Royals
Empires
Wars
Ideas
Maps
100
The assassination of this prince sparked the First World War in 1914.
Who was Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
100
This great eastern empire was first united by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC and continued on into the 20th century.
What is China?
100
The deadliest war in human history, featuring years of genocides, firebombings, and atrocities across the globe.
What is World War Two?
100
This idea of freedom and rights for all people challenged powerful monarchies and traditional social hierarchies across the world.
What is liberalism?
100
This captain's 2-month voyage across the Atlantic in 1492 connected the two halves of the world for the first time in millenia.
Who is Christopher Columbus?
200
This first Roman emperor reigned from 27 BC - 14 AD, but after all this time, he still has a month named after him!
Who is Augustus (Caesar)?
(a.k.a. Octavian)
200
The "sun never set" on this global empire, whose Royal Navy dominated world trade throughout the 1800s.
What is Britain?
200
Unlucky Europeans along the coasts of the North Sea were repeatedly raided by these long-haired, barbaric warriors throughout the 9th and 10th centuries.
Who are the Vikings?
200
Karl Marx's idea for equally distributing wealth to all people radically transformed societies like Russia and China in the 20th century.
What is communism (or socialism)?
200
Marco Polo told tales of his travels along this great Asian trading route.
What is the Silk Road?
300
This great ancient king led his Greek army from Macedonia throughout the entire ancient world, conquering lands from Egypt through India.
Who is Alexander the Great?
300
These Central Asian nomads used their horses, archery skills, and incredible brutality to conquer the largest land empire in world history.
Who are the Mongols?
300
These "holy wars" pitted Catholic Europe against heathen enemies across the Middle East, Spain, and even northern Europe for centuries.
What are Crusades?
300
If not for ancient people coming up with this novel idea for producing food, we'd probably still be living as hunter-gatherers today!
What is agriculture (or farming)?
300
Fortunately, no nuclear weapons ever were launched from this Caribbean island during its 1962 "missile crisis."
What is Cuba?
400
This king was guillotined by revolutionaries in Paris in 1792 for "betraying the people."
Who is Louis XVI?
400
This ancient power asserted dominance over an unprecedented span of territory from Greece & Egypt through India.
What is Persia?
400
The namesake of Europe's decades-long wars between revolutionary France and the traditional monarchies; this "little emperor" is often labeled as the greatest general in human history.
Who is Napoleon Bonaparte?
400
Martin Luther's ideas about the Catholic church's problems sparked this movement in the 1500s, splitting Europe into several bitterly divided religious factions.
What is the Reformation?
400
It may look like Germany, but it was a distinct medieval empire in Central Europe from 800 - 1806 AD.
What is the Holy Roman Empire?
500
This "father of Europe" expanded his Frankish kingdom across Central Europe from 768 - 814 AD, even declaring himself Emperor of the Romans.
Who is Charlemagne?
500
The great South American kingdom stretched across the Andes Mountains for over 2,000 miles, ruling over 10 million people until the Spanish invaded in the 1500s.
What is the Inca Empire?
500
Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States all suffered through miserable wars in this "graveyard of empires."
What is Afghanistan?
500
Classical Greek and Roman ideas were "reborn" in this medieval period starting in 1300s Italy.
What is the Renaissance?
500
The world's first cities sprung up in this "land between the rivers" nearly 6,000 years ago.
What is Mesopotamia?