Drawn on sheepskin, the Gough Map was donated to the Bodleian library in 1809 by the antiquarian, Richard Gough. It dates to the late 14th century (it depicts a wall around Coventry which was not constructed until 1355), and departs from the conventions of contemporary maps produced by clergy, typically... More
The Great Irish famine resulted in over a million deaths, from diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as starvation. Its cause, potato blight, had originated in America and spread widely throughout Europe, but nowhere were its effects as catastrophic as in Ireland. Through absent landowners and grasping agents,... More
After the end of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Period (1865–77), the ‘Bourbon Democrats’ monopolized political power in the South, orchestrating a systematic exclusion of blacks from the political process. This would be cemented by the introduction of ‘Jim Crow Laws’ of racial segregation. The black population in the South was... More
The Great Mosque of Kilwa in Tanzania is said to be one of the earliest of its kind in East Africa. Although it is now in ruins, it was built when Kilwa Kisiwani (‘isle of the fish’), was once a flourishing empire. The mosque was constructed in at least two... More
The Great Northern (GN) was a major American railroad that operated from St Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington from 1857–1970. The only privately funded transcontinental route in the US and the most northerly, it was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. It was built incrementally, using land purchased... More
The Swedish Empire was dominant in northern Europe around the turn of the 18th century. Peter the Great was seeking to extend Russia’s influence and needed access to Baltic ports to expand trade. Russia formed an alliance with Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland and began a combined attack against Sweden in February... More
The Eastern and Western churches had become increasingly estranged from the 5h century onwards. Doctrinal divisions were reflected in growing cultural divisions. In the Byzantine church the head of state was also head of the church – irreconcilable with the independence (at least in aspiration) of the papacy. Pope Leo... More
As the early Greek states made the transition from aristocracy to democracy, a number of states were ruled by tyrants – individuals who seized and wielded power. However, the Greek word for tyrant simply means ‘sole ruler’; often the tyrants arose as people’s champions, who stood up for their rights... More
W.B. Yeats described Ireland in the 1890s as a nation ‘now plastic’ like ‘molten wax’ ready to be shaped and transformed. But those who sought to mould that destiny were contentious and divided. The Home Rule movement had been riven by the fall from grace of its charismatic champion, Charles... More
Since medieval times, London has expanded from a walled city. The separate town of Westminster became significant with the building of Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey, an area that was home to the royal court and later parliament. The River Thames was a critical gateway for wool and agricultural exports,... More
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) came into being in April 1949, when a treaty was signed by ten western European countries from the continent’s western seaboard, from Portugal in the south to Iceland in the north, plus Canada, and, critically, the United States. The Treaty afforded a collective security... More
The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca occurs during the last month of the Islamic calendar and, as one of the five pillars of Islam, is a journey every Muslim should make at least once during their lifetime. With the advent of modern technologies, particularly cheap air travel, the number of foreign... More