The Silk Road was an ancient series of trade routes between East Asia and Europe

See a collection of ancient Roman coins used on the Silk Roads

As ancient Rome's appetite for eastern luxuries grew, long-distance trade routes linking the Mediterranean to Asia emerged along what became known as the Silk Road. Without shared language or legal systems, merchants could use the reliable Roman coins to exchange with other cultures. This exhibit features gold and silver pieces bearing the portraits of emperors and Latin inscriptions.

Silk Road, the dark web's first widely used market, proved the real-world utility of bitcoin

Named after the ancient intercontinental trade network between China and the Roman Empire, the anonymous market was active from early 2011 to October 2013. Before it was shut down, approximately 10,000 products—70% of which were illegal and controlled prescription drugs—were bought and sold using the cryptocurrency.

The Gold Road: how the medieval empires of West Africa traded across the Sahara

Throughout the Middle Ages, the West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai moved valuables across the Sahara and as far north as France using the Gold Road. This route enabled the trade of gold, ceramics, manuscripts, ivory, religion, and...

Hardline China critics in the US worry that China's Belt and Road Initiative is a Trojan horse for military expansion efforts

The Belt and Road Initiative, initially launched in 2013 to develop trade routes throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, has evolved into a larger infrastructure development initiative in developing countries. The BRI is backed by the Silk Road Fund, which is administered by the two most prominent Chinese sovereign wealth funds.

Many early Chinese restaurants were aimed at travelers

As trade expanded throughout China's north and south in the 12th century, restaurants opened to offer traveling tradesmen their home region's cuisine while they were on the road: southern cooking for people visiting the north, and northern cooking for people visiting the south.

The ancient Egyptians built prototypes of the modern Suez Canal

The idea to facilitate trade between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and connect the Eurasian continent was apparent even to pharaohs in the second millennium BCE. Though no physical traces remain, contemporary accounts attest to early, shorter versions of the canal, including from Herodotus.

Trade and conquest carried chess into Europe by the 11th century

After spreading through Persia, chess traveled along Islamic military and trade routes into North Africa and Moorish Spain by the 10th century. By the 11th century, it had taken root across much of Europe, flourishing in courts and monasteries.

The history of China: a timeline

How long has China existed, and how and when did it evolve into its form? Explore the journey of China from empire to republic (to a republic, again) in this timeline. Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest Chinese dynasty formed at about...

Mapping the shifts in ancient Greek territories

The jagged coastlines and many islands of the eastern Mediterranean peninsulas cultivated a seafaring civilization, which helped the Greeks colonize and trade in the Middle East, North Africa, and the rest of Europe. See the evolution of their territory with this quick animated map video.

Evidence of opium use dates to as early as 5000 BCE

Archaeological evidence shows the use of the poppy plant for its pain-killing properties likely originated in the Mediterranean before making its way to the East and West via trade. It has since inspired two eponymous wars, and highly addictive derivatives of the naturally occurring substance have led to an ongoing overdose crisis.

The Four Great Inventions are historically significant Chinese technological advancements

The inventions of paper, gunpowder, printing, and the compass advanced civilizations worldwide by spreading knowledge, enhancing warfare, and improving navigation.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Where were the Middle Ages?

Many have equated the Middle Ages to European culture and an era beyond the reach of science and art. This false equivalency minimizes, if not erases, the culture and scholarship that flourished worldwide during this time. Medieval history exists in and across many countries, including China, India, Iran, Sudan, and Ethiopia. In this article, a classical archaeologist details evidence of medieval life around the world.

What was the Great Inca Road?

In little more than 100 years, it grew from a small kingdom in the highlands of Peru to become the largest empire in the Americas. Read about the critical role played by the Great Inca Road.

Jefferson’s Lewis and Clark expedition joined the centuries-long hunt for Northwest Passage

For centuries, leaders pursued a direct seafaring trade route from Europe to Asia. Jefferson joined this quest by sending Lewis and Clark west, though they confirmed no such practical interior route existed across the continent.

The origin and history of stock exchanges

When were stocks first sold? Though debt was first sold in Venice in the 14th century, stocks proper began in the Netherlands. To fund its spice trade across the world in 1602, the Dutch East India Company sold stocks to individual investors, a novel approach to raising funds. It was the Dutch West India Company that founded New York—the site of some of the world’s greatest stock exchanges. Listen to a concise historical overview here.

The idea of a check—or promissory note—goes back to antiquity

As long as traders have looked to pay in cash or coin, the idea of an IOU has been close behind. Clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia (roughly modern Iraq) and Persia (Iran) suggest proto-checks were used at the time. Islamic traders innovated "sakks" in the 9th century, leading to the broader adoption during the Middle Ages in Europe.

How did Polynesian wayfinders navigate the Pacific Ocean?

Ancient Polynesian navigators used the sun, moon, stars, clouds, currents, and more to sail the seas. People of Southeast Asia began their voyages to the region now known as Polynesia in roughly 1500 BCE. They would settle a vast area of 15 million square miles, including hundreds of islands, moving from islands due to overpopulation or war. Such voyages dwindled in 1300 CE as societies became more rooted.

Ancient Chinese marriages began with an elaborate marriage proposal and acceptance between families

The chief objectives of early Chinese marriages involved joining and enhancing the two families and ensuring succession with numerous descendants. Chinese couples still compare astrological signs, although some of the more elaborate rituals of betrothal gifts and sleeping in the “cock loft” are far less common.

Kyivan Rus laid the cultural foundations for Eastern Europe

From the 9th to the 13th centuries, Kyivan Rus was a powerful East Slavic state centered in Kyiv. It shaped the region's language, religion, and political traditions—forming the shared cultural roots of modern-day Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.

The first coffeehouse opened in Constantinople

Coffeehouses began opening in modern-day Istanbul sometime in the 1500s. These cafes quickly became invaluable spaces for gathering and exchanging news and ideas.

The ancient Greeks laid the foundation of Western culture, from ideas to sports

The Latin alphabet is the most used in the world and stems from the Greek language. The greatest sporting event in the world, the Olympics, originated among the Greeks. The way many countries decide on policy is via forms of democracy, an innovation of the ancient Greeks.

David Stern brought the NBA to China

In 1987, he started shipping VHS tapes of games to state-run TV stations in China, and opened an NBA office there by 1992. Today, China is the league’s second-largest market.

250 years of world trade history

Adam Smith’s revolutionary ideas about free trade were often ignored throughout American history to protect domestic industry—until World War II caused a shift in sentiment about global trade.

Florence as it was: a digital reconstruction of a medieval city

Florence, Italy, is widely considered the birthplace of the Renaissance in Europe, where artists, poets, architects, and entrepreneurs renewed interest in ancient cultural forms. Using data from primary works, researchers have created a digital reconstruction of the city where users can explore buildings, artworks, and more.

The primary language in Iran is Persian, also called Farsi

Spoken by the majority of Iran's 90 million people, Persian is one of the world's oldest continuously spoken languages, with a literary tradition stretching back over a thousand years. It is also widely spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.