Category: Histories of countries and key towns and cities around the world

By Tim Lambert Early Gambia By about 500 AD a sophisticated culture existed in the Gambia, which was able to build stone circles. Shortly afterward trade across the Sahara with the Arabs began and it later flourished. As a result of the trade powerful states were built in western Africa. In the 13th century, the… Continue reading A Brief History of Gambia

By Tim Lambert Ancient Germany About 55 BC, Julius Caesar conquered the Roman province of Gaul. He made the Rhine the frontier of the new province. It was a natural defensive barrier. Later, the Romans also chose the Danube as a frontier. They also created a ditch and an earth bank with a wooden palisade… Continue reading A Brief History of Germany

By Tim Lambert Early Ghana The Portuguese reached what is now Ghana in 1471. They found it was a rich source of gold. So much so that the area was called the Gold Coast. The Portuguese built slaves on the Gold Coast and during the 16th century, they traded with the native peoples. However, in… Continue reading A Brief History of Ghana

By Tim Lambert Ancient Greece From about 7,000 BC stone age farmers lived in Greece. Then about 3,000 BC bronze was introduced. About 2,500 BC a sophisticated society grew up on the island of Crete. It is known as the Minoan civilization. By about 1,950 BC the inhabitants had invented a form of writing using… Continue reading A Brief History of Greece

By Tim Lambert The Inuit in Greenland The first inhabitants of Greenland were the Inuit. They lived in Greenland for long periods but there were also times when Greenland was uninhabited. The first people to live in Greenland were the Saqqaq people from about 2,500 BC to 900 BC. Greenland was then uninhabited until about… Continue reading A Brief History of Greenland

By Tim Lambert Early Guatemala In 1523 Pedro de Alvarado was sent with a force of Spaniards to Guatemala. The Spaniards had a great technological advantage over the indigenous people and by 1540 they ruled the whole area. The Spaniards then became the ruling class. Meanwhile, the indigenous people were converted to Christianity (although they… Continue reading A Brief History of Guatemala

By Tim Lambert Colonial Haiti Haiti forms part of the island of Hispaniola. Before the Europeans arrived a people called the Arawaks lived there. However, on 6 December 1492, Christopher Columbus landed at Mole Saint-Nicolas on the northwest and called the island Espanola, which was later anglicized as Hispaniola. Columbus built a fort on the… Continue reading A Brief History of Haiti

By Tim Lambert Early Honduras For thousands of years, indigenous peoples lived in Honduras. The greatest of them was the Mayans. However, the first European to reach Honduras was Christopher Columbus on 30 July 1502. Columbus later sailed as far south as Panama. The area became known as Honduras from the Spanish word for depths.… Continue reading A Brief History of Honduras

By Tim Lambert Ancient Hungary During the last ice age, humans in Hungary lived by hunting mammoths and reindeer with stone weapons. When the ice age ended they hunted smaller animals. However, about 5,000 BC farming was introduced into Hungary although the farmers still used stone tools. Then about 2,000 BC, they learned to use… Continue reading A Brief History of Hungary

By Tim Lambert Viking Iceland The first people to settle in Iceland were probably Irish monks who came in the 8th century. However, in the 9th century, they were driven out by the Vikings. According to tradition, the first Viking to discover Iceland was a man named Naddoddur who got lost while on his way… Continue reading A Brief History of Iceland