The Mississippi Was First Mapped by a Po...

The 17th-century battlefield ushered in a new era, with formed musketeers and pistol-wielding cavalry gradually taking over from the knights and men-at-arms that had dominated the European battlefield. But knights could still be found on these battlefields as late as the 1640s, p ... Show More

In 1861, an archaeologist named James Farrer broke into a grass-covered Neolithic tomb on the Orkney Islands expecting to find ancient bones and treasure. The tomb was empty. But its walls were covered with runic inscriptions, dozens of them, carved by Norse visitors centuries ea ... Show More

When the First Crusade arrived at the walls of Antioch in 1097, the two most powerful Muslim rulers in Syria were not preparing a joint defense. They were trying to destroy each other. Ridwan of Aleppo and his brother Duqaq of Damascus had been locked in a fratricidal war over th ... Show More

Explorer Jacques Cartier's voyages into the unknown mapped parts of the New World, but were also rooted in European geopolitics. Scholar Elvira Viktória Tamus explains Cartier's place in exploration, war and power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

In 1803, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began a westward journey that would transform America. Their mission was to head up the Missouri River and find a route through the uncharted west to the Pacific Ocean. The journey was full of risk. But no danger loomed larger ... Show More

The Lewis and Clark expedition changed the course of American history. But after its bold, charismatic leader, Meriwether Lewis, ended his life in an apparent suicide, the expedition was largely forgotten. Not until the 20th century would the exploits of Lewis and Clark’s Corps o ... Show More

Much more than just a pool game, this Venetian merchant traveler adventured through China and the Mongolian Empire. Though his memoirs may have been heavily embellished, the book gave those who came after Marco Polo a broad picture of 13th century culture, led to advances in cart ... Show More

<p><em>Assassin's Creed Rogue</em> and <em>Assassin's Creed III</em> let us sail through the frozen waters of the Northwest Passage at the most dangerous time in history.</p><br><p>From Hudson Bay to Hawaii, the coasts of Canada and the USA were mapped as an unintended consequenc ... Show More

<p>1492 marked the beginning of the Colombian Exchange - the transfer of people, goods, ideas and commodities across the Atlantic between Europe and the Americas. We hear a lot about the conquistadors, the settlers, Jesuit priests and colonisers from Spain, Portugal and Britain w ... Show More

For seafarers, merchants, travellers, and monarchs, the idea of the Northwest Passage from Europe to Asia was pursued as the holy grail of maritime exploration. Some of Europe’s finest explorers dedicated their lives to its discovery - braving uncharted waters, and freezing tempe ... Show More

📖 Episode Transcripts in Link Below ⬇️ Today, we follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest explorers of all time: Marco Polo. Join us as we dive into the adventures of this brave traveler who enriched the world with his explorations and accounts of distant lands. https://pa ... Show More

Responsible for leading the first expedition across North America in 1804, Sacagawea was only 17 when she made the trek, while pregnant, across the continent. The daughter of a Native American chief, Sacagawea was captured and enslaved by an opposing tribe and then sold as a brid ... Show More