History
Andy Warhol is born
Andy Warhol, one of the most influential artists of the latter part of the 20th...
First execution by electric chair
At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electrocution in history is...
First draft of Constitution debated
In Philadelphia, delegates to the Constitutional Convention begin debating the first...
American bomber drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, the United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic...
Joseph Force Crater becomes the missingest man in New York
On August 6, 1930, New York Supreme Court judge Joseph Force Crater vanished on...
Vicki Draves and Sammy Lee become the first Asian Americans...
On August 6, 1948, American diver Vicki Draves wins gold at the London Olympics....
How Gymnast Mary Lou Retton Soared After She Won Gold at...
With a dazzling performance in Los Angeles, the West Virginia native helped lay...
First transatlantic telegraph cable completed
After several unsuccessful attempts, the first telegraph line across the Atlantic...
Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan begins firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers...
Divers recover U.S.S. Monitor turret
On August 5, 2002, the rusty iron gun turret of the U.S.S. Monitor broke from the...
Crimean War
The Crimean War (1853-1856) stemmed from Russia’s threat to multiple European interests...
How a Vaccine Slowed the Spread of Chicken Pox
The highly contagious disease dates to ancient times and spread easily in households...
How a 1921 Baseball Radio Broadcast Marked the Dawn of...
On August 5, 1921, Harold Arlin of KDKA in Pittsburgh voiced the first MLB game...
Lizzie Borden's parents found dead
On August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden are found hacked to death in their Fall...
Slain civil rights workers found
The remains of three civil rights workers whose disappearance on June 21 garnered...
George Washington becomes a Master Mason
George Washington, a young Virginia planter, becomes a Master Mason, the highest...
Oscar Pistorius becomes the first amputee runner to compete...
On August 4, 2012 in London, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa becomes the first amputee...
U.S. and Mexico sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement
On August 4, 1942, the United States and Mexico sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement,...
Native American group occupies Mount Rushmore to protest...
Around dusk on the evening on August 29, 1970, a group of 23 Native American activists...
AIDS activists unfurl a giant condom over Senator Jesse...
On the sunny morning of September 5, 1991, in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Arlington,...
Compared to His Sons, Archie Manning's NFL Career Flopped
Drafted in 1971 by the New Orleans Saints, the 'Other' Manning Never Had a Winning...
7 Common Foods Eaten in the 13 Colonies
From potted meat to pickles to syllabub, here are some foods and beverages that...
Columbus sets sail
From the Spanish port of Palos, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail...
Sir Roger Casement hanged
Sir Roger David Casement, an Irish-born diplomat who in 1911 was knighted by King...
“The Macarena” begins its reign atop the U.S. pop charts
If pop songs, like hurricanes, were rated on an objective scale according to their...
Boeing 707 crashes into a mountain near Agadir, Morocco
On August 3, 1975, a chartered Boeing 707 jetliner crashes in the Atlas Mountains...
Calvin Coolidge takes oath of office after Warren G. Harding’s...
On August 3, 1923, Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 30th president of the United...
When a $3.5-Million Sale of Oakland A's Stars Rocked Baseball
Minutes before the 1976 MLB trade deadline, a flurry of sales went down—only to...
The Rise and Fall of Telephone Operators
As their numbers grew, women operators became a powerful force—for workers' rights...
How Democracy Developed in Ancient Greece
Athens developed a system in which every free Athenian man had a vote in the Assembly....
President Warren G. Harding dies before scandals break
In a hotel in San Francisco, President Warren G. Harding dies of a stroke at the...
Hitler becomes dictator of Germany
With the death of German President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler...
First World War erupts
Four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany and Russia declare...
Warsaw Revolt begins
During World War II, an advance Soviet armored column under General Konstantin Rokossovski...
Columbus lands in South America
Explorer Christopher Columbus sets foot on the American mainland for the first time,...
PT-109 sinks; Lieutenant Kennedy is instrumental in saving...
On August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat,...
George R.R. Martin’s "Game of Thrones" debuts
On August 1, 1996, “A Game of Thrones,” an epic fantasy novel by George R.R. Martin,...
Hitler oversees Berlin Olympics opening ceremony
As more than 5,000 athletes from 51 countries march into a stadium packed with 100,000...
Anne Frank writes her last diary entry
Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl hiding out in Nazi-occupied Holland whose diary...
Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, dies
Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order of Roman Catholic missionaries and...
Ranger 7 photographs moon
Ranger 7, an unmanned U.S. lunar probe, takes the first close-up images of the moon—4,308...
Philippe Petit walks on a tightrope between the Twin Towers
High above the early-morning traffic in Lower Manhattan, a French street performer...
When the College Football Stars Played NFL Champs
The last game, a 24-0 win by the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976,...
First legislative assembly in America convenes in Jamestown
In Jamestown, Virginia, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World—the...
Watergate affair approaches climax
Under coercion from the U.S. Supreme Court, President Richard M. Nixon releases...
USS Indianapolis torpedoed
On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and...
The Troggs take their signature hit, “Wild Thing,” to #1
If there is one song that has been played more times by more bands in more garages...
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line, an array of defenses that France built along its border with Germany...
How Nelson Mandela Used Rugby as a Symbol of South African...
In a nation bitterly divided by apartheid, Mandela used the game to foster shared...
10 Times Team USA Athletes Faltered at Summer Olympics
From superhyped decathlete Dave Johnson's bronze-medal showing to gymnast McKayla...
Why America's Deadliest Wildfire Was Largely Forgotten
In 1871, the Wisconsin town of Peshtigo burned to the ground, killing up to 2,500....
General Motors buys Cadillac
On July 29, 1909, the newly formed General Motors Corporation (GM) acquires the...
Italian American assassinates Italian king
In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I is shot to death by Gaetano Bresci, an Italian-born...
Prince Charles marries Lady Diana
Nearly one billion television viewers in 74 countries tune in to witness the marriage...
Spanish Armada defeated
Off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain’s so-called “Invincible Armada” is defeated...
The Doors score their first #1 hit with “Light My Fire”
By the beginning of 1967, The Doors were well-established members of the Los Angeles...
Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
On July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the National Socialist German...
What Caused the Bronze Age Collapse?
More than 3,200 years ago, a vast, interconnected civilization thrived. Then it...
Bonus Marchers evicted by U.S. Army
During the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover orders the U.S. Army under...
One of the worst earthquakes in modern history destroys...
At 3:42 a.m., an earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 magnitude on the Richter...
Hillary Clinton accepts Democratic nomination for president,...
95 years after women were first granted the right to vote, on July 28, 2016, former...
The Harlem Riot of 1943 begins
Simmering racial tensions and economic frustrations boil over in New York City on...
