Will we ever shake hands again?! With the current state of the world, no one can really say. But that got us wondering... why do we shake hands in the first place? Today, Danielle traces the history of the handshake from Babylonia and...

It's a weird time to be alive. A pandemic is sweeping the world and life as we know it has gone through a seismic shift in a matter of weeks. But this isn't the first time humans have encountered an epidemic. Today, Danielle (from the...

Laws are intended to maintain order and promote justice, but what happens when those laws promote and spread discrimination and bigotry? Today Danielle analyzes the discriminatory history US law, tracing its origins in colonialism and...

Here in the United States, when we think about the term "slavery" we think about the transatlantic slave trade and the institution of chattel slavery. But this wasn't the only type of enslavement that took place in the Americas and the...

We're all familiar with the haunting images of the concentration camps of World War II. But the history of those concentration camps extends back to the late 19th. century and the invention of barbed wire and repeating rifle [see...

The first thing to pop into your mind when you hear "Latino" is probably people from Latin America - places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. But where exactly did the history of that word come from, and has it always meant Central...

Emma of Normandy was an influential queen of the early medieval period. From her marriage to Aethelred to her marriage to Cnut the Great of Denmark, Emma's decisions and the subsequent political reactions and tensions had far-reaching...

When Cnut the Great died, the sons of Emma and Cnut as well as the sons from each of their first marriages argued for control of various parts of the kingdom. This video covers the complexities of these competing claims, political...

Soon after the death of her first husband, Emma of Normandy married Cnut the Great of Denmark. This video delves into the political and personal dynamics of their marriage, as well as the peace and stability they brought to England....

After 5 weeks of Danish rule in 1014, King Aethelred gained control of England again. But when he died a few years later, the country fell into years of instability and uncertainty. Learn about the power struggles, alliances, and...

In the year 1002, Emma's husband Aethelred launched a massacre of Danes in England that would come to be known as the Saint Bryce's Day Massacre. This video explains how previous decisions Aethelred made, such as paying Danish...

Emma of Normandy, was a noblewoman in the 900s-1000s who became Queen of England twice. This video explores her upbringing, her political marriages, and her role as a prominent figure in court. The transcript also touches on her...

What Caused the French Revolution? | The Life & Times of Louis XVI

The Pacifist who Killed 20,000 | The Life & Times of Robespierre

The French Wars of Religion... but Stupider | The Life & Times of Catherine de Medici

The most interesting thing about King Charles the First is that he was five foot six inches tall at the start of his reign. And only four foot eight inches tall at the end of it...

You know I had high hopes for Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, I really did. In my head I always sort of lumped him in with Maximilian Robespierre. I thought they were each a forward-thinking guy who leapt into action and spearheaded the...

This is the second Frederick the second I’ve talked about on this channel, ain’t that neat? Frederick II of Prussia was the son of Frederick William of Prussia and the grandson of George I of England on his mom’s side, ooh I am just full...

So, you wish to learn the ancient art of chivalry? Well you’ve come to the right place. These days chivalry means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but if there’s a special woman in your life? Don’t take the example...

Napoleon Bonaparte, heralded as the heir to the Republic. But of course, in order to inherit, the Republic must first die...

Feudalism was dying. In the age of globe-spanning colonial empires, commercial printing, and the scientific revolution, the idea of a state held together by a myriad of personal arrangements between ruler and nobility was beginning to...

Germany’s kind of a big deal, right? Sort of the unofficial point person of the EU, biggest economy in Europe by a substantial margin, I didn’t even realize how much of a heavyweight they were until I started fact checking for this...

The Forgotten Election that Changed the World.

In which John discusses the crisis in Ukraine, and how the influence of Russia and Europe have shaped Ukrainian politics for centuries. REMINDER: Educational videos are allowed to be more than four minutes long.