Greece · europe

The Second Andalusia: The Emirate of Crete

Exiled from Spain, a band of Andalusian Muslims sailed the length of the Mediterranean, burned their own ships, and built a state that ruled the Aegean for 135 years.

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See where history happened

Every story pinned to its place — spin the globe and travel from Antarctica to the rocks of Kashinozaki.

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The Collection

Stories across continents

From antiquity to last century — unusual chapters of world history, each rooted in a single place.

The famous Manhattan skyline seen across the water, its towers crowded along the tip of the island that was once New Amsterdam.

United States · north america

How New Amsterdam Became New York?
Crowds of early twentieth-century immigrants gathered outside the long brick reception hall of the Dirección General de Inmigración in Buenos Aires.

Argentina · south america

El Turco
A sweeping photograph of Antarctica's coastline — sheer ice cliffs meeting a calm, mirror-like sea under low polar light.

Antarctica · antarctica

The Unclaimed Continent
A panorama of London along the Thames, with Big Ben, the London Eye, and the city skyline under a grey sky.

United Kingdom · europe

Brand City London
A formal sepia photograph of Abu Bakr Effendi seated among several of his children in nineteenth-century dress.

South Africa · africa

Abu Bakr Effendi
A 19th-century painting of the Ertuğrul frigate battling a storm at night.

Japan · asia

The Sad Story of the Ertuğrul Frigate
A black-and-white photograph of soldiers practising with machine guns before the emu hunt, watched by a group of farmers.

Australia · australia

The Emu War
A colour-tinted photograph of New York's Mulberry Street in 1900, packed with pushcarts, shoppers, and the tenement buildings of the Lower East Side.

United States · north america

How America Was Bought?
An Islamic miniature depicting the Andalusian Muslims' sea voyage toward Crete, a fleet of wooden ships on stylised waves.

Greece · europe

The Second Andalusia: The Emirate of Crete
A painting of the Swedish frigate Jarramas under full sail, its lines modelled on Ottoman warships.

Sweden · europe

Sweden's Ottoman Ships: Yaramaz and Yıldırım

By Period

Across the ages

From antiquity to events still within living memory — follow the collection through time.

7th c. onward History of Islam 1 story The rise and reach of the Islamic world. 1299–1922 Ottoman History 4 stories Six centuries of the Ottoman Empire. Across the ages World History 1 story Turning points that reshaped the world. 19th–20th c. Recent History 4 stories Events still within living memory.

By Continent

Every continent on the map

All 7 continents, 10 stories — pick a part of the world and read what happened there.

An Islamic miniature depicting the Andalusian Muslims' sea voyage toward Crete, a fleet of wooden ships on stylised waves.
3 stories Europe
A colour-tinted photograph of New York's Mulberry Street in 1900, packed with pushcarts, shoppers, and the tenement buildings of the Lower East Side.
2 stories North America
A formal sepia photograph of Abu Bakr Effendi seated among several of his children in nineteenth-century dress.
1 story Africa
A sweeping photograph of Antarctica's coastline — sheer ice cliffs meeting a calm, mirror-like sea under low polar light.
1 story Antarctica
A 19th-century painting of the Ertuğrul frigate battling a storm at night.
1 story Asia
A black-and-white photograph of soldiers practising with machine guns before the emu hunt, watched by a group of farmers.
1 story Australia
Crowds of early twentieth-century immigrants gathered outside the long brick reception hall of the Dirección General de Inmigración in Buenos Aires.
1 story South America

By Topic

Read by theme

War and biography, culture and trade — pick a thread and follow it across the collection.

7 stories Trip 6 stories War 5 stories Biography 5 stories Culture 3 stories Economy 2 stories Technology 1 story Education