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Extraordinary 1915 Photos from Ernest Shackleton’s Disastrous Antarctic Expedition
When photographer Frank Hurley signed on to document British explorer Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the South Pole in 1914, he knew he’d be capturing some of the earliest images of Antarctica’s bleak and beautiful unexplored terrain. But after Shackleton’s ship, HMS ...read more
5 Legendary Wild West Outlaws
Train robberies. Horse thievery. Cattle rustling. Shootouts. Cold-blooded murder. The most notorious outlaws of the Wild West have long been romanticized as daring robbers and swashbuckling killers since their stories first hit early American tabloids. In many ways, their ...read more
Did the Official 1912 Titanic Investigations Go Far Enough?
When the RMS Titanic went down on the night of April 14-15, 1912, people on both sides of the Atlantic frantically awaited further news. The newspapers pieced together what little information they could obtain from wireless telegraph messages sent by the Titanic and other ships ...read more
What Was Life Like Aboard the Mayflower?
Sailing for more than two months across 3,000 miles of open ocean, the 102 passengers of the Mayflower—including three pregnant women and more than a dozen children—were squeezed below decks in crowded, cold and damp conditions, suffering crippling bouts of seasickness, and ...read more
Why Native Americans Have Protested Mt. Rushmore
The faces of four U.S. presidents gaze from a granite face mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. To some, Mount Rushmore is hailed as the “Shrine of Democracy.” To American Indians, the monument is typically considered a shrine of illegal occupation. So while Mount ...read more
What Is the Queen's Role in British Government?
Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most famous and admired people on Earth. As the nominal leader of the United Kingdom since 1952—making her the country's longest-serving monarch—her influence is felt the world over. But despite that enormous influence, the Queen holds no real ...read more
When Margaret Thatcher Crushed a British Miners’ Strike
As Margaret Thatcher took office as Britain’s first female prime minister in May 1979, she confronted a nation mired in economic recession. Businesses were failing, and inflation and unemployment were rising. Thatcher immediately set out to turn the economic situation around, ...read more
Why Did the Pilgrims Come to America?
When the Pilgrims set sail from Europe in 1620, several powerful reasons propelled them across the Atlantic Ocean to make new lives in America—but religious liberty was not their most pressing concern. While it’s popularly thought that the Pilgrims fled England in search of ...read more
The IRA Assassination of Lord Mountbatten: Facts and Fallout
The gruesome 1979 IRA assassination of a beloved British royal—which took place the same day as a deadly coordinated attack on British troops—led to outrage, heartbreak and a heightening of “The Troubles,” the decades-long Northern Ireland conflict. The Provisional Irish ...read more
What Was the Titanic’s Captain Doing While the Ship Sank?
No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912. But witnesses said he appeared on the bridge of the Titanic just moments later, asking what the storied ship, making its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, had struck. “An iceberg, sir,” ...read more
13 Key Moments in the Reign of Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II is such an institution that it’s easy to forget she wasn’t supposed to have become queen at all. Born in 1926, Elizabeth was the daughter of King George V’s second son, and had little expectation of succeeding to the throne until her uncle, King Edward VIII, ...read more
Black Heroes Throughout US Military History
American Revolution During the American Revolution, thousands of Black Americans fought—on both sides of the conflict. But unlike their white counterparts, they weren’t just fighting for the colony's independence, or to maintain British control. Most took up arms hoping to be ...read more
Activism That Led to the First Black Marines
It was just a month since the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. U.S. troops were arriving in Europe to join Allied forces in fighting Adolf Hitler’s invasions. The United States needed its people to help win World War II. And yet, in January 1942, the highest-ranking officer in ...read more
6 Black Heroes of the Civil War
As America’s Civil War raged, with the enslavement of millions of people hanging in the balance, African Americans didn’t just sit on the sidelines. Whether enslaved, escaped or born free, many sought to actively affect the outcome. From fighting on bloody battlefields to ...read more
Brad Meltzer Decodes Four Enduring Historical Mysteries
Brad Meltzer can pinpoint the moment he became obsessed with conspiracy theories. His 11th grade history teacher had just announced every high schooler’s dream: movie day. “And then she put on this Kennedy assassination film,” the best-selling author and host of the HISTORY ...read more