Bombing at Centennial Olympic Park
In Atlanta, Georgia, the XXVI Summer Olympiad is disrupted by the explosion of a...
Scientists successfully isolate insulin
At the University of Toronto, Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and Charles...
Robespierre overthrown in France
Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror,...
First commercial jet makes test flight
On July 27, 1949, the world’s first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland...
8 Facts About Ancient Egypt's Hieroglyphic Writing
The script found on the insides of ancient Egyptian temples, monuments and tombs...
6 Times the Olympics Were Boycotted
Disapproval over wars, invasions, apartheid and doping scandals have all prompted...
Van McCoy’s “The Hustle” is the #1 song in America
For as popular as it was during much of the first half of the 20th century, couples...
Winston Churchill resigns
In the 11th hour of World War II, Winston Churchill is forced to resign as British...
Liberian independence proclaimed
The Republic of Liberia, formerly a colony of the American Colonization Society,...
Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal
The Suez Crisis begins when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the...
FBI founded
On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is born when U.S. Attorney...
U.S. forces invade Puerto Rico
During the Spanish-American War, U.S. forces launch their invasion of Puerto Rico,...
Ships collide off Nantucket
At 11:10 p.m., 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner Andrea...
World’s first "test tube" baby born
On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world’s first baby to be conceived via in...
The first railroad accident
The first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history occurs when four people are...
The 1917 Bath Riots
On the morning of January 28, 1917, a Mexican maid named Carmelita Torres refuses...
Guns N’ Roses make popular breakthrough with “Sweet Child...
In the 1980s, Los Angeles was a mecca for so-called “glam rock” bands and the “sex,...
Detroit Riots of 1967 begin
The 1967 Detroit Riots were among the bloodiest in American history. The strife...
Military seizes power in Egypt
In Egypt, the Society of Free Officers seizes control of the government in a military...
How Returning WWII Vets Helped Establish America’s Motorcycle...
Biker clubs offered brotherhood and adventure for returning GIs, many of whom were...
Hillary Clinton accepts Democratic nomination, becoming...
95 years after women were first granted the right to vote, on July 28, 2016, former...
Benjamin Banneker writes to Thomas Jefferson, urging justice...
On August 19, 1791, the accomplished American mathematician and astronomer Benjamin...
Viking 1 lands on Mars
On the seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the Viking 1 lander,...
Sitting Bull surrenders
Five years after General George A. Custer’s infamous defeat at the Battle of the...
Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” hits #1
“Two girls for every boy!” went the immortal opening line from Jan and Dean’s “Surf...
Aurora shooting leaves 12 dead, 70 wounded
On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurs at a movie theater in Aurora, a Denver...
Pierre Lallement, inventor of the bicycle, arrives in the...
On July 20, 1865, a Frenchman named Pierre Lallement arrives in the United States,...
6 Common Jobs in Colonial America
From wigmakers to bartenders to newspaper printers, see how people living in the...
Lady Jane Grey deposed as Queen of England
After only nine days as the monarch of England, Lady Jane Grey is deposed in favor...
Seneca Falls Convention begins
At the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, a woman’s rights convention—the...
The Modern Summer Olympic Games: A Timeline
From Athens to Tokyo, the Games have crossed five continents, withstood boycotts...
Senator Ted Kennedy drives car off bridge at Chappaquiddick...
Shortly after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy...
Spanish Civil War breaks out
On July 18, 1936, the Spanish Civil War begins as a revolt by right-wing Spanish...
Video of Titanic wreckage released
On July 18, 1986, new close-up videotapes of the sunken ocean liner Titanic are...
Sitcom actress murdered; death prompts anti-stalking legislation
On July 18, 1989, the 21-year-old actress Rebecca Schaeffer is murdered at her Los...
Barack Obama’s “Dreams from My Father” is published
On July 18, 1995, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, a memoir...
Three-point seatbelt inventor Nils Bohlin born
Nils Bohlin, the Swedish engineer and inventor responsible for the three-point lap...
Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan crosses the Atlantic
Douglas Corrigan, the last of the early glory-seeking fliers, takes off from Floyd...
Superpowers meet in space
As part of a mission aimed at developing space rescue capability, the U.S. spacecraft...
Flight 800 explodes over Long Island
Shortly after takeoff from New York’s Kennedy International Airport, a TWA Boeing...
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down over the Ukraine-Russia...
On July 17, halfway through a flight from Amsterdam to Malaysia, a passenger plane...
The Most Influential Classic Shows from TV's ‘Golden Age’
Pioneering shows from the 1950s, like 'I Love Lucy,' would help shape the medium...
9 Most Badass Weapons in History
These nine weapons bring pain in the most severe way. From razor-sharp steel whips...
World’s first parking meter installed
The world’s first parking meter, known as Park-O-Meter No. 1, is installed on the...
Apollo 11 departs Earth
At 9:32 a.m. EDT, Apollo 11, the first U.S. lunar landing mission, is launched on...
First Catholic mission in California dedicated
Father Junípero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, founds the first Catholic...
JFK Jr. killed in plane crash
On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr.; his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy; and...
The first atomic bomb test is successfully exploded
On July 16, 1945, at 5:29:45 a.m., the Manhattan Project yields explosive results...
Amazon opens for business
On July 16, 1995, Amazon officially opens for business as an online bookseller....
How Early Humans Survived the Ice Age
Our human ancestors' big, creative brains helped them devise tools and strategies...
Fashion designer Gianni Versace murdered by Andrew Cunanan...
Spree killer Andrew Cunanan murders world-renowned Italian fashion designer Gianni...
Pike expedition sets out across the American Southwest
Zebulon Pike, the U.S. Army officer who in 1805 led an exploring party in search...
Mariner 4 studies Martian surface
The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passes over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet...
Twitter launches
On July 15, 2006, the San Francisco-based podcasting company Odeo officially releases...
Jerusalem captured in First Crusade
During the First Crusade, Christian knights from Europe capture Jerusalem after...
Terrorist drives truck through a Bastille Day celebration
On July 14, 2016, thousands gathered along the seafront of Nice, France to celebrate...
Iran-Iraq War
In September 1980, Iraqi forces launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Iran,...
Why the Nile River Was So Important to Ancient Egypt
From nourishing agricultural soil to serving as a transportation route, the Nile...
What Happened to TWA Flight 800?
Speculation fueled theories that a terrorist act had caused the crash that killed...
Medal of Honor created
President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a...
Skylab crashes to Earth
Parts of Skylab, America’s first space station, come crashing down on Australia...
U.S. establishes diplomatic relations with Vietnam
Two decades after the Fall of Saigon, President Bill Clinton establishes full diplomatic...
First Quaker colonists land at Boston
Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, two Englishwomen, become the first Quakers to immigrate...
