval Arabs devised grenades using crockery.

In the Canaan religion, Yahweh was a lesser god, who was assigned the land of Israel. Here’s how he became “God Almighty.”

Can Detroit get its comeback right?

Some of the coastal areas were not repopulated for millennia afterward, showing that there was a long-lasting memory of this tragic event.

We evolved to be kind – and die for others.

Yorkicystis lived during the “Cambrian explosion,” 539 million to 485 million years ago – hundreds of million years before the dinosaurs.

Brands manufacture meaning through consensus; people must strive to create their own.

“The Soul of a New Machine” provides a rare level of insight into the minds and decisions of humanity’s greatest thinkers.

The ancient Maya enjoyed filling their teeth with gemstones. A new study reveals how the procedure was done and how it didn’t kill them.

In terms of sheer productivity, “-gate” has no peer. Wikipedia’s list of -gates has over 260 entries.

The sonnenrad is a Heathen symbol composed of 12 repeated runes.

An elaborate device called the Mechanical Turk defeated Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte at chess. Edgar Allan Poe revealed the hoax.

The answer to this question depends on how you define “freedom.”

For centuries, men prevented women from writing music. These classical composers broke with social norms and made their mark on history.

The strangest thing about trying to predict the future is that our only clues lie in the past.

Experimental archaeology is the practice of recreating past events using knowledge and tools available at the time. Sometimes, it involves elephants.

Before the war, medical experts treated the body as a sum of its parts. Conditions like wound shock and brain damage called for a change in perspective.

Privateers pillaged British merchant ships in the name of liberty — and profit.

Here’s your gateway to enjoying the best of literature.

OmnesViae is a modern route planner based on the roads of the Roman Empire.