The devasting effects of nature, civil strife, and starvation on societies — “Each succeeding civilization forgets its predecessor. Civilizations are ghouls.” — Gutzon Borglum 1867–1941 In 1695, Spanish missionary Andrés de Avendaño traversed the Yucatan. His goal was to convert a local King to Christianity and demand the king submit to Spanish rule of the Mesoamerican lands. This led Andrés de Avendañobeing…

The story of the foundation of the Eternal City — In the early years of the newly-established Roman Empire, a writer would forge the story of his nation. Titus Livius, known as Livy today, would compose the Ab Urbe Condita Libri. Known today as the History of Rome, his work was the entire history from the city to the empire…

This day in history, July 25, 306 — On May 1st, 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicated as Emperors of Rome. They rebuilt the system that was in disarray from the infighting that nearly tore down the empire. Diocletian took the throne by force and then reestablished what the government needed to be. …

This day in history: July 23rd, 1914 — It began with two shots. The Austrian-HungarianEmpire would decide war before any other action. They wanted Serbia to pay for the wrongdoing to their leader that was only assassinated just weeks before. But why an ultimatum? Why did Austro-Hungary even want a war to begin? In June of 1914, the…

This day in history: July 21st, 356 BCE — …but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, “Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand”. — Antipater of Sidon If you go to the town of Selçuk today, you will notice…

This day in history: July 18th, 64 CE — It was a night like any other. The carts galavanting through the streets. The common people in bed sleeping. Even the people out at night, visiting the local brothels and pubs were making the city light up by torchlight. Ancient Rome was a city that couldn’t sleep. It ruled a…

This day in history: July 16th, 1945 — A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita… “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” — J. Robert Oppenheimer Towards the end of the Second World War Japan was fighting to the bitter end…

This day in history: July 15th, 1799 — “For many, the icon of the British Museum is the Rosetta Stone, that administrative by-product of the Greek imperial adventure in Africa.” — Neil MacGregor A large granite stone sits as a centrepiece of the British Museum. The monolith of stone, encased in glass, is one of the most viewed…

This day in history: July 14th, 1916 — “Every Englishman has a picture of the Somme in his mind, and I will not try to enlarge it.” — A.P. Herbert The slog of the First World War would define the terrain. Even today many bodies litter the fields where the war was fought. But in the early days…