History.com Editors
HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen.
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Black Civil War Soldiers
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation: “All persons held as slaves within any States…in rebellion against the United States,” it declared, “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” (The more than 1 million enslaved people in ...read more
Louisiana
Louisiana sits above the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi River, bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east and Texas to the west. Founded by the French, ruled for 40 years by the Spanish and bought by the United States in the 1803 Louisiana ...read more
Paris Commune of 1871
The Paris Commune of 1871 was a short-lived revolutionary government established in the city of Paris after France’s crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Despite lasting only two months, the Paris Commune introduced many concepts now considered commonplace in modern ...read more
HISTORY Channel Discovers Segment of Space Shuttle Challenger
In a stunning discovery, a 20-foot segment of the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger was found off the coast of Florida during the filming of the new HISTORY® Channel series, “The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters." The find marks the first major discovery of wreckage from the ...read more
New Mexico
Colonized by Spain, the land that is now New Mexico became a U.S. territory following treaties signed with Mexico in 1848 and 1853. The territory did not become a U.S. state until 1912. During World War II, New Mexico was the site of the top-secret Manhattan Project, in which ...read more
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire for nearly 64 years, after ascending the throne just weeks after turning 18. She was the second-longest-reigning English royal in history, topped only by her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II. While short in stature–she was ...read more
South Carolina
Settled by the English in 1670, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1788. Its early economy was largely agricultural, benefitting from the area’s fertile soil. Plantation farmers relied on the slave trade for cheap labor to maximize profits. ...read more
American Indian Movement (AIM)
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a grassroots movement for Indigenous rights, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Originally an urban-focused movement formed in response to police brutality and racial profiling, AIM grew rapidly in the 1970s and became the driving ...read more
UN’s watershed Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is adopted
On September 13, 2007, the United Nations adopts the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The declaration, which defines the rights of the planet’s Indigenous peoples to their respective ways of life and prohibits discrimination against them, is a watershed moment for ...read more
Supreme Court rules in McGirt v. Oklahoma
In a major decision on July 9, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an 1833 treaty still applies to the Muscogee Nation, also known as the Creek. In McGirt v. Oklahoma, the court holds 5-4 that, while still falling under federal jurisdiction, nearly half of Oklahoma remains ...read more
Hawaii
Hawaii (Hawaiian: Hawai‘i) is a group of volcanic islands in the central Pacific Ocean. The islands lie 2,397 miles from San Francisco, California, to the east and 5,293 miles from Manila, in the Philippines, to the west. The capital is Honolulu, located on the island of Oahu. ...read more
Indian Reorganization Act is signed into law
In a major reversal of federal policy toward Native Americans, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Indian Reorganization Act into law on June 18, 1934. Also known as the IRA, the Indian New Deal and the Wheeler-Howard Act, the act granted a new degree of autonomy to ...read more
Maria Tallchief debuts in "Firebird" as the first-ever American prima ballerina
In a star-making performance, ballerina Maria Tallchief debuts in the New York City Ballet's production of Firebird on November 27, 1949. During her distinguished career, Tallchief collaborated with famed choreographer George Balanchine and became the first-ever American prima ...read more
Windsor Castle catches fire
On November 20, 1992, Windsor Castle, the historic English royal residence and home to Queen Elizabeth II, catches fire. The blaze comes during a particularly difficult year for the royal family. At around 11:30 in the morning, a fire broke out in the Queen's Private Chapel at ...read more
Putin becomes acting president of Russia, following Yeltsin’s resignation
On New Year’s Eve, 1999, Boris Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation, resigns after eight years in office. The presidency passes to the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence officer who will quickly become the central figure in Russian politics ...read more
The journal "Science" publishes first report on nuclear winter
Residents of Earth receive a chilling early Christmas present on December 23, 1983, when a group of scientists including Carl Sagan releases a paper titled “Nuclear Winter: Global Consequences of Multiple Nuclear Explosions.” This publication introduces the concept of nuclear ...read more
Florida
Florida joined the Union as the 27th state in 1845 and is nicknamed the Sunshine State for its balmy climate and natural beauty. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who led the first European expedition to Florida in 1513, named the state in honor of Spain’s Easter celebration ...read more
