History & Society
![Frowning little girl. Angry annoyed](https://cdn.britannica.com/45/213945-131-86FBF710/Frowning-little-girl.-Angry-annoyed.jpg?w=768&h=432&c=crop)
Is Body Language Universal?
A wave. A thumbs-up. A middle finger. You may think you know what these common gestures signify.
© zdravinjo—iStock/Getty Images
![Viking ships on the water](https://cdn.britannica.com/41/201941-131-0369ED99/Viking-ships-water.jpg?w=768&h=432&c=crop)
© vlastas/Shutterstock.com
Did the Vikings Discover America?
Rephrasing the question, we can ask instead whether the Vikings were the first non-Native Americans to encounter America.
© vlastas/Shutterstock.com
Editor's Picks
![Indian hijras participate in a religious procession in Gandhinagar, India, some 30 kilometers from Ahmedabad, on March 22, 2017. Hijra is a term used in South Asia which refers to transgender individuals who are born male. (gender identity, gender expression)](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/236326-131-DE1EBDB2/Hijras-transgender-religious-procession-Gandhinagar-India.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
6 Cultures That Recognize More than Two Genders
Curious about genders that defy the binary? Explore cultures around the world that recognize nonbinary identities.
![Ancient Olympic games. infographic, equestrian events, pentathlon, running events, boxing, wrestling, pankration, sports. SPOTLIGHT VERSION](https://cdn.britannica.com/02/231002-131-8CA9CB6E/infographic-ancient-Olympic-games.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Events of the Ancient Olympic Games
The Olympic Games began in Olympia, Greece, in 776 BCE and took place every four years until 393 CE. They were held in honor of Zeus. At the first Games, athletes competed in only one running event held on a single day. However, over the years other events were added, and the Games eventually were expanded to five days.
![Battle of Bosworth Field](https://cdn.britannica.com/72/100472-050-1D4EC299/Illustration-Richard-III-Battle-of-Bosworth-Field.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses, (1455–85), in English history, the series of dynastic civil wars whose violence and civil strife preceded the strong government of the Tudors. Fought between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne, the wars were named many years afterward from the supposed badges
![The Castillo, a Toltec-style pyramid, rises 79 feet (24 meters) above the plaza at Chichen Itza in Yucatan state, Mexico. The pyramid was built after invaders conquered the ancient Maya city in the tenth century.](https://cdn.britannica.com/49/61349-131-B30C16E2/El-Castillo-pyramid-plaza-Toltec-state-Yucatan.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
What’s Inside the Pyramid at Chichén Itzá?
It turns out that there’s more than just rubble inside the pyramid at Chichén Itzá: sculptures, human remains, and possibly an entrance to hell!
![Undated photograph of American temperance reformer Carry Nation.](https://cdn.britannica.com/00/134100-131-AD51F844/Carry-Nation.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
5 Famous Battle-Axes
The weaker sex? Not these women.
![Chapman, John: Hannibal](https://cdn.britannica.com/31/130531-050-8898CFEC/Hannibal-John-Chapman-1800.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Hannibal
Hannibal was a Carthaginian general, one of the great military leaders of antiquity, who commanded the Carthaginian forces against Rome in the Second Punic War (218–201 bce) and who continued to oppose Rome and its satellites until his death. Hannibal was the son of the great Carthaginian general
![Frances Perkins, c. 1939-1945](https://cdn.britannica.com/91/61891-131-AF35D0B4/Frances-Perkins.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
7 Female Firsts in U.S. Politics
A woman’s place is in the House…and the Senate.
![Mesopotamian Religion. Cuneiform tablet in the British Museum, London, England, 7th Century BC, describing the Flood Epic, a deluge story in the Epic of Gilgamesh added as Tablet XI to the ten original tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic by an editor who copied or altered parts of the flood story from the Epic of Atrahasis. (flood tablet, Neo Assyrian, clay tablet)](https://cdn.britannica.com/62/121162-131-31BADDE5/Flood-Tablet-epic-series-Gilgamesh-Nineveh-British.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
What Was the First Book Ever Written?
Learn about the earliest surviving literature.
Spotlight: World War I
The international conflict was virtually unprecedented in the slaughter, carnage, and destruction it caused, embroiling most of Europe along with Russia, the U.S., the Middle East, and other regions. WWI led to the fall of four great imperial dynasties, resulted in the Bolshevik Revolution, and, by destabilizing Europe, laid the groundwork for WWII.
Quizzes
![closeup of ten dollar bill. Alexander Hamilton, money, currency](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/238338-131-5DB558C5/closeup-of-ten-dollar-bill.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
What’s On Your Money Quiz
Do you have the skills to know your bills?
![Flag of France](https://cdn.britannica.com/82/682-131-E8E714E4/Flag-France.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
France: A History Quiz
What French woman was arrested for wearing men’s clothing? What French landmark was supposed to last only 20 years?
![Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles to the crowd from Buckingham Palace (London, England) balcony at the end of the Platinum Pageant in London on June 5, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. The curtain comes down on four days of momentous nationwide celebrations to honor Queen Elizabeth II's historic Platinum Jubilee with a day-long pageant lauding the 96 year old monarch's record seven decades on the throne. (British royalty)](https://cdn.britannica.com/06/235406-131-17CB8E3D/Queen-Elizabeth-II-Buckingham-Palace-Platinum-Jubilee-London-England-June-5-2022.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Fit for a King (or Queen): the British Royalty Quiz
Acing this quiz would be a crowning achievement.
![Civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers a speech to a crowd of approximately 7,000 people on May 17, 1967 at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza in Berkeley, California.](https://cdn.britannica.com/32/232632-131-A2DB4925/King-Speech-at-Sproul-Plaza-in-Berkeley.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Who Said It? Famous Quotes Quiz
Can you name the people associated with these famous quotations?
Videos
![Holi: Explaining the Festival of Colors](https://cdn.britannica.com/02/253602-138-02BA4212/History-and-observance-of-Holi-Hindu-festival.jpg)
Holi: Explaining the Festival of Colors
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Galleries
![Bamburgh Castle, Berwick-upon-Tweed borough, Northumberland, England.](https://cdn.britannica.com/13/106413-131-F20A23E3/Bamburgh-Castle-Berwick-upon-Tweed-Eng-Northumberland.jpg)
Castles
![International flags on soccer balls. Futbol football. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics soccer world cup](https://cdn.britannica.com/24/129624-131-37C4C022/flags-soccer-balls-Futbol-football-arts-blog-2009.jpg)
World Cup
![Queen Elizabeth I, version of the Armada portrait attributed to George Gower, c. 1588. Oil on canvas.](https://cdn.britannica.com/37/152537-131-336AE62D/reign-Elizabeth-I-England-Elizabethan-Age.jpg)
Kings and Queens of Britain
![West front of Notre-Dame de Paris, France; restored by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc during the mid-19th century. (Notre Dame Cathedral, Ile de la Cite, gothic, middle ages)](https://cdn.britannica.com/35/155335-131-A4BDEE42/Notre-Dame-de-Paris-France.jpg)
Notre-Dame de Paris
![Woman worker at an airplane factory in America. (World War I, aeroplanes, women)](https://cdn.britannica.com/50/200850-131-C6C9F46E/Woman-airplane-factory-women-World-War-I-1918.jpg)
Women of World War I
![Skyscrapers in Singapore](https://cdn.britannica.com/98/94398-131-B12D32E0/Skyscrapers-Singapore.jpg)
Skyscrapers
Featured Categories
War
7 Deadliest Weapons in History
From rocks to rockets.
The War of a Thousand Days
The War of a Thousand Days, (1899–1903), Colombian civil war between Liberals and Conservatives that resulted in between 60,000 and 130,000 deaths, extensive property damage, and national economic ruin. The Liberal Party represented coffee plantation owners and import-export merchants who favoured
9 Questions About the American Civil War Answered
Important questions asked and answered, briefly.
Does Trench Warfare Still Exist?
Tanks and planes made the trenches obsolete—or did they?
History's Mysteries
Nazca Lines
Nazca Lines, groups of geoglyphs, large line drawings that appear, from a distance, to be etched into Earth’s surface on the arid Pampa Colorada (“Coloured Plain” or “Red Plain”), northwest of the city of Nazca in southern Peru. They extend over an area of nearly 190 square miles (500 square km).
9 Mysterious Disappearances of People Other Than Amelia Earhart
People other than Amelia Earhart have disappeared without a trace. Really!
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Explore the oldest mystery of colonial America.
Voynich manuscript
Voynich manuscript, illustrated manuscript written in an unknown language and thought to have been created in the 15th or 16th century. It is named after antiquarian bookseller Wilfrid Voynich, who purchased it in 1912. Scholars and scientists have sought to decipher the text since the manuscript
Ancient Civilizations
Mali
Mali, trading empire that flourished in western Africa from the 13th to the 16th century. The Mali empire developed from the state of Kangaba, on the upper Niger River east of the Fouta Djallon, and is said to have been founded before 1000 ce. The Malinke inhabitants of Kangaba acted as middlemen
Indus civilization
Indus civilization, the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500–1700 bce, though the southern sites may have lasted later into the 2nd millennium bce. Among the world’s three earliest civilizations—the other two are
Druid
Druid, member of the learned class among the ancient Celts. They acted as priests, teachers, and judges. The earliest known records of the Druids come from the 3rd century bce. Their name may have come from a Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak tree.” Very little is known for certain about the
Achaemenian Dynasty
Achaemenian Dynasty, (559–330 bce), ancient Iranian dynasty whose kings founded and ruled the Achaemenian Empire. Achaemenes (Persian Hakhamanish), the Achaemenians’ eponymous ancestor, is presumed to have lived early in the 7th century bce, but little is known of his life. From his son Teispes two