Ancient World
Lex Hortensia (287 BC): End of the Conflict of the Orders
Resolutions of the plebeian assembly (plebiscites) gained the force of law for all Romans, patricians included.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Ancient World
Trojan War: History, Archaeology and the Legend of Troy
Troy was a real and important Bronze Age city destroyed more than once, but whether a war like Homer's took place remains unproven.
Ancient World
Pyramid of Menkaure: The Third and Smallest Pyramid of Giza
The third pyramid of Giza was completed on a smaller scale, with temples finished by Menkaure's successor and a rich set of royal statues.
Ancient World
Ziggurat of Ur: Ur-Nammu's Great Temple Tower in Sumer
The best-preserved ziggurat of Sumer, restored in antiquity by Nabonidus, excavated by Woolley and partly reconstructed in the 20th century.
Prehistory
Hemudu Culture: Rice Farmers of the Neolithic Yangtze Delta
A Neolithic culture of the lower Yangtze whose waterlogged sites gave key evidence for early rice farming and wooden architecture.
Prehistory
Çatalhöyük: Life in a 9,000-Year-Old Neolithic Town
One of the largest and best-preserved Neolithic settlements, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
Prehistory
Cueva de El Castillo: Red Disks and Hand Stencils in Spain
Uranium-series dating in 2012 made El Castillo's red disk the oldest dated cave art in Europe and reopened debate over whether Neanderthals painted.
Prehistory
Turkana Boy: The Most Complete Homo erectus Skeleton Ever Found
The Nariokotome skeleton (KNM-WT 15000) gave the first detailed view of the body of Homo erectus, showing tall, long-legged, human-like proportions.
Prehistory
Irish Elk (Megaloceros): The Giant Deer of Ice Age Europe
The giant deer vanished from Ireland about 12,900 to 11,700 years ago and survived in western Siberia until about 7,700 years ago.
Prehistory
Kenorland: One of Earth's Earliest Supercontinents
A proposed Neoarchean supercontinent whose existence is still debated; its suggested breakup after about 2.5 billion years ago is marked by large swarms of volcanic dykes.
Modern Era
Charleston Earthquake (1886): The Southeast's Great Quake
Severe damage to most buildings in Charleston, about 60 deaths, and a landmark scientific study of an eastern US earthquake.
Modern Era
German Invasion of Norway (1940): Operation Weserübung
German victory; Denmark and Norway were occupied until May 1945, while Norway's king and government continued the war from London.