Daniel Houle

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the white man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history. When they began to...

Over the last 2,000 years, ambitious men have dreamed of forging vast empires and attaining eternal glory in battle, but of all the conquerors who took steps toward such dreams, none were ever as successful as antiquity’s first great conqueror....

After he had finished off the Persian Empire, Alexander must have been glad to leave Persia and its adjoining provinces at his back. Alexander was planning to march onwards, into India, and had made overtures to the wild tribesmen that inhabited the...

The African slave trade is a complex and deeply divisive subject that has had a tendency to evolve according the political requirements of any given age, and is often touchable only with the correct distribution of culpability. It has for many years,...

The United States and Canada today share the longest undefended border in the world, encompassing 5,525 after the U.S. purchased Alaska, and though they have long been allies, the border has not always been peaceful. During colonial times, generations...

The creative impetus of organized society in the Fertile Crescent initially came from southern Mesopotamia, where the Sumerians introduced writing and other hallmarks of civilization to the region just before 3000 BCE, but in less than 1,000 years,...

Rome's complex relationship with animals goes right back to its foundation myth, and even today, the wolf remains a symbol of the Eternal City, forming part of the logo for the capital's football team, A. S. Roma. According to tradition, the city of...

One of the most important and memorable events of the United States” westward push across the frontier came with the discovery of gold in the lands that became California in January 1848. Located thousands of miles away from the country’s power...

There was no shortage of targets for thieves in the West, and some infamous criminals struck dozens of times. Billy the Kid was rumored to be responsible for 21 deaths, and Jesse James was involved in holding up at least 19 banks, trains, and...

“The time to sing is when your emotional level is just too high to speak anymore, and the time to dance is when your emotions are just too strong to only sing about how you feel.” – Bob FosseBy the turn of the 20th century, American entertainment was...

The pyramids of Egypt are such recognizable symbols of antiquity that for millennia, people have made assumptions about what they are and why they exist, without full consideration of the various meanings these ancient symbolic structures have had...

"They have soldiers. We only have arguments." – French Foreign Minister Théophile DelcasséNear the end of the 19th century, Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor, brought the plenipotentiaries of all major powers of Europe together to deal with...

Cave painting falls under the heading of “parietal art,” a term used to note any prehistoric art found on the walls or ceilings of caves. It includes five basic types of work, from stencils of handprints, and other hand and finer marks, to a number of...

Among all the Native American tribes, the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans learned the hard way that the warriors of the Apache were perhaps the fiercest in North America. Based in the Southwest, the Apache fought all three in Mexico and the American...

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the white man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history. When they began to...

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization was its inception from the ground up, as the ancient Egyptians had no prior civilization which they could use as a template. In fact, ancient Egypt itself became a template for the...

Plague and pestilence have both fascinated and terrified humanity from the very beginning. Societies and individuals have struggled to make sense of them, and more importantly they’ve often struggled to avoid them. Before the scientific age, people...

Bombs have been around for centuries. The military units called “Grenadiers” in European armies used throwable black powder bombs, early versions of what today are called grenades. They were heavy, so Grenadiers were tall, strong soldiers able to...

Julius Caesar is still remembered for winning a civil war and helping bring about the end of the Roman Republic, leaving a line of emperors in its place, but it’s quite possible that none of what Caesar did would’ve happened without the template for...

Indigenous groups settling in Mesoamerica had different languages, political and social organizations, traditions, and beliefs; however, there were a series of traits that included the use and consumption of many food sources present throughout the...

On paper, the extraordinarily unorthodox ideology spouted by Heaven's Gate ranks near the top of the list of most outlandish end-of-the-world prophecies, and it was built on a blend of Christian, Gnostic, supernatural, New Age, and extraterrestrial...

During the first half of the 20th century, American crowds developed a fascination with foreign actors whose native accents lent an enhanced air of mystery to their on-screen personae. Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, and Marlene Dietrich, all...

Imagine a feline with the spirit of a lion, the sneakiness of a puma, the terrifying walk of a black bear, and the strong arms of a gorilla. Sounds cool? Now add some huge dagger-like fangs… even cooler, right? This amazing creature was best known as...

Imagine a feline with the spirit of a lion, the sneakiness of a puma, the terrifying walk of a black bear, and the strong arms of a gorilla. Sounds cool? Now add some huge dagger-like fangs… even cooler, right? This amazing creature was best known as...