“To Kill a Mockingbird” published
On July 11, 1960, the 34-year-old novelist Nelle Harper Lee publishes her first...
U.S. patent issued for three-point seatbelt
The United States Patent Office issues the Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin a patent...
Allies land on Sicily
On July 10, 1943, the Allies begin their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with...
A bomb sinks the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace’s flagship...
In Auckland harbor in New Zealand, Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior sinks after French...
Last of Thai soccer team rescued from cave
In a search and rescue scramble that gripped the world’s attention for more than...
History of Flight: From Breakthroughs to Disasters
From hot-air balloons floating over Paris to a dirigible crashing over New Jersey,...
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneels during national anthem,...
At an NFL preseason game on August 26, 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin...
HIV-positive Ray brothers' home burned down
On August 29, 1987, the home of the Ray brothers—three HIV-positive Florida boys—burns...
First female army officer is appointed
In a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, General Dwight D. Eisenhower...
Romanov remains identified using DNA
British forensic scientists announce that they have positively identified the remains...
Bob Dylan records “Blowin’ In The Wind”
“This here ain’t no protest song or anything like that, ’cause I don’t write no...
Soviet Premier Khrushchev and President Eisenhower trade...
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev trade verbal...
Catherine the Great assumes power
On July 9, 1762, the wife of Russia’s new emperor, Peter III, rallies the army regiments...
Venus Williams wins Wimbledon for the first time
On July 9, 2000, Venus Williams wins at Wimbledon for the first time. Her victory...
10 Amazing Ancient Olympic Facts
From naked athletes to foot-only races, these are 10 surprising facts you didn’t...
6 Times the Filibuster Helped Senators Kill Big Bills
The filibuster has blocked voting reform, anti-lynching bills and an amendment to...
Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, representing the U.S. government, sails into...
MacArthur named Korean commander
The day after the U.N. Security Council recommended that all U.N. forces in Korea...
North Korea’s “Great Leader” dies
Kim Il-Sung, the communist dictator of North Korea since 1948, dies of a heart attack...
Liberty Bell tolls to announce Declaration of Independence
On July 8, 1776, a 2,000-pound copper-and-tin bell now known as the “Liberty Bell”...
10 Times the Earth Was Almost Destroyed
From naked athletes to foot-only races, these are 10 surprising facts you didn’t...
9 Intrepid Women Explorers
From a Viking 'far traveler' to a Soviet cosmonaut, these fearless women blazed...
Wimbledon Served as a Military Camp and Pig Farm During...
The tennis club's center court even took a direct hit from a 500-pound German bomb....
Anne Frank’s family takes refuge
In Nazi-occupied Holland, 13-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family are...
Women inducted into U.S. Naval Academy for the first time
In Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Naval Academy admits women for the first...
Fire engulfs circus big top in Hartford, killing 167
In Hartford, Connecticut, a fire breaks out under the big top of the Ringling Bros....
Congress issues a “Declaration on the Causes and Necessity...
On July 6, 1775, one day after restating their fidelity to King George III and wishing...
Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game is held
On July 6, 1933, Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game took place at Chicago’s...
Pathfinder lands on Mars
After traveling 120 million miles in seven months, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder becomes...
France gives the Statue of Liberty to the United States
In a ceremony held in Paris on July 4, 1884, the completed Statue of Liberty is...
U.S. warship downs Iranian passenger jet
In the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy cruiser Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger...
Amelia Earhart disappears
On July 2, 1937, the Lockheed aircraft carrying American aviator Amelia Earhart...
Mutiny on the Amistad
Early in the morning, enslaved Africans on the Cuban schooner Amistad rise up against...
“Gonna Fly Now (Theme From ‘Rocky’)” is the #1 song on...
On July 2, 1977, Hollywood composer Bill Conti scores a #1 pop hit with the single...
Hitler purges members of his own Nazi party in Night of...
In Germany, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political...
Soviet cosmonauts perish in reentry disaster
The three Soviet cosmonauts who served as the first crew of the world’s first space...
Spanish retreat from Aztec capital
June 30, 1520: Faced with an Aztec revolt against their rule, forces under the Spanish...
Daredevil crosses Niagara Falls on tightrope
Jean Francois Gravelet, a Frenchman known professionally as Charles Blondin, becomes...
Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from U.S.S.R.
Considered one of the world’s greatest ballet dancers of all time, Soviet virtuoso...
Wounded soldiers evacuated from the Little Big Horn by...
After a slow two-day march, the wounded soldiers from the Battle of the Little Big...
Who Invented TV?
Multiple inventors deserve credit for the technology, which had its origins in the...
How 19th-Century Drag Balls Evolved into House Balls, Birthplace...
Harlem drag balls thrived during the post-Civil War era, creating a space where...
When Henry VIII Wrestled the King of France—and Lost
The grappling allegedly took place at the Field of Cloth of Gold, a royal sporting...
How Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' Helped Inspire the American...
The 47-page pamphlet took colonial America by storm in 1776 and made critical arguments...
Bald Eagle removed from list of threatened species
On June 28, 2007, the United States removes one of its most commonly-used national...
Activist Bree Newsome removes Confederate flag from South...
On the morning of June 27, 2015, activists posing as joggers signal to one of their...
Rejected Books of the Bible and What Happened to Them
Believe it or not, some books just didn’t make the cut to be in the Bible. Watch...
How the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg Emboldened German Forces...
The 1914 conflict dealt a defeat so devastating that it drove a Russian general...
Union begins tunneling toward Rebels at Petersburg
Pennsylvania troops begin digging a tunnel toward the Rebels at Petersburg, Virginia,...
Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. airmen
On June 25, 1996, a tanker truck loaded with 25,000 pounds of explosives rips through...
Why the FBI Saw Martin Luther King, Jr. as a Communist...
Bureau director J. Edgar Hoover had made his career fighting the perceived threat...
The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse
A captain and his crew needlessly endangered the lives of those on board. Many famous...
Thai soccer team becomes trapped in cave
It started as a fun after-practice excursion. On June 23, 2018, Ekkapol Chantawong,...
Zong slave ship trial
Hearing arguments in the case of the Zong, a slave ship, the Chief Justice of the...
Lawrence v. Texas is decided
On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Texas’ sodomy laws, along...
Felipe VI becomes king of Spain after Juan Carlos I abdicates
When the clock struck midnight on June 19, 2014, King Juan Carlos I of Spain’s nearly...
Abolition of slavery announced in Texas on "Juneteenth"
In what is now known as Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrive in Galveston,...
Vincent Chin is murdered
Chinese American Vincent Chin, 27, is beaten in the head with a baseball bat by...
