The airship Hindenburg burning after it crashed on May 6, 1937 in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Rescue crews secure a US Airways flight 1549 floating in the water after it crashed into the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 in New York City. All the passengers survived in what became known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." The Airbus 320 craft crashed shortly after take-off from LaGuardia Airport.

Aviation Disasters

Aviation Disasters Archives | HISTORY

Home

HISTORY

The 21st century saw the dawn of the war on terrorism, as the 9/11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing dramatically changed society. Economic issues moved to the forefront during the Great Recession. The COVID-19 pandemic upended lives and economies around the world. Awareness of social inequality grew as the killings of Black Americans, including Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, spurred widespread protests.

21st Century

The 1970s was an era when the women's rights, gay rights and environmental movements gained momentum. The Vietnam War came to a close, the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, the United States ended direct involvement in the Vietnam War and President Jimmy Carter grappled with an energy crisis, inflation and the Iran Hostage Crisis.

1970s

In the 15th century, Europeans began to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of new routes to China and the East, but in the process they discovered what they labeled a "New World," although Indigenous people had lived there for centuries. Other explorers have pushed the limits of flight and seafaring, and traversed the frozen Continent of Antarctica.

Exploration

The 1960s was one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in world history. The era was marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, countercultural movements, political assassinations and the emerging "generation gap."

1960s

Inventions from the telephone to the Model T and the computer have defined human history, and inventors like Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney and Alexander Graham Bell have transformed our society.

Inventions & Science

1975

1977

2015

1985

2016

2009

The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. Explore topics on the era, from the stock market crash of 1929, to the Dust Bowl, to FDR’s response to the economic calamity—the New Deal.

Great Depression

Natural disasters and changes in the environment, such as global warming, the San Francisco Earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the Galveston Hurricane, the Krakatoa eruption and others, have profoundly shaped human history. Explore both the sudden and long-term impacts of natural and human-made disasters.

Natural Disasters & Environment

Africa is a large and diverse continent that extends from South Africa northward to the Mediterranean Sea. The continent makes up one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. Widely recognized as the birthplace of humankind, Africa saw the rise of great kingdoms, faced the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonization and Apartheid.

Aviation Disasters

Stories

The Hindenburg Disaster: Why the Giant Dirigible Burst Into Flames

UN Leader Dag Hammarskjold Died in Mysterious Circumstances in 1961. What Really Happened?

Automation of Planes Began 9 Years After the Wright Bros Took Flight—But It Still Leads to Baffling Disasters

Snapshots of Amelia Earhart’s Legendary Life

This Day in History

EgyptAir flight 804 disappears over the Mediterranean Sea

Germanwings pilot intentionally crashes plane, killing 150 people

Pilot Sully Sullenberger performs “Miracle on the Hudson”

Boeing 707 crashes into a mountain near Agadir, Morocco

JAL flight 123 crashes into Mount Otsuka

Jumbo jets collide at Canary Islands airport