Contemporary
Construction of the Berlin Wall (1961): A City Divided Overnight
East Germany closed the border around West Berlin, stopping mass emigration and dividing the city for 28 years until November 1989.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Ancient World
Tovsta Mohyla Pectoral: Masterpiece of Scythian Gold
The pectoral became a national treasure of Ukraine and is kept in the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine in Kyiv.
Ancient World
Kandake Amanirenas and the Kushite War with Rome (25-22 BC)
After raids and counter-invasions, Augustus granted Kush's envoys their requests, cancelled the tribute and set the frontier at Hiera Sykaminos.
Ancient World
Hongmen Banquet (206 BC): Liu Bang's Escape from Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu let Liu Bang leave alive; Liu Bang later defeated him and founded the Han dynasty.
Ancient World
Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath: India's National Emblem
A polished sandstone pillar capital commemorating the Buddha's first sermon survived in fragments, was excavated in 1905 and became the State Emblem of India.
Ancient World
Siege of Numantia (134-133 BC): Last Stand in Celtiberia
Roman victory; Numantia surrendered after a long blockade, its people were enslaved or killed and the city was destroyed.
Ancient World
Battle of Himera (480 BC): Sicilian Greeks Defeat Carthage
Decisive Greek victory; Hamilcar was killed, Carthage paid an indemnity and did not invade Greek Sicily again until 409 BC.
Ancient World
Battle of Megiddo (1457 BC): Thutmose III's Great Victory
Egyptian victory; after a siege of about seven months Megiddo surrendered and Egypt gained control of Canaan.
Ancient World
Library of Ashurbanipal: The Great Royal Library of Nineveh
The largest surviving collection of Mesopotamian texts, whose rediscovery made it possible to read cuneiform literature and revealed works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Prehistory
Mnajdra: Malta's Solstice-Aligned Megalithic Temples
A well-preserved group of three temples, listed by UNESCO in 1992 as part of the Megalithic Temples of Malta.
Prehistory
Secondary Products Revolution: Milk, Wool and the Plough
Sherratt's model remains influential, but scientific evidence shows that milking began thousands of years earlier, while traction and wool spread mainly in the fourth millennium BC.
Prehistory
Mezhyrich: The Mammoth-Bone Dwellings of Ice Age Ukraine
Mezhyrich became the best-known example of mammoth-bone architecture, showing how Ice Age people lived on the cold steppes of eastern Europe.