History · Editorial deck
World History
Ancient worlds, turning points, and how we know
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Learn it chapter by chapter.
Start with a chapter that catches your eye, or mix a few together in your round.
- 01Early civilizations and empires30 cards · ~5 min
- 02Medieval worlds and early global connections11 cards · ~2 min
- 03Revolutions, rights and modern institutions5 cards · ~1 min
- 04Industry, conflict and the twentieth century24 cards · ~4 min
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The questions inside.
01Civilization that built Machu PicchuRECALL
02City buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CERECALL
03First emperor of RomeRECALL
04Trade network connecting China with the MediterraneanRECALL
05Queen of ancient Egypt who allied with Julius CaesarRECALL
Cleopatra VIIShare this card ↗Source: Cleopatra VII ↗06Empire that used quipu for record keepingRECALL
07Ancient city traditionally associated with the legendary Hanging GardensRECALL
08Code of laws associated with an ancient Babylonian kingRECALL
Code of HammurabiOne of the earliest extensive written legal codes
Share this card ↗Source: Code of Hammurabi ↗09People credited with developing democracy in AthensRECALL
Ancient GreeksAthenian democracy developed in the 5th century BCE
Share this card ↗Source: Ancient Greeks ↗10Ancient civilization centred on the cities of Tikal and PalenqueRECALL
MayaIt developed writing, astronomy and monumental architecture
Share this card ↗Source: Maya civilization ↗11North African city-state whose general Hannibal fought RomeRECALL
12Ancient wonder located at AlexandriaRECALL
Lighthouse of AlexandriaAlso called the Pharos of Alexandria
Share this card ↗Source: Lighthouse of Alexandria ↗13This river ran through the ancient city of Ur.RECALL
14Sumerian scribes pressed wedge-shaped signs into clay in this writing system.RECALL
Cuneiform.Scribes made wedge-shaped marks in damp clay with a reed stylus, leaving records that survived for millennia.
Share this card ↗Source: Cuneiform ↗15This Egyptian monument was built as a royal tomb for Khufu.RECALL
The Great Pyramid of Giza.It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza and the only surviving Ancient Wonder.
Share this card ↗Source: Great Pyramid of Giza ↗16Ancient Egyptians made writing sheets from this reed-like plant.RECALL
Papyrus.Papyrus sheets were made from the pith of a wetland plant that grew along the Nile.
Share this card ↗Source: Papyrus ↗17This civilization built the Parthenon on the Acropolis.RECALL
Ancient Greece.The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena and completed in the fifth century BCE.
Share this card ↗Source: Parthenon ↗18Roman roads · their main purpose across the empireRECALL
To move people, goods, and armies across the empire.Roman roads also connected towns, tax systems, and information across a vast territory.
Share this card ↗Source: Roman roads ↗19This language was widely used for administration in the Roman Empire’s west.RECALL
Latin.Latin later developed into the Romance languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian.
Share this card ↗Source: Latin ↗20Silk Roads · describe the kind of network this name representsRECALL
A web of trade and cultural routes across Eurasia.It carried not only silk but also ideas, technologies, religions, plants, and diseases.
Share this card ↗Source: Silk Road ↗21Maya calendars · the kinds of cycles they trackedRECALL
Cycles of time, including solar and ritual cycles.Maya peoples used several calendars, including a 260-day ritual cycle and a 365-day solar year.
Share this card ↗Source: Maya calendar ↗22Maya glyphs · the information they recordedRECALL
Language, history, ritual, and the lives of rulers.Maya writing is a full writing system, not simply a set of symbols or pictures.
Share this card ↗Source: Maya script ↗23Code of Hammurabi · the kind of material collectedRECALL
Laws from ancient Babylon.The famous stele presents the king receiving authority from the god Shamash.
Share this card ↗Source: Code of Hammurabi ↗24Ziggurat · describe its religious role and settingRECALL
A raised temple complex in ancient Mesopotamia.Ziggurats were stepped structures linked to religious and civic life in city-states.
Share this card ↗Source: Ziggurat ↗25This people built the city of Machu Picchu.RECALL
The Inca.The fifteenth-century site sits high in the Andes and was built from precisely cut stone.
Share this card ↗Source: Machu Picchu ↗26Inca quipu · its record-keeping functionRECALL
Recording information with knotted cords.Colour, position, and knot types could encode numerical and administrative information.
Share this card ↗Source: Quipu ↗27Rosetta Stone · purpose of presenting a decree in multiple scriptsRECALL
To present the same decree to different readers.Its Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphic texts later helped scholars decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Share this card ↗Source: Rosetta Stone ↗28He made the decisive breakthrough in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, aided by the Rosetta Stone.RECALL
Jean-François Champollion.In 1822, Champollion showed that hieroglyphs could represent sounds as well as ideas.
Share this card ↗Source: Jean-François Champollion ↗29This empire ruled much of the Mediterranean before its western half fell in the fifth century.RECALL
The Roman Empire.Its eastern continuation, often called the Byzantine Empire, lasted for many more centuries.
Share this card ↗Source: Roman Empire ↗30Historical inscriptions · explain their value as evidenceRECALL
They preserve words from the people and institutions that made them.Historians compare inscriptions with objects, documents, and later accounts rather than treating one source as the whole story.
