Looking at some of the early European cartographers' maps of the Australian continent, it's hard to not be amused by the inaccuracies. In one, we see Queensland conjoined with Papua New Guinea, while ...

Look at any map of Europe from the Middle Ages or the early modern era, before the Industrial Revolution, and you will be overwhelmed by its dizzying incoherence—all of those empires, kingdoms, ...

The Vault is Slate’s history blog. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @slatevault, and find us on Tumblr. Find out more about what this space is all about here. This stunning geological map of ...