California
The first Spanish missionaries arrived in California in the 1700s, but California didn’t become part of the United States until 1847, as part of the treaty ending the Mexican-American War. Shortly thereafter, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 inspired a wave of ...read more
The first National Women’s Rights Convention begins
Suffragist organizers hold the first-ever National Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 23, 1850. More than 1,000 delegates from 11 states arrived for the two-day conference, which had been planned by members of the Anti-Slavery Society. The ...read more
Crédit Mobilier
The Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872-1873 damaged the careers of several Gilded Age politicians. In one of the nation’s earliest political corruption scandals, a number of U.S. Congressmen, including the vice president, faced scrutiny and public outrage when it was revealed that ...read more
North Carolina
One of the original 13 colonies, North Carolina was the first state to instruct its delegates to vote for independence from the British crown during the Continental Congress. Following the Revolutionary War, North Carolina developed an extensive slave plantation system and ...read more
Détente
Following years of growing strains between the United States and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers engaged in an era of détente diplomacy from 1969-1979. Amplified by the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the “thawing out” of Cold War tensions by Presidents Richard Nixon and ...read more
New York
The Dutch first settled along the Hudson River in 1624 and established the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664, the English took control of the area and renamed it New York. One of the original 13 colonies, New York played a crucial political and strategic role ...read more
First SMS text message is sent
On December 3, 1992, the first SMS text message in history is sent: Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old engineer, uses a personal computer to send the text message “Merry Christmas” via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague. Papworth, while working for the now-defunct ...read more
Virginia
One of the 13 original colonies, Virginia was the first part of the country permanently settled by the English, who established Jamestown on the banks of the James River in 1607. The home state of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers, Virginia played an ...read more
King Charles III
King Charles III, the 62nd British monarch to serve over the past 1,200 years, ascended to the throne on September 8, 2022, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. At age 73, British history’s longest-serving heir-apparent was officially proclaimed king two days ...read more
"Lucy" fossils discovered
On November 24, 1974, the fossils of an early human ancestor are discovered in northeastern Ethiopia. Soon nicknamed "Lucy," the remains showed that human species were walking upright over three millions years ago. The groundbreaking discovery was made by anthropology professor ...read more
The Origins of 7 Popular Sports
Lacrosse is older than the printing press. Golf was invented before Abraham Lincoln was born, but basketball didn’t exist until decades after his death. The first book on figure skating was published before the Declaration of Independence. Sports are as enduring and ever-evolving ...read more
Street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolates in Tunisia, igniting the Arab Spring
On December 17, 2010 26-year-old street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolates in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. His dramatic action is considered the start of the Arab Spring, a period of pro-democracy uprisings that reverberated through North Africa and the Middle East. Mohamed ...read more
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte becomes the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school
On March 18, 1889, Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte becomes the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school. She was top of her class at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. As an eight-year-old on Nebraska’s Omaha Reservation, La Flesche experienced a ...read more
Madam C.J. Walker is born
Future entrepreneur, philanthropist and self-made millionaire Madam C.J. Walker is born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. Walker's parents, sharecroppers who had been enslaved, died when she was seven. Walker eventually left Louisiana and spent her ...read more
“Serial” debuts, inaugurating the podcast boom
The podcast Serial, a spinoff of the long-running radio program This American Life, debuts on October 3, 2014, and quickly becomes a smash hit. Producer Sarah Koenig conceived of the show after she was approached by the attorney Rabia Chaudry, who asked Koenig to investigate the ...read more
The term “global warming” appears for the first time
The term “global warming” appears for the first time in print on August 8, 1975, with the publication of Wallace Smith Broecker's paper “Climatic Change: Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?” in the journal Science. Five years earlier, in 1970, Broecker, a ...read more
Young Lords occupy Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx
Early on the morning of July 14, 1970, the Young Lords, a predominantly Puerto Rican group of community activists in New York City, storm Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and barricade themselves inside. The Young Lords claimed the hospital as their own, placing a Puerto Rican ...read more
