PickVidsBest World history Videos
The 147 World history videos here were recommended by different people across different months. Choose by who it is for: 7 introductory, 4 intermediate, 136 for a general viewer, and 0 for someone who wants the harder derivation. Most of them are an explainer. What they share is that one picture or analogy is used to supply a missing concept. Channels you will keep seeing include CGP Grey, Tom Scott, Denis Shiryaev.
Chernobyl 3828
A Ukrainian documentary about the liquidators who cleaned radioactive debris off the Chernobyl reactor roof in two-minute shifts.
They Shall Not Grow Old – New Trailer – Now Playing In Theaters
The trailer for Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old, a WWI documentary built from restored, colorized archival footage and BBC interviews with British soldiers.
Kursk: The Epic Armored Engagement (2013)
A panel at The National WWII Museum on the Battle of Kursk, moderated by Keith Huxen with historians Robert Citino and John Parshal.
Dropping the Bomb: Hiroshima & Nagasaki
A very long video essay by Shaun on the decisions and motivations behind the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a detailed timeline and argument that they were not militarily necessary.
David Reich — How one small tribe conquered the world 70,000 years ago
Dwarkesh Patel interviews ancient-DNA geneticist David Reich about human prehistory, including the small group that left Africa around 70,000 years ago and the Yamnaya expansion.
A New History for Humanity – The Human Era
Kurzgesagt explains the Holocene or Human Era calendar, which adds 10,000 years to the current year to anchor dates to the start of human civilization.
The 1751 Machine that Made Everything
Machine Thinking argues the 1751 machine, a metal-cutting lathe associated with Vaucanson, triggered the biggest explosion of wealth in history by enabling precise manufacturing of other machines.
Work.
Historia Civilis traces the history of work and time discipline, comparing modern working hours with those of medieval peasants and the changes brought by clocks and industrialization.
Every Ruler Makes the Same Mistake When They Die
CGP Grey, adapting The Dictator's Handbook, explains how rulers keep power and why succession causes trouble when they die.
The Surprising History of Copyright and What It Means For...
Karl Fogel's 2006 Google Tech Talk traces copyright from a 16th-century English censorship law to a distribution monopoly.
How Kodak Exposed Nuclear Testing
Veritasium tells how Kodak film was fogged by radioactive fallout from the first atomic tests, letting the company detect nuclear testing before anyone announced it.
The Fallen of World War II
Neil Halloran's animated, data-driven documentary visualizes the human cost of World War II and compares it with other wars and the trend toward fewer war deaths in recent decades.
How to write cuneiform with Irving Finkel and @preservethings I Curator's Corner S4 Ep9
British Museum curator Irving Finkel teaches how to write cuneiform, with a colleague following along.
The Origins of Russian Authoritarianism
Kraut traces centuries of political development, from Mongol rule and the Orthodox church to Muscovite autocracy, that shaped Russia's authoritarian state.
The Longest Year in Human History (46 B.C.E.)
Historia Civilis tells the story of 46 BCE, the 445-day year in which Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar.
Pandora's Box, E1: The Engineers' Plot
The first episode of Adam Curtis's 1992 BBC series Pandora's Box, on the engineers' plot, examining communism in the Soviet Union and the rise and limits of technocratic central planning.
The Constitution of Athens
Historia Civilis explains the constitution of ancient Athens, including its assembly, offices and use of sortition to choose leaders.
The US-Canada Border Is 5,500 Miles of Pure Nonsense
CGP Grey walks through the odd history and quirks of the US-Canada border, including how it was surveyed and its irregularities such as exclaves.
history of the entire world, i guess
A fast, absurdist 19-minute animated run through the history of the whole world, narrated and scored by Bill Wurtz in his distinctive style.
Making Mushroom Ketchup - 18th Century Cooking
The Townsends channel shows how to make mushroom ketchup, a popular 18th-century sauce, in period style.
Holy Post - Race in America
Phil Vischer of VeggieTales and Holy Post gives an 18-minute history of racial injustice in America, covering why anger persists despite civil rights laws.
ARROWS vs ARMOUR - Medieval Myth Busting
Tod's Workshop fires full-weight medieval arrows from a 160lb English warbow at reproduced medieval armour.
[60 fps] The Flying Train, Germany, 1902
Neural-network upscaled, 60 fps, stabilized and colorized version of 1902 footage of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspended railway in Germany.
The Iroquois Confederacy
Historia Civilis explains the origins and governing system of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy.