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How Themistocles Used a Prophecy to Defeat the Persians

from TheCollector [alt+shift+b] in history

In 480 BC, a colossal Persian army crossed the Hellespont. Led by the power-hungry King Xerxes I, hundreds of thousands of troops traveled towards Greece’s heartland in search of vengeance for a disastrous defeat ten years prior. As their customs demanded, the Athenians sought counsel at Delphi, where the Pythian oracle told them that […]
2 days ago

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Sufi Rituals, Papal Editcs, and Other Fascinating Facts About the History of Coffee

According to the National Coffee Association, about two-thirds of adult Americans start their day with a cup of that precious beverage: coffee. There is something special about its bitter flavor and potent aroma that stimulates the mind and the senses. It is estimated that around 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed each day. […]

1st Sep 2026 • 1 votes
Commodus’ Last Night in the Bath and the Chaos it Sparked

Over the course of the late 2nd century AD, the emperor Commodus was accused of progressively slipping into megalomania. Masquerading as a gladiator in the arena and presenting himself as the hero Hercules, he even had plans to rename the city of Rome after himself. Patience was running low, and by 192 AD, Commodus […]

1st Aug 2026 • 1 votes
15 Great History Museums Every History Lover Must Visit at Least Once

Walking into a great history museum is the closest we can get to true time travel. From London and Berlin to Cairo and Mexico City, these 15 institutions rank among the best history museums in the world. Each museum holds culture-defining artifacts including the Rosetta Stone, the treasures of Tutankhamun, the Terracotta Warriors, the […]

1st Jul 2026 • 1 votes
6 Empires That Conquered Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt flourished for over three millennia, maintaining its unique culture and political identity. But that does not mean that Egypt was never impacted by external threats. The Egyptians were conquered several times by foreign powers, who brought their own culture and ideas to Egypt, influencing its character and trajectory. But they also adopted Egyptian […]

1st Jun 2026 • 2 votes

More in history

Recent addenda to articles 202609: Errors, omissions, and retractions

I was going to start with “it has been a while since we had one of these” but then I saw that the previous one started with “Wow, has it really been 7 months since I did one of these?” and that was in December 2023. Maybe I can make it a more regular thing. Anyway blogging itself has become a more regular thing of late so there is quite a lot to report just from last month. This article was written by an opaque and incomprehensible stoachastic process, namely me. . I have retracted this description.In 2007 I described Naomi Wolf as “very smart” now mentions that "Johnny Doc” was released from prison on the orders of Donald J. Trump.My article from January about crooked policitians and crab cakes In 2022 I published , which ended with “This article, which I wrote at 3:00 in the morning, is filled with many errors, including some that I would not have made if it had been daytime. Please disbelieve what you have read, and await a correction.” I have decided that it is uncorrectable, and retracted the whole thing.an article about the etymology of a purported Dutch phrase Dan Luu pointed out an important omission from .my July article following up on Steph Curry's 2015–16 crushing of the 3PFG record In 2021 I argued for . The coming of LLM technology has rendered my suggestion completely imprctical.an interesting replacement for the usual engineering interview process

2 hours ago • 1 votes
Teaching Paradox: Hearts of Iron IV, Part IIIa: Focusing on Politics

This is the first half of the third part (I, II) of our long-delayed series looking at Hearts of Iron IV, Paradox Interactive’s World War II grand strategy game, easily one of the most popular historical games on the market today and thus tremendously influential in both the popular history and gaming spaces. Over the … Continue reading Teaching Paradox: Hearts of Iron IV, Part IIIa: Focusing on Politics →

23 hours ago • 1 votes
Origins of the Odyssey

Rethinking the Dark Age and the Alphabet

yesterday • 1 votes
Using Opus 5.5 to discover a new eyewitness record of the dodo

Frontier models can now produce novel historical knowledge, but in a really weird way

2 days ago • 1 votes
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