7 of History's Most Devastating Bridge Collapses
The disasters had a wide range of causes, from marching soldiers to a circus clown...
10 Biggest Myths About the Founding Fathers
It turns out a lot of what we learned about the founding fathers wasn’t true. Find...
The 1967 Riots: When Outrage Over Racial Injustice Boiled...
In what came to be known as the 'long, hot summer,' US cities exploded—more than...
Charleston church shooting
On the evening of June 17, 2015, a mass shooter took the lives of nine African American...
8 Astounding Moments in Women’s Olympic Gymnastics
From Olga Korbut’s famous flip to Kerri Strug's vault landing to Simone Biles’ multiple...
“Solidarity Day” rally at Resurrection City
On June 19, 1968, a long-term anti-poverty demonstration known as Resurrection City...
When Protesters Occupied D.C. for Six Muddy Weeks to Demand...
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign took protest to a whole new level...
All Amendments to the US Constitution
Since the Constitution was ratified in 1789, hundreds of thousands of bills have...
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
In 1958, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas traveled the country and engaged in...
AIDS Crisis Timeline
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a virus that had previously appeared sporadically...
Five people shot, including Republican congressman, at...
On June 14, 2017, a gunman walked onto a baseball field at Eugene Simpson Park in...
Grenfell Tower fire kills 72 in London
Shortly before 1:00 A.M. on June 14, 2017, a fire tears through West London’s 24-story...
Otto Warmbier returns from North Korean prison in a coma
On June 12, 2017 Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old student who was taken prisoner in...
Terrorist gunman attacks Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida
As Latin music blared inside Pulse, one of Orlando’s biggest nightclubs on June...
How Title IX Transformed Women's Sports
The groundbreaking gender equity law made a lasting impact by increasing the participation...
How Greg Louganis' Olympic Diving Accident Forced a Conversation...
During a time when fear and stigma around AIDS and LGBTQ identity were pervasive,...
10 Famous Horse Racing Scandals
From race-fixing and horse switches to performance-enhancing drugs, some will do...
Battle Tech That Changed Military Conflict Forever
From chariots to tanks and everything in-between, these pieces of battle tech have...
How Jesse Owens Foiled Hitler's Plans for the 1936 Olympics
The African American track star hardly derailed Nazi plans for global disruption,...
How World War II Spurred a Decade of Women’s Pro Baseball
The league was supposed to be temporary, but went on for 12 seasons. When the United...
Inside RFK's Funeral Train: How His Final Journey Helped...
The New York-to-Washington train had 21 cars, 700 passengers—and millions of trackside...
Edward Snowden discloses U.S. government operations
On June 6, 2013, Americans learned that their government was spying broadly on its...
How American Icon Henry Ford Fostered Anti-Semitism
The man known for changing the auto industry also used his immense power and influence...
‘Blood in the Water’: The Cold War Olympic Showdown Between...
Just weeks before the match, Soviet tanks and troops brutally crushed the short-lived...
How Billie Jean King Led the Equal Pay for Play Battle
From the start, the 39-time Grand Slam winner showed that she wasn’t just an ace...
8 Incredible Inventions of the Indigenous People of the...
History Countdown: From goggles to kayaks and much more, these are eight inventions...
Why Mixed-Race Children in Post-WWII Germany Were Deemed...
As racism impacted both sides of the Atlantic, ‘Brown Babies’, the children born...
Terrorists attack London Bridge
During one horrific 8-minute period on June 3, 2017, eight people were killed as...
Zoot Suit Riots begin in Los Angeles
On June 3, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors marches through downtown Los Angeles, carrying...
How AIDS Activists Used ‘Die-Ins’ to Demand Attention to...
Protesters feigned mass death to shock and shame government, industry and the media...
First scientific report on AIDS is published
On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes an article...
When Joe Louis Boxed Nazi Favorite Max Schmeling
As Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party loomed over Europe, an American and a German...
FIFA president Sepp Blatter announces resignation amidst...
On June 2, 2015, Sepp Blatter, president of international soccer’s governing body...
The Queer Victorian Doctors Who Paved the Way for Women...
In an era when women were discouraged from all professional fields, these women...
‘Miracle on Ice’: When the US Olympic Hockey Team Stunned...
Grit and an eccentric coach both played a part when the American hockey squad beat...
Tulsa Race Massacre begins
Beginning on the night of May 31, 1921, thousands of white citizens in Tulsa, Oklahoma...
The Tulsa Race Massacre: Facts About the Attack
The Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma had flourished as a neighborhood built...
Sojourner Truth delivers powerful speech on African American...
At the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, on May 29, 1851, the formerly enslaved woman, Sojourner...
Terrorists attack Ahmadiyya mosques in Pakistan
As Friday prayers came to a close on May 28, 2010 in Lahore, Pakistan, seven terrorists...
10 More Lost Civilizations You've Never Heard of
Discover the true story of ancient, but lesser known, civilizations like Nineveh,...
Ship carrying 937 Jewish refugees, fleeing Nazi Germany,...
A boat carrying 937 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution is turned away from...
British navy sinks the German battleship Bismarck
On May 27, 1941, the British navy sinks the German battleship Bismarck in the North...
9 Doping Scandals That Changed Sports
Athletes have always been driven to win, but the advent of performance-enhancing...
Why Black American Athletes Raised Their Fists at the 1968...
After sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a defiant gesture from the awards...
6-year-old Etan Patz—boy on milk carton—goes missing
On the morning of May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz walked the two blocks from...
George Floyd is killed by a police officer, igniting historic...
On the evening of May 25, 2020, white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kills...
10 Military Inventions We Use Every Day
Many inventions that we use today were invented by the military—from zippers to...
Munich Massacre
The Munich Massacre was an attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West...
Tulsa’s 'Black Wall Street': Before, During and After the...
Photos of the Greenwood district of Tulsa reveal how the African American community...
4 Black Baseball Players Who Followed Jackie Robinson's...
After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, four other...
How the AIDS Quilt Allowed Millions to Memorialize the...
The AIDS Memorial Quilt—with 1,920 individual panels, each inscribed with the names...
Manchester Arena bombed during Ariana Grande concert
Just moments after Ariana Grande finished the final song of her May 22, 2017 concert...
How Two Vietnamese Sisters Led a Revolt Against Chinese...
Armed with swords, bows and arrows, axes and spears, the Trung sisters and their...
How Hernán Cortés Conquered the Aztec Empire
The year 2021 marks the 500-year anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlán, the fabled...
5 of the Most Significant Impact Craters in North America
Meteors, comets and asteroids have slammed into the earth with a force many times...
A Timeline of U.S. Anti-War Protests
Anti-war movements date back to the birth of the United States. The history of anti-war...
Why the Tennessee Valley Authority was the New Deal’s Most...
