HISTORY

General history resources (below)

Europe

USA

Biography Online is loaded with ads, but you can find a brief biography of an amazing assortment of people, both living and dead.

History on the Net is a site created for students and their teachers. It has brief information and activities for a wide range of topics, many of which connect with Britain because that is where the site is based. A few low-key ads, including related books from Amazon, but not overwhelming. Worth investigating!

History Central contains information about places and events from the distant past to modern times. Themed history sections include railroads, aviation, wars, U.S. elections, and biographies of major historical figures.

Horus' Web Links to History Resources is just what it says -- an extensive list of links organized in several ways. A great starting point for almost anything historical but there are, unfortunately, also quite a few dead links among their listings.

Spartacus Educational is a UK-based site with many sections on history, including child labor, slavery, the American Civil War, British history, the Vietnam war, and much more. Well organized and quite readable by middle schoolers or older students.

Mr. Dowd's Electronic Passport is a very well-done site with information about a wide range of topics in history.

History for Kids is a new site with wonderful information about many ancient cultures: Romans, Greeks, Egypt, the Middle Ages, and also cross-cultural topics such as games, clothing, and the like. Highly recommended!

Mr. Donn's Ancient History includes Greeks, Romans, Celts, Vikings, and more plus a number of non-European peoples. Lesson plans, activities, links to other K-8 appropriate sites, and more are part of this excellent resource. Keep scrolling -- there's a LOT on the opening page.

Ancient Historyis a major project from a 6th grade class at the International School in Amsterdam. It's in English, and it's extremely well done. Greeks, Vikings, Romans, Celts, Chinese, Maori, Maya, and more are presented through student work and good Internet resource links. Recommended!

World Flag Database is just that: a massive collection of flags from around the world, including historical flags no longer in use. (Did you know that vexillology is the word that means the study of flags?)

Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fail? is a part of the Annenberg project. This section looks at several cultures that came apart at various times in the past, including the Maya and the people of Mali/Songhai. It also suggests what a culture or society needs to thrive. A thought-provoking site with implications for understanding the rise and fall of cultures other than those presented.

Flags of the World includes clickable maps of continents, countries, and more as well as flags (of course) and interesting links. Among its flags are printable black-and-white outlines so you can color them yourself. A deep and varied site. You can also buy flags from their homepage.

Millennial Madness is the page where you can find out why January 1, 2001 is really the start of the new millennium  and also why it isn't (by an error of several years). Dionysus Exiguus (known to his friends as Dennis the Short) is the man to hold accountable. Learn about the history of our common calendar here.

HistoryNet "where history lives on the Web" is a site that offers basic information along with special features that are frequently changed and updated. Famous and obscure personalities are presented along with eyewitness accounts of past events, maps, technology, and far more. A good browsing site and also useful for focused research.

The Inflation Calculator   I found this site while trying to translate 1851 prices into modern dollars. Obviously, any such mathematical conversion is approximate, but it's great fun. What should that ten-cent ice cream cone of my childhood cost today? According to these folks, about 60 cents! (Bought ice cream lately?) On the other hand, the 30-cent per gallon gas that I put in my Renault Dauphine in 1963 would cost about $1.60 today, and we aren't quite there yet.

Current Value of Old Money  This site is a set of links to other specific sites, including one about the cost of crossing the Atlantic in 1843. The one on medieval prices is mostly about Britain, and it seems to consist of collected messages from a forum or listserver. Most messages seem to quote or refer to primary sources or scholarly writing, so it's probably as reliable as it needs to be "for all normal purposes" as Thornton Wilder said in an entirely different context.