Share this card ↗Source: Epigraphy ↗31Year the Magna Carta was sealedRECALL
32Empire ruled by Mansa MusaRECALL
33Founder of the Mongol EmpireRECALL
Genghis KhanHe united the Mongol tribes in the early 13th century
Share this card ↗Source: Genghis Khan ↗34Movement launched by Martin Luther in 1517RECALL
Protestant ReformationIt transformed Christianity in Europe
Share this card ↗Source: Protestant Reformation ↗35Explorer whose expedition first circumnavigated the globeRECALL
Ferdinand MagellanJuan Sebastián Elcano completed the voyage after Magellan died
Share this card ↗Source: Ferdinand Magellan ↗36Capital of the Byzantine EmpireRECALL
37West African city famous as a centre of scholarshipRECALL
38Plague pandemic that devastated Europe in the 14th centuryRECALL
39This West African city became famous for scholarship and manuscripts under the Mali Empire.RECALL
Timbuktu.Its libraries and learning networks connected the Sahara, West Africa, and the wider Islamic world.
Share this card ↗Source: Timbuktu ↗40Mansa Musa's pilgrimage · what it revealed about his empireRECALL
The wealth and reach of the Mali Empire.His journey to Mecca in the fourteenth century was recorded by writers across North Africa and the Middle East.
Share this card ↗Source: Mansa Musa ↗41This city was the political and cultural center of the Byzantine Empire.RECALL
Constantinople.The city sat between Europe and Asia and is now called Istanbul.
Share this card ↗Source: Constantinople ↗42Leader of India's nonviolent independence movementRECALL
Mahatma GandhiHe promoted satyagraha, or nonviolent resistance
Share this card ↗Source: Mahatma Gandhi ↗43Year the French Revolution beganRECALL
44Document beginning “We the People”RECALL
45Revolution that overthrew Tsar Nicholas IIRECALL
Russian RevolutionThe revolutions of 1917 ended imperial rule
Share this card ↗Source: Russian Revolution ↗46Year India gained independenceRECALL
47Year World War I beganRECALL
48Year humans first landed on the MoonRECALL
49Battle that ended Napoleon's ruleRECALL
50African kingdom known for the city of Great ZimbabweRECALL
Kingdom of ZimbabweIt flourished from the 13th to 15th centuries
Share this card ↗Source: Kingdom of Zimbabwe ↗51Year World War II endedRECALL
52Woman who led French forces during the Hundred Years' WarRECALL
53Pharaoh whose nearly intact tomb was discovered in 1922RECALL
TutankhamunShare this card ↗Source: Tutankhamun ↗54Year Canadian Confederation occurredRECALL
55This 1588 naval battle saw English ships attack the Spanish Armada off the Flemish coast.RECALL
56Leader who issued the Emancipation ProclamationRECALL
57Dynasty that built much of the present Great Wall of ChinaRECALL
Ming dynastyConstruction expanded between the 14th and 17th centuries
Share this card ↗Source: Ming dynasty ↗58Year the Berlin Wall fellRECALL
59This 1919 treaty formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied powers that signed it.RECALL
60First woman to fly solo across the AtlanticRECALL
61Military leader who became emperor of FranceRECALL
62Athenian Assembly · the political actions open to eligible citizensRECALL
Debate and vote directly on public decisions.Classical Athenian democracy was limited to male citizens, not everyone living in the city.
Share this card ↗Source: Athenian democracy ↗63This Chinese invention used movable characters and ink to reproduce text.RECALL
Printing.Woodblock printing came earlier in East Asia; movable type made it possible to rearrange reusable characters.
Share this card ↗Source: History of printing ↗64Viking longship · the advantage of its design in seas and riversRECALL
Travel quickly in both open water and shallow rivers.Its shallow draft let crews reach coasts and river settlements that larger ships could not.
Share this card ↗Source: Longship ↗65Monsoon · meaning of the seasonal weather termRECALL
A seasonal shift in wind patterns that brings major rains or dry periods.Monsoon winds shaped trade routes across the Indian Ocean for centuries.
Share this card ↗Source: Monsoon ↗66Indian Ocean trade network · describe its geographic connectionsRECALL
Maritime exchange linking East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.Merchants traveled with seasonal winds and exchanged goods, languages, and ideas.
Share this card ↗Source: Indian Ocean trade ↗67Great Wall of China · describe its defensive systemRECALL
A network of fortifications and defenses built over many centuries.It was not one single wall, and its roles changed across different Chinese states and dynasties.
Share this card ↗Source: Great Wall of China ↗68Archaeology · the subject and evidence this discipline studiesRECALL
Human life through material remains.Objects, buildings, landscapes, bones, and fragments can all help reconstruct the past.
Share this card ↗Source: Archaeology ↗69Primary source in history · defining relationship to the period studiedRECALL
Evidence created close to the time being studied.A letter, law, photograph, object, or recording can be primary evidence depending on the question.
Share this card ↗Source: Primary source ↗70Comparing historical sources · explain why a single account is not enoughRECALL
To test perspective, bias, and missing context.A source can be valuable without being complete or neutral.
Share this card ↗Source: Historical method ↗
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