The TVA was a model for rural electrification in the South, but it displaced thousands...
Cicada Swarms Were Documented by a Black Naturalist in...
Benjamin Banneker was just 17 when he first studied overwhelming broods of cicadas...
Potsdam Conference
The leaders of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union—the Big Three...
New York City’s Chinatown shuts down to protest police...
New York City’s Chinatown is almost entirely shut down on May 19, 1975, with shuttered...
5 of History's Deadliest Bear Attacks
Hungry bears—whether grizzly, black, brown or polar—can be shockingly brutal. Few...
The Unsung African American Scientists of the Manhattan...
At least 12 Black chemists and physicists worked as primary researchers on the team...
How the Shocking Use of Gas in World War I Led Nations...
The Germans were the first to successfully weaponize gas in World War I—to horrifying...
GE finally initiates cleanup of polluted Hudson River
After decades of environmental damage and legal wrangling, General Electric finally...
History Shorts: The First Valentine
While Valentine's Day is shared by lovers sharing time together, one of the first...
History Shorts: Medal of Honor
Mary Edwards Walker was the first woman to receive the Medal of Honor, but her fight...
This Week in History: Houdini
Harry Houdini is still known today as history's most famous magician, but there...
History Shorts: Elena Kagan Rises to the Bench
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan previously served on the other side of the bench...
9 Entrepreneurs Who Helped Build Tulsa's Black Wall Street
Before the Tulsa Race Massacre, the city’s African American district thrived as...
History Shorts: The Moment Behind International Holocaust...
Of all the horrific days throughout the Holocaust, the day many choose to remember...
How Mohawk ‘Skywalkers’ Helped Build New York City's Tallest...
Native American riveting gangs worked on the 'high steel' for iconic structures...
9 Greatest Unsolved Mysteries of Ancient History
Some mysteries we may never find the answer to, but some are begging to be solved....
History Shorts: Turning Over the White House
The White House is meant to reflect its occupant, and when a new president comes...
History Shorts: The Power Grab Behind Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is almost as old as the United States itself, named for a governor...
History Shorts: The Record-Setting Filibuster to Deny Civil...
Filibustering is a long and strange tradition, and its record-setting moment came...
History Shorts: The Story Behind Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa didn't just appear spontaneously—it was specifically designed to heal a...
History Shorts: The Revolving Doors of Ellis Island
Ellis Island is known in history as a place that welcomed America's immigrants,...
How Jim Crow-Era Laws Suppressed the African American Vote...
In the wake of the 15th Amendment and Reconstruction, several southern states enacted...
What Role Did Airplanes Play in the Tulsa Race Massacre?
Few historians dispute that planes flew low over the city's prosperous Black district...
How Bank Failures Contributed to the Great Depression
Were financial institutions victims—or culprits? On the surface, everything was...
The US Funded Universal Childcare During World War II—Then...
Federally-subsidized childcare centers took care of an estimated 550,000 to 600,000...
The Chinese-Born Engineer Who Helped Launch US Commercial...
Wong Tsu’s 10 months at Boeing in 1916-17 led to the fledgling airplane manufacturer's...
History Shorts: Earth Day's Environmental Origins
Environmental issues have long faced our planet, but what did it finally take to...
History Shorts: How Apollo 13 Found Its Way Home
Stranded in space, the Apollo 13 astronauts managed to find their way back home...
History Shorts: When an Undocumented Immigrant Became a...
Marcelino Serna came to the U.S. as a undocumented immigrant, and within just a...
History Shorts: Who Wrote the U.S. Constitution?
The U.S. Constitution was a group effort of some of the country's greatest minds,...
America 101: What is a Contested Election?
Learn more about the history of contested elections. Learn more about the history...
America 101: What are the Nastiest Campaigns in History?
Find out the history behind the nastiest campaigns in history. Find out the history...
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The White House is one of the great patriotic symbols of America, but its construction...
History Shorts: The First Hispanic Congressman Fights for...
Representation matters, and Romauldo Pacheco proved that as the first Hispanic Congressman...
History Shorts: Dolores Huerta Organizes a Movement
While many know the name Cesar Chavez today, his most trusted lieutenant was just...
History Shorts: Skipping a Presidential Debate
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Voting by mail is nothing new, and its origins lie in part in Abraham Lincoln's...
History Shorts: Eleanor Roosevelt's Diplomatic Fight for...
Eleanor Roosevelt became well-known as FDR's first lady, but her contributions towards...
History Shorts: The Electoral College's Slaveholding Origins
Many find the Electoral College a frustrating system, and its history may force...
History Shorts: Hanukkah's Celebration of Religious Freedom
While Hanukkah is a religious holiday, its story is rooted in a violent conflict...
History Shorts: Charles Norman Shay at D-Day
Charles Norman Shay's heroics at D-Day are etched into history, and his perspective...
History Shorts: A Lame Duck Crisis
When the lame duck period was much longer than it is today, two U.S. presidents...
History Shorts: Isaac Newton's Genius in Quarantine (Forged...
Isolated in his family home from the Black Plague, Isaac Newton devised some of...
Teddy Roosevelt’s trip to San Francisco is captured on...
On May 12, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt’s trip to San Francisco is captured...
One of the Earliest US Car Companies Was Founded by a Formerly...
C.R. Patterson & Sons, which started as a carriage building firm, produced luxury...
When West Coast Cities Tried to Drive Out Their Chinatowns
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The First Asian American Settlement Was Established by...
The fishing village in marshlands of present-day Louisiana was settled by the so-called...
President Nixon meets with anti-war protesters at the Lincoln...
In the early hours of May 9, 1970, a frazzled President Richard Nixon embarks upon...
General Lee’s army beats Grant’s Union troops to Spotsylvania
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Car History Timeline: From 3-Wheeled Buggies to Self-Driving...
Here are the milestones and innovations that drove the automotive revolution. Few...
What Caused the Korean War and Why Did the US Get Involved?
The war, one of the earliest Cold War conflicts, was a civil war that became a proxy...
History Shorts: Getting Back to Sports After a 1918 Pandemic...
Faced with the Spanish Flu pandemic, sports across America were forced to adapt,...
History Shorts: How NYC Battled an Epidemic After WWI (Forged...
After the Spanish Flu descended on New York City in 1918, its citizens did everything...
History Shorts: The Doctor Who Stopped An American Epidemic...
Dr. Maurice Hilleman was already an expert in viruses and vaccines when a strange...
History Shorts: The Night Before D-Day
Under the cover of darkness, the Allies pulled off an operation in the hours before...
History Shorts: Why Pomp and Circumstance Plays at Graduations
Pomp and Circumstance was originally used in King Edward VII’s coronation. Four...
