On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant exploded. The fallout left large parts of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus uninhabitable. Six years after the explosion, the Soviet Union collapsed. Many historians, including Mikhail Gorbachev himself, believe Chernobyl was the real cause of the collapse. The disaster undoubtedly proved a catalyst for the collapse in […]

For centuries, the people of Judaea had seen many foreign dynasts claim hegemony over them; the Greeks were but the latest. Antiochus IV’s interactions with the Judaeans were, to put it mildly, troubled. Does Antiochus IV deserve the mantle of villainy that ancient sources such as the Bible place on him? He is portrayed […]

The Iranian Revolution and Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 shocked the world and turned the West against the new Islamic revolutionary government of Iran. Less than a year later, the neighboring nation of Iraq, a secular dictatorship under former army officer Saddam Hussein, invaded Iran. For eight years, the two Middle Eastern nations fought […]

By the first century CE, Ephesus was already ancient. Established sometime around 1000 BCE in what is now Turkey on with access to the Aegean Sea, Ephesus had played an important role in the growth of Greek history.  The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was built in […]

If you’re an educator, student, or just someone who loves to learn, it’s worth checking out Paulo Freire. His educational philosophy changed the game. Freire believed that teaching shouldn’t be about bossing kids around—and that schools shouldn’t reproduce systems of oppression. Instead, he thought collaboration was key. Teachers and students should learn from one […]