Europe

On August 25, 1944, Paris celebrated liberation from Nazi occupation—a historic moment that echoed the city’s own revolutionary spirit seen in the Storming of the Bastille over 150 years earlier.

On August 21, 1911 a patron of the Louvre Museum in Paris walked into the Salon Carré where Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was on display for all to see. On this day, however, the famous painting was not on the wall where it had hung for the past five years. A search of the museum turned over no clues - the painting had been stolen. The French poet Guillaume Apollinaire came under suspicion; he in turn, tried to implicate Pablo Picasso. Both were exonerated. Two years later, a man approached the directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and tried to sell the Mona Lisa to them. The police were notified and immediately arrested former Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia who had stolen the painting by hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it hidden under his coat. Peruggia claimed the painting belonged in Italy and that he had stolen it for [...]

Between July 6, 1942, and August 4, 1944, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank chronicled her life in hiding during one of the darkest periods of history.

On July 18, 64 AD, a devastating fire broke out in the shops and residences surrounding the Circus Maximus in ancient Rome.

In the summer of 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign, soldiers were demolishing a wall to expand a fort in the Nile Delta when one of them noticed an unusual stone embedded in the debris. This slab, now known as the Rosetta Stone, bore an inscription that intrigued scholars.

On July 14, 1789, an iconic event of the French Revolution took place when revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress in Paris. At the time, the Bastille was not only a prison but a symbol of the French monarchy's absolute power. Though it held only seven prisoners at the time, its significance lay far beyond the walls—this fortress had come to represent the tyranny and oppression of King Louis XVI's reign.

On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris, officially bringing World War I to a close. This landmark agreement was signed by representatives from the Allied powers—Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, the United States—and Germany, with Austria-Hungary already dismantled. The treaty formally ended a devastating conflict that had raged for nearly five years, claiming millions of lives and reshaping the global landscape.

On June 24, 1374, a bizarre and mysterious phenomenon swept through the town of Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany—a sudden outbreak of "dancing mania." Also known as "St. John's Dance," this strange affliction saw people compulsively break into wild, frenzied dancing that could last for hours, even days, until they collapsed from sheer exhaustion. The cause of this unusual epidemic remains a mystery, but the mania quickly spread across Europe, affecting towns in Italy, Luxembourg, and France.

With summer looming, Andalucía should be on top of your potential holiday destinations. Located on the south of Spain, the Andalucía region is renowned for having the hottest average temperatures in Europe. It has a diverse landscape, with a mountainous region on one side and the Mediterranean coast on the other. It is easy to tour the entire region because most of the attractions are 2 to 4-hour-drive apart. Here are the top 6 cities in the south of Spain that should be on the top of your list. Malaga Malaga is the hometown of the world's renowned artist, Pablo Picasso. It’s no surprise that the city has several fascinating galleries and generates an artsy vibe. Historical sites are also in abundance, including the Moorish fortress of Alcazaba, the 11th-century Gibralfaro Castle, and the Roman theatre. The cuisine is just as good as the history and tradition in Malaga. Locals [...]

Imagine an island with stunning, pearl-white beaches and opulent hotels, a place that once attracted Hollywood royalty and symbolized the glamorous jet age of the 1960s. This Mediterranean haven was none other than Cyprus, a destination synonymous with the term “jet set”—a nod to the wealthy elite who could afford the luxury of fast international travel.

After the movie 300 came out in 2006, the story of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE became globally recognized. As a result, almost everyone knows about the 300 Spartans who died trying to hold back the Persian Empire’s 300,000-strong army on its way to conquer Greece. It forever cemented Thermopylae as a place where ancient soldiers made history by overcoming overwhelming odds. But just how close is this fictionalized account to the actual events that took place in Thermopylae? Frank Miller himself admits that his story isn’t accurate as he took a lot of liberties in his epic comic-book and movie retelling of the battle. After all, 300 is categorized under historical fantasy, and rather than an authentic retelling of history, it uses the battle to tell a fantastical tale that enhances the history. However, this isn’t to say that the actual details of the Battle of Thermopylae aren’t interesting. While historical fiction [...]

World Footprints is broadcasting from Sochi, Russia where we have just arrived for the country’s first ever Winter Paralympic Games.  Before we left the United States, however, we caught up with Taylor Imus, a young journalism student from Ball State University (BSU) who traveled to Sochi with other BSU student journalists.  She shared her Olympic experience and some helpful insights into this city that has gained tremendous international attention.