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 debuts
On May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven’s ninth and final symphony debuts at Vienna’s...
First Japanese immigrant arrives in the U.S.
Called the U.S.'s first ambassador to Japan, a 14-year-old fisherman by the name...
Shirley Chisholm: A Groundbreaking Legacy
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, and in...
History Shorts: John Snow Solves A Pandemic Puzzle
A cholera outbreak in 19th century London led to a critical advance in public health....
History Shorts: How Artists Helped End the Great Depression
By giving support to an army of creative workers, the government was able to lift...
History Shorts: Why We Pay Income Taxes
Income tax is seen as a part of American life, but this wasn't always the case....
10 Biggest Treasure Discoveries
From priceless unknown tombs to sunken treasure worth billions of dollars. Discover...
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With Adolf Hitler leading a German invasion of Poland in 1939, World War II was...
History Shorts: MLK's Final Cause
In the last year of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. expanded his cause beyond Civil...
History Shorts: The First Skyscraper
Out of the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire came a new and better way to build. Out...
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Dorothea Lange captured the reality of the Great Depression in the faces of those...
History Shorts: Protecting Cultural Treasures from War
A young artist made a pact to protect priceless works of art and cultural treasures...
Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union during World...
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is published
On May 5, 1967, Gabriel Garcia Márquez's Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years...
Chinese gold miners are slaughtered in the Hells Canyon...
The Hells Canyon Massacre begins on May 27, 1887, in Lewiston, Washington Territory,...
History Shorts: The Mother's Advice that Led to Women's...
Sometimes, it really does come down to one vote (and the voter's mother) to change...
History Shorts: How the Atomic Bomb Was Used in WWII
The United States' decision to use the atomic bomb was made after great debate,...
Sojourner Truth delivers "Ain’t I a Woman?" speech
At the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, on May 29, 1851, the formerly enslaved Sojourner...
History Shorts: The Gulf War on TV
The Gulf War changed how battles were fought, and how they were seen at home. The...
History Shorts: FDR Takes the Democratic Convention by...
FDR's nomination as president in 1932 was far from a sure thing, the result of political...
History Shorts: A Trailblazing Soldier Helps Build A National...
Colonel Charles Young overcame racism to rise through the ranks and create his legacy...
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In late-May 1887, around 30 Chinese laborers were mining gold in an isolated part...
WWI's Battle of Messines: How Allies Used Massive Explosives...
The July 1917 Allied attack involved meticulous planning, tunneling and devastating...
The Asian American Women Who Fought to Make Their Mark...
They worked as pilots, translators, guerrilla fighters and more. Asian American...
A lawmaker introduces the pun "May the Fourth be with you"...
On May 4, 1994, in a groan-inducing moment on the floor of U.K. Parliament, a lawmaker...
Willie Mays breaks National League home run record
On May 4, 1966, San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays hits his 512th career...
Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first female prime...
Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, becomes Britain’s first female...
Hitler Survives WWI
Learn about Hitler's survival during WWI. Learn about Hitler's survival during WWI....
Pancho Villa & The Mexican Revolution
Learn more about the history of Pancho Villa & The Mexican Revolution. Learn more...
10 Things You Don't Know About: Prohibition
Here are ten things you didn't know about prohibition. Here are ten things you didn't...
History Shorts: Roosevelt and Taft Battle at the RNC
Two former friends became fierce rivals, and it all played out on one of the biggest...
Supreme Court rules in Hernandez v. Texas, broadening civil...
The Supreme Court issues a momentous ruling that clarified the way that the American...
Why Stalin Tried to Stamp Out Religion in the Soviet Union
Despite closing churches and synagogues, killing thousands of priests and imprisoning...
8 Facts About Osama bin Laden's Final Hideout
Before the 9/11 mastermind was killed in a SEAL Team raid in his Abbottabad, Pakistan...
6 World War II Innovations That Changed Everyday Life
Radar, computers, penicillin and more all came out of development during the Second...
The Mysterious History of Cattle Mutilation
Unexplained livestock mutilations have been reported for centuries. Explanations...
The Bin Laden Raid: Inside the Situation Room Photo
The image captures a defining historic moment, as Barack Obama and his top advisers...
How World War I Fueled the Russian Revolution
Czar Nicholas' ineffective leadership and weak infrastructure during the war led...
6 People Who Made Big Money During the Great Depression
Even amid America’s worst economic downturn, a select few accumulated vast fortunes....
When 20,000 Asian Americans Demanded Garment Workers' Rights—And...
The 1982 strike led by immigrant women earned better working conditions and benefits...
Top 8 WORST Decisions in History
Everyone makes mistakes, but the people on this list made epic blunders that will...
8 Ancient Empires You’ve Never Heard Of
Grab your fedora and bullwhip as we unearth 8 amazing yet obscure ancient empires,...
13 Bizarre Superstitions
You know to avoid black cats and breaking mirrors, but did you know not to cut your...
9 Civil Rights Leaders You Need to Know
Throughout American history, many have had to fight to advance the ideals of liberty...
7 Things You Didn't Know About Valentine's Day
From the origins of the box of chocolates, to the evolution of Cupid, discover 7...
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Uncover the true and horrific stories of 11 of the deadliest serial killers of all...
Top 10 Kitchen Inventions That Changed Food Forever
From fire to the air fryer, humans have a remarkable history of innovating in the...
8 Foods You Didn’t Know Were Invented in America
From spaghetti and meatballs to General Tso's chicken, many dishes Americans associate...
10 Badass Warrior Women in History
From Tomoe Gozen to Jeanne Hachette, these 10 badass warrior women have slashed...
6 Famous Women Who Were Secretly Spies
These 6 women were true triple threats: performers, celebrities - and spies! From...
How to Cook Pizza on a Shield Like a 600 BC Persian Soldier
Pizza has been around for so long it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact origins....
Sohla Makes Samurai Mochi
Mochi has been a staple Japanese food for thousands of years - and was once the...
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed a bill to organize the Territory...
8 Incredible Roman Technologies
All roads lead to Rome - and so do these tech trees! From the newspaper to the vending...
World War I Battles: Timeline
For four years, from 1914 to 1918, World War I raged across Europe's western and...
The Rock Springs Massacre
What began as a labor dispute between white and Chinese coal miners on September...
Supreme Court declares desegregation busing constitutional
On April 20, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declares busing for the purposes...
“Sip-In” takes place at Julius' Bar in New York City
On the afternoon of April 21, 1966, a bar crawl in New York’s West Village leads...
Sohla Cooks a 1,000-Year-Old Hangover Cure | Ancient Recipes...
Sohla travels back to the Islamic Golden Age of 10th century Baghdad and recreates...
