Some of the oldest known art may hint at the beginning of language development, while later examples portray narratives with human and animal figures. What does the oldest known art in the world tell us about the people who created it?...

The most recent ice age peaked between 24,000 and 21,000 years ago, when vast ice sheets covered North America and northern Europe, and mountain ranges like Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro and South America's Andes were encased in glaciers. At...

Article discussing early forms of writing in the Ancient Near East. Includes links to additional information.

Learn about African Americans in the early republic.

Bat-human imagery in ancient Central American art is often linked to religious beliefs and practices. View pictures and read descriptions of a pendant in the form of a bat-human found in a grave near Panama City in this essay. A video...

Photography is a controversial fine art medium, simply because it is difficult to classify-is it an art or a science? Nineteenth-century photographers struggled with this distinction, trying to reconcile aesthetics with improvements in...

Read here about the Neolithic Revolution and the development of early Stone Age humans into an Agrarian society. Causes of the agrarian transformation are addressed as well as the domestication of plants and animals. The spread of the...

History is divided into time periods in order to better understand the culture and characteristics of that time. Read a brief description of the art and culture of historical time periods in this introductory article.

Ancient Colombians used gold to fashion some of the most visually dramatic and sophisticated works of art found anywhere in the Americas before European contact. Read about the techniques they used and view pictures in this essay.

Read about the US's early attempts to contain communism through economic and military aid.

An overview of voting and democracy in the early 1800s.

An overview about politics and regional interests in early 19th century America.

The Spanish gained an early foothold in the colonies, quickly becoming the most powerful European power in the New World.

Article explores the influence of jazz on African American literature from the early history of jazz, noted jazz artists, the black-white tensions within jazz, to its literary influence after World War II.

The quest for energy has always been a balancing act. As humans have gained greater control over their environment, they've found abundant resources - and faced numerous challenges. This article traces the history of our quest for energy.

Read about resistance to desegregation and the nine African American students who dared to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.

Learn about Rosa Parks's courageous decision to fight discrimination and the boycott that ended segregation on public buses.

Read about the brutal murder of a fourteen-year-old boy that became a rallying point for the Civil Rights Movement.

Learn about the Supreme Court ruling that outlawed school segregation in the United States.

Learn about Dorie Miller, Amzie Moore, Medgar Evers and other African American veterans who played a role in the Civil Rights Movement.

Learn about the origins, strategies, and unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, demand for cotton led to the expansion of plantation slavery. By 1850, enslaved people were growing cotton from South Carolina to Texas.

Features a comprehensive discussion by two art historians of Matisse's painting 'Dance 1', which is considered a Fauve masterpiece.

This elementary-friendly site from the Department of Humanities Computing at the University of Groningen provides information on the French and Indian War. The print is large and the vocabulary is manageable. Contains some awkward...