What Can We Learn from the Kurds About Nationalism and Nation Building?
The Kurdish people are arguably the largest stateless people on Earth. An estimated 35 million live in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere, but do not have a nation to call their own. Despite thi...
21 Jul 201714min
Had Native Americans Been Resistant to Old World Diseases How Different Would the New World Have Been?
Smallpox is arguably the deadliest weapon in history. Ninety percent of some Native American tribes were wiped out by this disease when they first encountered Western explorers. But what if they hadn'...
20 Jul 20177min
What Is the Biggest Forgery in History?
You probably haven't heard of the Donation of Constantine. It was a fake letter that represented one of the biggest real estate scams in history. How did an anonymous medieval clergyman try to forge a...
19 Jul 20178min
How Did the Ottoman Imperial Harem Operate?
Nothing fascinated Europeans about the Ottoman Empire quite like the harem. Since no foreigners were permitted to enter it themselves, imaginations ran while about what sort of licentiousness happened...
18 Jul 201715min
Where Did Sea Monsters From the Edge of Medieval Maps Come From?
Have you ever seen a picture of an old map of the world and wondered why they contained enormous serpents, giant squids, Krakken, and other terrifying creatures drawn on its edges? What is the purpose...
14 Jul 20178min
What Are Some Inventions That Are Much Older Than We Think?
Many of us assume that cars, computers, and batteries are modern inventions. Before that time we lived in a technological dark age too barbaric and boring to contemplate. But what if the 21st century'...
13 Jul 20178min
Who Was the Most Powerful Woman in the Middle Ages? 2/2
Joan of Arc has one of the most incredible stories in history. Consider this: How did an illiterate peasant lead an army into victory against England in the Hundred Years War? Learn about her upbringi...
12 Jul 20179min
Who Was The Most Powerful Woman in the Middle Ages? 1/2
Eowyn, the Shieldmaiden of Rohan, is one of the best characters from the “Lord of the Rings.” But J.R.R. Tolkien didn't invent her out of thin air. Ever the scholar of Anglo-Saxon England, Tolkien bas...
11 Jul 20179min