7 Insane Military Gambles That Changed the World
From the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE to Operation Mincemeat in WWII, discover...
Sohla Makes an Ancient Chinese Hamburger (Rou Jia Mo from...
"Ancient Recipes with Sohla will be back with more episodes this summer! Check out...
McCulloch v. Maryland
In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution gave Congress...
Homestead Strike
In July 1892, a dispute between Carnegie Steel and the Amalgamated Association of...
Michael Collins
American astronaut Michael Collins was part of the historic 1969 Apollo 11 mission,...
10 LOST WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
Discover these 10 incredible structures that were constructed by ancient civilizations...
The U.S. officially begins construction on the Panama Canal
A ceremony on May 4, 1905 marks the official beginning of the second attempt to...
A British lawmaker, referencing "Star Wars," delivers first...
On May 4, 1994, a groan-inducing moment on the floor of U.K. Parliament includes...
The first Freedom Ride departs from Washington, D.C.
On May 4, 1961, a group of thirteen young people departs Washington, D.C.’s Greyhound...
Labor organizer and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez...
On May 1, 1972, Mexican-American labor organizer and civil rights activist Cesar...
How Gerrymandering Began in the US
Long before it got its name, Gerrymandering was already happening in the United...
Voting Rights Milestones in America: A Timeline
See a timeline of milestones in American voting rights history. Since America’s...
Presidential Succession: How the 'Designated Survivor'...
It's a protocol in which little-known cabinet secretaries suddenly find themselves...
The Storied History of SEAL Team Six, the Secret Unit That...
SEAL Team Six's security and counterterrorism missions have ranged from Grenada...
Why Did US Forces Bury Osama Bin Laden’s Body at Sea?
Political, religious and practical factors all played a role. On May 2, 2011, the...
How America's Aviation Industry Got Its Start Transporting...
Before carrying passengers, America’s most iconic airlines hauled the mail. It was...
8 Events that Led to World War I
Imperialism, nationalistic pride and mutual alliances all played a part in building...
How the Erie Canal Was Built With Raw Labor and Amateur...
The 360-mile canal connecting the Hudson River to the Great Lakes was built in eight...
9 New Deal Infrastructure Projects That Changed America
The Hoover Dam, LaGuardia Airport and the Bay Bridge were all part of FDR's New...
9 Unexpected Things Navy SEALs Discovered in Osama bin...
From al Qaeda emails to Disney films to pornography, the terrorist leader had a...
Prince Philip, Outsider Who Became England’s Longest-Serving...
Although his roots were as royal as they come, Philip was considered a controversial...
Prince Philip: From Controversial Consort to Royal Stalwart
The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was originally a somewhat...
The First ‘Vaccine Passports’ Were Scars from Smallpox...
When smallpox ravaged the United States at the turn of the 20th century, many public...
Did William Henry Harrison Really Die From Pneumonia?
Research suggests the ninth U.S. president may not have caught a deadly case of...
8 Groundbreaking Contributions of Asian Americans Through...
From disease cures to influential tech to workers' rights, Asian American contributions...
Who Invented Chicken Nuggets?
Before McDonald's pioneered McNuggets for fast food consumption, a Cornell University...
How the Seven Deadly Sins Began as 'Eight Evil Thoughts'
The idea of listing the vices began in the fourth century. In the fourth century,...
Why the Roaring Twenties Left Many Americans Poorer
For some, the Great Depression began in the 1920s. In August 1929, Ladies Home Journal...
Asian American Milestones: Timeline
Asian immigrants have come to American shores since the mid-1800s, playing a significant...
Two Tuskegee Airmen Die on Same Day in Los Angeles
Two members of the famed World War II African-American flying squadron passed away...
A Vietnamese-American Chef Shares How Food Connects Her...
In 1975, the Nguyen family left Vietnam for America. As Andrea Nguyen recalls, her...
Before the Chinese Exclusion Act, This Anti-Immigrant Law...
The 1875 Page Act was one of the earliest pieces of federal legislation to restrict...
The 16-Year-Old Chinese Immigrant Who Helped Lead a 1912...
Mabel Ping-Hua Lee fought for the rights of women on two sides of the world. In...
Flashback: How Japanese Americans Were Forced Into Concentration...
The internment of Japanese Americans began after President Roosevelt signed Executive...
Japanese-American Relocation
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Government issued executive...
8 Facts About the Celts
The ancient Celts were a widespread group of tribes whose rich culture has been...
Josephine Baker's Daring Double Life as a World War II...
Using fame as a cover, the glamorous entertainer spied for the French Resistance...
Golda Meir elected as Israel's first female prime minster
On March 17, 1969, 70-year-old Golda Meir makes history when she is elected as Israel’s...
Ahmaud Arbery is murdered while out jogging
Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, is shot dead by a white father and son while...
President Trump addresses the nation on COVID-19; announces...
In a primetime Oval Office address, President Donald Trump announces a 30-day travel...
Broadway goes dark due to COVID-19 pandemic
On March 12, 2020, after New York state and city leaders placed coronavirus-related...
Kim Ng named first female MLB general manager
On November 13, 2020, veteran front-office official Kim Ng breaks several glass...
Chanel No. 5 perfume launches
On May 5, 1921, a date of symbolic importance to its iconic creator, the perfume...
Texas passes a bill becoming the first state in the nation...
A celebration that has persisted for over a century receives its first official...
Ruby Bridges desegregates her school
On November 14, 1960, a court order mandating the desegregation of schools comes...
Velvet Revolution begins in Czechoslovakia
On November 17, 1989, nine days after the fall of the Berlin Wall roughly 200 miles...
Breonna Taylor is killed by police in botched raid
Shortly after midnight on March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency...
Bear Stearns collapses, sold to J.P. Morgan Chase
On March 16, 2008, Bear Stearns, the 85-year-old investment bank, narrowly avoids...
Christchurch, New Zealand mosque attacks
On the afternoon of March 15, 2019, a gunman attacked two different mosques in Christchurch,...
How World War I's Legacy Eclipsed the 1918 Pandemic
Both World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic were devastating events in history....
7 Key Facts About British Royal History
Over its thousand-year reign, the British monarchy has operated within a large set...
How World War I Helped Women Ditch the Corset
A combination of cultural shifts and metal rationing spelled the demise of the stiff...
How Suffragists Pioneered Aggressive New Tactics to Push...
Women infused their protests with creativity, PR savvy and in-your-face urgency....
How Big-Spending Royals Tested English Support for the...
James I, Charles I and Charles II of the Stuart dynasty were known for their lavish...
8 Groundbreaking Inventions from the Second Industrial...
The period between the late 1800s and the early 1900s saw a boom in innovations...