FDA fully approves the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
On August 23, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approves the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 16 and older, following a manufacturing review and analysis of the company’s expanded clinical trial, which included approximately 44,000 participants ...read more
Proposition 8 is passed in California, banning same-sex marriage
With over 13 million votes cast, California voters approve Proposition 8 on November 4, 2008, amending the state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Only months earlier, in May 2008, the California Supreme Court had deemed the state’s ban on same-sex marriage ...read more
Kenyan environmentalist and human rights campaigner Wangari Maathai wins Nobel Peace Prize
On October 8, 2004, Kenyan environmental justice organizer Wangari Maathai receives a Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her “contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace," becoming the first African woman to win the award. Maathai was born to peasant farmers in ...read more
Pluto is demoted
In Prague on August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union votes to demote Pluto from the ninth planet from the Sun to one of dozens of known dwarf planets. The vote followed a week of debate by the IAU, who voted on multiple proposals including one that kept not just ...read more
23-year-old peace activist Rachel Corrie is crushed to death by Israeli bulldozer
An Israeli-owned bulldozer kills 23-year-old American woman Rachel Corrie on March 16, 2003, as she protests a demolition campaign that destroyed over a thousand homes in the Gaza Strip. Following the death of their daughter, Corrie’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against the ...read more
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
The U.S. Supreme Court's 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey reaffirmed a woman's right to an abortion as granted in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case. However, the contentious 5-4 decision altered Roe and upheld a number of Pennsylvania abortion ...read more
"Gang of 19" activists occupy Denver intersection to protest inaccessibility on the city’s bus system
On July 5, 1978, a Regional Transportation District (RTD) bus stops at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway in Denver, Colorado. As passengers board, a group of people in wheelchairs position themselves in front of the bus, preventing it from leaving the stop. When a ...read more
Laverne Cox becomes first transgender person to appear on the cover of TIME magazine
On May 29, 2014, Laverne Cox, the transgender actor and advocate best known for her Emmy-winning performance on Orange Is the New Black, appears on the cover of TIME magazine's June 14 issue for their story "The Transgender Tipping Point." The moment is widely cited as a turning ...read more
First rainbow Pride flag premieres at San Francisco parade
On June 25, 1978, activists hoist a vibrant rainbow flag in the midst of the festivities for San Francisco’s Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day parade. According to its creator, Gilbert Baker, the crowd immediately recognized the flat’s significance: “It completely astounded me that ...read more
Earl Warren
Setting the course for civil rights and liberties in the 1950s and ’60s, Earl Warren, the 14th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, dedicated half a century to serving in public office. The former Republican politician and California’s only three-term governor, was appointed ...read more
Mary Kay launches her namesake company
On September 13, 1963, Texas-born entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash launches a cosmetic company in Dallas with her $5,000 life savings and the help of her 20-year-old son Richard Rogers. Mary Kay Inc. would become a cosmetic empire with revenue of more than $3.5 billion and salespeople ...read more
"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" is repealed
On September 20, 2011, the federal government repeals “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a law that had allowed gay people to serve in the U.S. armed forces only if they kept their sexual orientation a secret. “As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about ...read more
The first PFLAG meeting
On March 11, 1973, the first formal meeting of “Parents of Gays,” co-founded by the parents of a gay son, is held in a church in Greenwich Village in New York. In 1982, it became a national organization called “Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays,” or PFLAG—the ...read more
Japanese American Fred Korematsu is arrested for resisting internment
On May 30, 1942, Fred Korematsu is arrested in San Leandro, California for resisting internment under President Franklin Roosevelt’s controversial Executive Order 9066, which called for the incarceration of nearly all Japanese Americans in the United States in the wake of Japan’s ...read more
Henry A. Kissinger
Henry Kissinger, the nation’s 56th secretary of state, played a key role in influencing U.S. foreign policy on a global stage. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for his part in trying to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War, he gained global fame for his strong, pragmatic ...read more
Robert Hanssen, FBI agent turned Russian spy, is sentenced to life in prison
On May 10, 2002, Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who intermittently sold state secrets to Russia over the course of two decades, receives his sentencing for espionage: life in prison without the possibility of parole. "I apologize for my behavior. I am shamed by it," said ...read more