World History Portal

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History provides a chronological, statistical, and cultural record of the events, people, and movements that have made an impact on humankind and the world at large throughout the ages. Investigating the causes and results of past events is critically important in gaining a full understanding and perspective of present-day issues.</p> <div class="tb-subcategories"> <strong>Browse Subcategories:</strong> <ul class="hidden-xs"> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Accidents-Disasters"><h3>Accidents & Disasters</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Age-of-Revolutions"><h3>Age of Revolutions</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Ancient-World"><h3>The Ancient World</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Historians"><h3>Historians</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Dynasty-Family"><h3>Historic Dynasties & Families</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Nobility"><h3>Historic Nobility</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Global-Exploration"><h3>Global Exploration</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Middle-Ages"><h3>The Middle Ages</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Military-Leaders"><h3>Military Leaders</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Modern-World"><h3>The Modern World</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Prehistoric-Age"><h3>Prehistoric Age</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/United-States-History"><h3>United States History</h3></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/browse/Wars-Battles-Conflicts"><h3>Wars, Battles & Armed Conflicts</h3></a> </li> </ul> <select title="sub category" id="browse-page-dropdown" class="form-control visible-xs mt-10"> <option value="/browse/Accidents-Disasters">Accidents & Disasters</option> <option value="/browse/Age-of-Revolutions">Age of Revolutions</option> <option value="/browse/Ancient-World">The Ancient World</option> <option value="/browse/Historians">Historians</option> <option value="/browse/Dynasty-Family">Historic Dynasties & Families</option> <option value="/browse/Nobility">Historic Nobility</option> <option value="/browse/Global-Exploration">Global Exploration</option> <option value="/browse/Middle-Ages">The Middle Ages</option> <option value="/browse/Military-Leaders">Military Leaders</option> <option value="/browse/Modern-World">The Modern World</option> <option value="/browse/Prehistoric-Age">Prehistoric Age</option> <option value="/browse/United-States-History">United States History</option> <option value="/browse/Wars-Battles-Conflicts">Wars, Battles & Armed Conflicts</option> </select> </div> <div class="tb-overview">Featured World History Articles</div> <ul class="tb-items intro"> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/Seven-Years-War"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/69/211669-050-8EFA2393/Frederick-II-troops-Prussian-Battle-of-Zorndorf-August-25-1758.jpg" alt="Seven Years' War: Battle of Zorndorf"/> <div class="title" href="/event/Seven-Years-War">Seven Years' War</div> Seven Years’ War, (1756–63), the last major conflict before the French Revolution to involve all the great powers of Europe. Generally, France, Austria, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia were aligned on one side against Prussia, Hanover, and Great Britain on the other. The war arose out of the attempt of…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/44/65944-050-F18FEEA4/soldier-British-trench-Western-Front-World-War.jpg" alt="A British soldier inside a trench on the Western Front during World War I, 1914–18."/> <div class="title" href="/event/World-War-I">World War I</div> World War I, an international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. The war pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—mainly France, Great Britain,…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/place/Byzantine-Empire"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/08/58808-050-342CBA70/Justinian-I-Christ-gifts-Constantine-the-Great.jpg" alt="The Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child (centre), Justinian (left) holding a model of the Hagia Sophia, and Constantine (right) holding a model of the city of Constantinople; mosaic from the Hagia Sophia, 9th century."/> <div class="title" href="/place/Byzantine-Empire">Byzantine Empire</div> Byzantine Empire, the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which survived for a thousand years after the western half had crumbled into various feudal kingdoms and which finally fell to Ottoman Turkish onslaughts in 1453. The very name Byzantine illustrates the misconceptions to which the empire’s…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/Russian-Revolution"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/78/121178-050-95767572/crowd-Vladimir-Ilyich-Lenin-Russian-Revolution-1917.jpg" alt="Vladimir Lenin"/> <div class="title" href="/event/Russian-Revolution">Russian Revolution</div> Russian Revolution, two revolutions in 1917, the first of which, in February (March, New Style), overthrew the imperial government and the second of which, in October (November), placed the Bolsheviks in power. By 1917 the bond between the tsar and most of the Russian people had been broken.…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/62/19062-004-36C69A09/Petrarch-engraving.jpg" alt="Petrarch"/> <div class="title" href="/event/Renaissance">Renaissance</div> Renaissance, (French: “Rebirth”) period in European civilization immediately following the Middle Ages and conventionally held to have been characterized by a surge of interest in Classical scholarship and values. The Renaissance also witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents, the…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Genghis-Khan"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/73/121673-050-4FE5679B/Genghis-Khan-ink-colour-silk-Taipei-Taiwan.jpg" alt="Genghis Khan, ink and colour on silk; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan."/> <div class="title" href="/biography/Genghis-Khan">Genghis Khan</div> Genghis Khan, Mongolian warrior-ruler, one of the most famous conquerors of history, who consolidated tribes into a unified Mongolia and then extended his empire across Asia to the Adriatic Sea. Genghis Khan was a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant beginnings,…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/23/143623-050-3708C6A4/Surrender-of-Lord-Cornwallis-canvas-John-Laurens-1820.jpg" alt="The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis"/> <div class="title" href="/event/American-Revolution">American Revolution</div> American Revolution, (1775–83), insurrection by which 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing estrangement between the British crown and a large and influential segment…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/26/188426-050-2AF26954/Germany-Poland-September-1-1939.jpg" alt="World War II"/> <div class="title" href="/event/World-War-II">World War II</div> World War II, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/South-African-War"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/94/91394-050-2FA75ADE/Boer-troops-battle-British-South-African-War.jpg" alt="Boer troops lining up in battle against the British during the South African War (1899–1902)."/> <div class="title" href="/event/South-African-War">South African War</div> South African War, war fought from October 11, 1899, to May 31, 1902, between Great Britain and the two Boer (Afrikaner) republics—the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State—resulting in British victory. Although it was the largest and most costly war in which the British…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/Cold-War"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/15/76015-050-39E107FE/Dean-Acheson-meeting-North-Atlantic-Treaty-Organization-September-15-1950.jpg" alt="North Atlantic Treaty Organization"/> <div class="title" href="/event/Cold-War">Cold War</div> Cold War, the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The Cold War was waged on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and had only limited recourse to weapons. The term was first used by the…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/10/75510-050-F0C859E6/Mao-Zedong.jpg" alt="Mao Zedong"/> <div class="title" href="/biography/Mao-Zedong">Mao Zedong</div> Mao Zedong, principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier, and statesman who led his country’s communist revolution. 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Its destructive campaigns and battles occurred over most of Europe, and, when it ended with the Treaty of…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/place/Latin-America"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/30/108730-050-B22D0AE4/Latin-America.jpg" alt="Latin America."/> <div class="title" href="/place/Latin-America">History of Latin America</div> History of Latin America, history of the region from the pre-Columbian period and including colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese beginning in the 15th century, the 19th-century wars of independence, and developments to the end of the 20th century. Latin America is generally understood to…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/52/120252-050-36F909C7/Map-10th-edition-Europe-Encyclopaedia-Britannica.jpg" alt="Encyclopædia Britannica: first edition, map of Europe"/> <div class="title" href="/topic/history-of-Europe">History of Europe</div> History of Europe, history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates. Its western frontiers seem clearly defined by its…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/90/198190-050-97332EE2/map-spread-Industrial-Revolution-Europe.jpg" alt="Industrial Revolution"/> <div class="title" href="/event/Industrial-Revolution">Industrial Revolution</div> Industrial Revolution, in modern history, the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. This process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world. Although used earlier by French…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/event/Mexican-Revolution"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/08/145208-050-6963945F/Combatant-Mexican-Revolution-1911.jpg" alt="Combatant in the Mexican Revolution, 1911."/> <div class="title" href="/event/Mexican-Revolution">Mexican Revolution</div> Mexican Revolution, (1910–20), a long and bloody struggle among several factions in constantly shifting alliances which resulted ultimately in the end of the 30-year dictatorship in Mexico and the establishment of a constitutional republic. The revolution began against a background of widespread…</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446im_/https://cdn.britannica.com/s:140x300/89/4789-050-B6176F52/Expansion-Ottoman-Empire.jpg" alt="Expansion of the Ottoman Empire."/> <div class="title" href="/place/Ottoman-Empire">Ottoman Empire</div> Ottoman Empire, empire created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia (Asia Minor) that grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries. 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He revolutionized military organization and training; sponsored the Napoleonic Code, the prototype of later civil-law codes; reorganized…</a> </li> </ul></div></div> </div> </main> <footer id="md-footer" class="footer-wrapper hide-on-edit"> <div class="footer-bck"> <div class="marketing-FOOTER_NEWSLETTER marketing-content" data-marketing-id="FOOTER_NEWSLETTER"><div class="md-footer-newsletter-form pt-10 mb-30 mx-15 mx-sm-120"> <div class="font-18"> <strong>Inspire your inbox –</strong> Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers. </div> <div class="p-30"> <div class="newsletter-form-container"> <form class="newsletter-form" method="post" action="/web/20200509144446/https://www.britannica.com/newsletter-subscription/EB_ON_THIS_DAY"> <div class="form-group grid no-gutter center-xs"> <div class="grid-sm-50 grid-xs-100"> <label class="sr-only" for="enter-your-email">Enter your email</label> <input id="enter-your-email" type="email" name="email" class="form-control font-18 p-10" placeholder="Enter your email" pattern="[a-z0-9._%+-]+@[a-z0-9.-]+\.[a-z]{2,4}$" required> </div> <div class="grid-sm-shrink grid-xs-100 mt-5 mt-sm-0 ml-sm-5"> <input type="submit" class="md-button md-outline md-light" style="width: 100%; height:100%;" value="SUBSCRIBE"/> </div> </div> <div class="text-white pt-30 text-opacity"> By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.<br> Click here to view our <a class="text-white text-underscore" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200509144446/https://corporate.britannica.com/privacy-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Privacy Notice</a>. 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