How the Mirabal Sisters Helped Topple a Dictator
The assassination of “las Mariposas” (“the Butterflies”) fueled public outrage against...
11 Bold Women Who Changed the World
From the female Paul Revere and a Hollywood starlet-turned-inventor to a political...
Fukushima Timeline: How an Earthquake Triggered Japan’s...
An earthquake, a tsunami...and then a devastating power plant failure. The 2011...
7 Critical Civil War Battles
These seven battles were among the most pivotal in America's bloodiest conflict....
How the Ali-Frazier 'Fight of the Century' Became a Proxy...
The March 8, 1971 fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier unfolded against the...
Why Suffragists Helped Send Women Doctors to WWI's Front...
Doctors of the Women's Oversea Hospitals Unit operated under bomb and gas attacks....
The Female World War II Codebreaker Who Busted Nazi Spy...
Elizebeth Friedman’s codebreaking helped save the Queen Mary and capture a Nazi...
Valhalla: How Viking Belief in a Glorious Afterlife Empowered...
Female valkyrie would greet fallen Viking warriors and lead the boldest to a glorious...
The Last Confederate General to Surrender Was Native American
Stand Watie, a contentious Cherokee leader who signed away his ancestral lands,...
Why the 19th Amendment Did Not Guarantee All Women the...
Despite the adoption of the 19th Amendment, many women of color, immigrant women...
How Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’ Confronted an Ugly...
During a time when violence against Black Americans was devastatingly common, Holiday's...
9 Groundbreaking Inventions by Women
Women inventors are behind a wide range of key innovations, from Kevlar to dishwashers...
Women in WWII Took on These Dangerous Military Jobs
Looking beyond traditional nursing or clerical roles, some women served as snipers,...
Who Invented the TV Dinner?
It came. It thawed. It conquered. Along the way, the frozen meal in a box had multiple...
How the Aztec Empire Was Forged Through a Triple Alliance
Three city-states joined in a fragile, but strategic alliance to wield tremendous...
How Barbara Jordan's 1974 Speech Marked a Turning Point...
Representative Jordan's primetime remarks on the Constitution riveted the nation...
Why Labor Unions Declined in the 1920s
Stripped of wartime protections and branded as anti-American, labor unions languished...
How the Perfect Lawn Became a Symbol of the American Dream
And of course, all that grass inspired innovations in mowing. With the rise of suburbia...
Who Is Cupid?
And how did he become the unofficial mascot of Valentine's Day? The mention of Cupid...
The Surprising Origins of the Fortune Cookie
They didn't come from China. Where did fortune cookies come from—and how did they...
Why Frederick Douglass Wanted Black Men to Fight in the...
He believed that, as soldiers, Black men could gain self-respect, self-defense skills...
“The Birth of A Nation” opens, glorifying the KKK
On February 8, 1915, D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, a landmark film in the...
Three protestors die in the Orangeburg Massacre
On the night of February 8, 1968, police officers in Orangeburg, South Carolina...
First confirmed case of COVID-19 found in U.S.
Following a rapid spread from its origin in Wuhan, China, the first U.S. case of...
Shirley Chisholm visits her opponent George Wallace in...
Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress,...
Fukushima nuclear disaster
On March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan causes massive...
Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis dies
On July 17, 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a time of unparalleled racial tensions...
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's protest strategies of nonviolence and civil disobedience,...
Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "The Gates" opens in New York's...
On February 12, 2005, 7,503 orange curtains unfurl across New York City’s Central...
Black History: Timeline of the Post-Civil Rights Era
From the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the 2008 election of...
World Health Organization officially names novel coronavirus...
A few months after the first known case was detected in Wuhan, China, and approximately...
Niagara Movement
In 1905, a group of prominent Black intellectuals led by W.E.B. Du Bois met in Erie,...
Full U.S.-Cuba embargo is announced
On February 7, 1962, President John F. Kennedy issues an executive order broadening...
Southern Pacific Railroad completes New Orleans to California...
The Southern Pacific Railroad completes its transcontinental “Sunset Route” from...
Punic Wars, between Rome and Carthage, come to an end
On February 5, 146 BCE, the Roman Republic finally triumphed over its nemesis, Carthage,...
Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks at UN, justifies...
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gives a speech to the United Nations that is...
How Many US Presidents Have Faced Censure?
More than a dozen sitting presidents have faced Congressional censure, but the official...
5 Iconic Mashup Inventions That Have Stood the Test of...
It wasn't until the 20th century that inventors looked past single-use products....
How Gilded Age Corruption Led to the Progressive Era
As the rich grew richer during the Gilded Age, the poor grew poorer, spurring the...
15 of America's Most Historic Restaurants
This selection of enduring eateries reflects our country's mosaic of cultures. How...
Who Invented the Potato Chip?
It's complicated. The credit for America’s greatest inventions is often a matter...
Reconstruction: A Timeline of the Post-Civil War Era
For a 14-year period following the Civil War, the U.S. government took steps to...
America’s First Black Regiment Earned Their Freedom by...
The Slave Enlistment Act of 1778 stipulated that any enslaved person accepted to...
Black Women Who Have Run for President
Since 1968, these 11 Black women have entered the running for the highest office...
8 Boundary-Breaking Black TV Shows
These shows helped broaden the range of African American experiences portrayed on...
The 1969 Raid That Killed Black Panther Leader Fred Hampton
Some details around the 1969 police shooting of Hampton and other Black Panther...
How Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition Championed Diversity
In his 1984 presidential run, Jackson sought to unite a multiracial, multicultural...
The Atlantic Slave Trade Continued Illegally in America...
The United States transatlantic slave trade wasn’t supposed to last all the way...
8 Steps That Paved the Way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was landmark legislation that required decades of actions—and...
Why Ice Cream Soared in Popularity During Prohibition
No beer? No problem. Better refrigeration, together with innovations in making and...
How the Tulsa Race Massacre Was Covered Up
A search for mass graves of the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre highlights...
The Conflicted Legacy of the First Vice President of Color
Vice President Charles Curtis, a member of the Kaw Nation who served under Herbert...
How the US Civil War Influenced Music
For soldiers on both sides, music was a vital source of inspiration and comfort....
Chocolate’s Sweet History: From Elite Treat to Food for...
Originally consumed as a bitter drink, it was prized as both an aphrodisiac and...
How Cesar Chavez Joined Larry Itliong to Demand Farm Workers'...
Itliong may not be as well-known a name as Chavez, but his role among Filipino-American...
Shirley Chisholm: Facts About Her Trailblazing Career
She may be best known for her 1972 run for president, but Shirley Chisholm broke...
How Tuskegee Airmen Fought Military Segregation With Nonviolent...
Their coordinated efforts to integrate a white officers' club set an example that