Curated category
Western culture
- Scramble for AfricaIn 1870, European powers controlled only ten percent of the African continent. Most territories lay along the coastlines where mortality rates from tropical…
- Age of EnlightenmentThe year 1637 marked a turning point when René Descartes published his Discourse on the Method. This text introduced a radical approach to knowledge that…
- Western SchismThe year 1309 marked the beginning of a seventy-year period when the papal court resided in Avignon, France. Philip IV of France exerted significant pressure…
- CapitalismThe word capitalist appeared in the Hollantse Mercurius newspaper during 1653 and 1654 to describe owners of capital. This Dutch publication used the term…
- Western imperialism in AsiaIn 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa under the sponsorship of Portugal's John II. His crew forced him to turn back before noticing…
- Great DivergenceSamuel P. Huntington coined the term "Great Divergence" in 1996 to describe a specific socioeconomic shift where Western Europe and its settler offshoots…
- Media franchiseBob Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, defined a franchise as something that creates value across multiple businesses and across multiple…
- RenaissanceIn the year 1348, a plague known as the Black Death swept through Florence and killed nearly half of its population. This demographic catastrophe created an…
- Colonisation of AfricaIn 513 BC, a Greek colony attempted to take root between Cyrene and Carthage. Local forces and Carthaginians expelled the settlers just two years later.
- Western worldIn 395 AD, the Roman Empire formally split into a Western and an Eastern one, each with their own emperors, capitals, and governments.
- ChristianityIn the year 64 AD, a great fire consumed much of Rome, and Roman authorities turned their suspicion toward a small group of followers known as Christians.
- Human rightsThe Magna Carta, issued in 1215, stands as one of the earliest documents where a sovereign committed to respecting legal rights for his people.
- Western cultureThe year 395 marked the permanent splitting of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern halves, creating a cultural divide that persists to this day.
- Abrahamic religionsThe phrase Abrahamic religions first appeared in the second half of the 20th century. Before that moment, scholars and theologians used the term…
- Neo-Latin studiesThe study of Latin and its literature from the Italian Renaissance to the present day defines a vast field known as Neo-Latin studies.
- Modern eraThe year 1500 marks a rough starting point for the modern era, though historians debate exact boundaries. Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses in…
- Greek East and Latin WestIn 330 AD, the Roman Empire shifted its administrative center to Constantinople. This move marked a turning point in how Greek and Latin functioned across…
- Western literatureIn 1385, a painter captured Boethius teaching his students in an illuminated manuscript that still exists today. This image preserves the memory of a…
- Country musicIn the early 1920s, a young fiddler named Henry Gilliland stood in a small studio in Bristol, Tennessee. He held his instrument tight as he prepared to…
- Greco-Roman worldThe Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens began its construction under Athenian tyrants during the 6th century BC. Roman Emperor Hadrian finally completed that…
- Judeo-ChristianAlexander McCaul wrote a letter on the 17th of October 1821 that introduced the phrase Judæo Christian. This specific document used the term to describe…
- Pop musicThe term pop music first appeared in print during 1926 to describe a piece of music having popular appeal. This usage emerged alongside the industrialization…
- Roman EmpireIn 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching military power and bestowed upon him a new title. This single act marked his accession as the first…
- Information AgeIn 1947, a team at Bell Labs in New Jersey created the first working transistor. John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain built this germanium-based…