Prehistory
Stones of Stenness: One of the Oldest Stone Circles in Orkney
A stone circle within a henge, among the earliest in Britain, now part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Prehistory
Skara Brae: Orkney's Remarkably Preserved Neolithic Village
The best-preserved Neolithic village in northern Europe, part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site since 1999.
Prehistory
Vedbæk Burials: Denmark's Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer Cemetery
The excavation revealed one of the best-documented Mesolithic cemeteries in Europe, shedding light on burial customs and family life among hunter-gatherers.
Prehistory
Kennewick Man: The Ancient One and the Battle Over His Remains
After two decades of dispute, DNA showed the man was related to Native Americans and his remains were returned to Columbia Plateau tribes and reburied in 2017.
Prehistory
Carboniferous Coal Forests: How the World's Coal Was Formed
Buried peat from swamp forests turned into thick coal seams that later fuelled the Industrial Revolution.
Modern Era
Battle of the Coral Sea (1942): The First Carrier Battle
Tactical edge to Japan in ships sunk, but a strategic Allied success: the seaborne invasion of Port Moresby was called off and two Japanese fleet carriers missed Midway.
Modern Era
Death of the Red Baron (1918): Manfred von Richthofen
Germany's highest-scoring ace of the war was killed by a single bullet and buried by his enemies with military honours.
Modern Era
Congo Free State (1885-1908): Leopold II's Rubber Terror
International outrage over forced labour and atrocities led Belgium to annex the territory as the Belgian Congo in November 1908, ending Leopold II's personal rule.
Modern Era
Second Battle of Fort Wagner (1863): The 54th Massachusetts
Confederate victory; the Union assault was repulsed with heavy losses, but the 54th Massachusetts' courage changed Northern opinion about Black soldiers.
Modern Era
Benz Patent-Motorwagen (1886): The First Practical Automobile
Karl Benz received German patent No. 37435 for a vehicle powered by a petrol engine, the design generally regarded as the first practical automobile.
Modern Era
Great Irish Famine (1845-1852): The Potato Blight and Exodus
About one million people died and well over one million emigrated, and Ireland's population fell by roughly a quarter within a decade.
Middle Ages
Sacsayhuaman: The Inca Stone Walls Above Cusco
Sacsayhuaman became the greatest monumental complex of the Inca capital; after the 1536 siege the Spanish quarried it for building stone.