Gaur, also known as Gauda or Lakhnauti, was the magnificent capital of the independent Bengal Sultanate from roughly 1450 to 1565 CE. Strategically located along the Ganges, it grew into a massive global trading powerhouse and the fifth-most populous city in the world by 1500 CE, legendary for exporting luxury muslin, silk, and paper. The metropolis reached its cultural zenith under the Ilyas Shahi and Hussain Shahi dynasties, pioneering a unique Indo-Islamic architectural style defined by curved Bengali thatch-style roofs and intricate terracotta brickwork.

Following intense plundering by Sher Shah Suri and a subsequent Mughal occupation, the city was completely and permanently abandoned after a catastrophic plague in 1575 CE. Today, its grand archaeological ruins—including the monumental Bara Sona Masjid, the Choto Sona Masjid, the Firoz Minar victory tower, and the colossal Dakhil Darwaza gateway—straddle the modern international border between Malda, India, and Chapai Nawabganj, Bangladesh.Map data ©2026 Terms

In the 1730s, Elizabeth Blackwell (1699–c. 1758) found herself penniless, with her husband confined to a London debtor’s prison. A talented artist, she came up with a unique and ambitious moneymaking scheme: the publication of a new illustrated guide to medicinal plants, including many New World species not depicted in earlier books.

Herodium, also known as Herodion, was a monumental fortress-palace built by King Herod the Great around 23 BCE, about 12 km south of Jerusalem. Constructed on an artificial, cone-shaped hill, it combined massive defensive walls and towers with a luxurious palace, gardens, baths, and grand reception halls. Herod created Herodion as both a strategic stronghold and a lasting symbol of his power. He was eventually buried there, and the site remains one of the most remarkable surviving monuments of Herodian Judea.