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- Abraham : The first patriarch in the Bible. Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and was rewarded for being prepared to do so. He is considered by Jewish people as the father of the Israelites through his son Isaac, and by Muslims as the father of Arab peoples through his son Ishmael.
- absolute monarchy : A political system in which a country is ruled by a monarch, who has absolute control.
- acid rain : Rain that contains pollutants due to the burning of fossil fuels. It is damaging to the environment.
- acupuncture : Chinese method of treating disorders by inserting needles into the skin. This is to help with the flow of energy that is thought to be blocked.
- adaptation : A change made to survive an environment or to overcome a disadvantage.
- African National Congress : A group formed in protest of the policy of Apartheid in South Africa. It was eventually outlawed due to their violent tactics, and Nelson Mandela, one of its leaders, was imprisoned for over thirty years.
- African Trading Kingdoms : Three African kingdoms, Ghana, Mali, and Songhai that were important in the trans-Sahara trade of gold form the west coast of Africa to North Africa and the Middle East. Their trade provided enough wealth to create the conditions necessary for cultural and intellectual achievement.
- Age of Exploration : Time period during the 15th and 16th centuries when Europeans searched for new sources of wealth and for easier trade routes to China and India. Resulted in the discovery of North and South America by the Europeans.
- Age of Reason : Term given to describe the Enlightenment.
- Age of Transition : Term given to describe the Renaissance.
- Agrarian Revolution : A change in farming methods that allowed for a greater production of food. This revolution was fueled by the use of new farming technology such as the seed drill and improved fertilizers. The result of this revolution was a population explosion due to the higher availability of food. It was one of the causes of the Industrial Revolution.
- agriculture : The cultivating of land, producing of crops, and raising of livestock for human consumption.
- AIDS : Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. A disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV retrovirus.
- Akbar the Great : (1542-1605) Emperor of the Mughal Empire in India. He is considered to be their greatest ruler. He is responsible for the expansion of his empire, the stability his administration gave to it, and the increasing of trade and cultural diffusion.
- Alexander the Great : (356 BCE-323 BCE) He conquered most of the ancient world from Asia Minor to Egypt and India, which began the Hellenistic culture which was a blending of Greek, Persian, Indian, and Egyptian influences.
- algebra : A branch of mathematics pioneered by Islamic mathematician al-Khwarizimi in which letters are used to represent unknown numbers to generalize arithmetic.
- Allied Powers : Alliance of Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, and France during World War II.
- Al-Qaeda : Islamic terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. They are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks, including the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.
- American Revolution : Political revolution in the British North American Colonies starting in 1776 that removed the colonies from Great Britain’s control, and established an independent nation know as the United States of America.
- Amritsar Massacre : April 3rd of 1919. British soldiers killed close to 400 unarmed Indian men, women, and children, and wounded 1,100 more. People had gathered in the center of town to protest British occupation of their country, and to demand equality. This was a turning point in British domination of India. Independence movements became very popular and eventually forced India's independence.
- Analects, The : Collection of moral and social teachings of Confucius, including the concept of the Five Relationships.
- anatomy : The branch of science that studies the physical structure of living organisms.
- ancestor worship : Worship given to deceased relatives who are believed to be closer to the Gods, and therefore able to grant favors.
- Animism : The oldest known type of belief system in the world. It is still practiced in a variety of forms in many traditional societies. Animists practice nature worship. They believe that everything in the universe has a spirit. This is exemplified by the practices of the Plains Indians in North America who would praise the spirit of the buffalo that they killed for giving its life to them so that they might survive. Animists also believed that ancestors watch over the living from the spirit world. This belief resulted in ancestor worship as a means of communicating with and showing respect to ancestors.
- anti-Semitism : The hatred of people of Jewish descent.
- apartheid : A political policy in South Africa where black South Africans could only live in certain areas, were required to use separate trains, beaches, restaurants, and schools, and could not enter into an interracial marriage.
- appeasement : The policy of pacifying an aggressive nation in the hopes of avoiding further conflict.
- aqueducts : Above ground structures used to carry water long distances. Built by the ancient Romans.
- Arabic : A language that is the official language of several countries of North Africa and the Middle East, as well as the religion of Islam.
- arch : A curved structure that shapes the edge of an open space, such as, a doorway, a window.
- archipelago : A group or chain of islands.
- architect : A person who designs buildings.
- armistice : A truce during wartime.
- artisan : A person who is skilled at a craft, such as weaving, or woodcarving.
- Asoka : (?-232 BCE) King of the Maurya dynasty. He ruled nearly the entire subcontinent of India. He also was instrumental in the spread of Buddhism after his conversion.
- assassination : The killing of a political leader or other public figure.
- astrolabe : A device used to determine latitude by observing the altitude and position of the sun or other start or planet.
- astronomer : A person who specializes in the study of astronomical bodies.
- Ataturk, Mustafa Kemal : (1881-1938) Nationalist leader of Turkey who is responsible for modernizing and westernizing his country after World War I. This enabled Turkey to resist imperialist attempts at takeover by various European powers.
- Austro-Hungarian Empire : Also known as Austria-Hungary, or the Hapsburg Empire, as it was ruled by the Habsburg monarchy from 1867 to 1918. Austria-Hungary extended over most of central Europe. It was composed the modern day countries of Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, as well as parts of present-day Poland, Romania, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- Axis Powers : Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.
- Ayatollah Khomeini : (1900?-1989) Islamic religious leader who led a fundamentalist revolution in Iran in 1979. Ruled until 1989.
- Aztecs : A Mesoamerican civilization of Mexico who created a strong empire that flourished between the 14th and 15th century. The arrival of Hernando Cortez and the Spanish Conquistadores ended their empire.
