The Roman Saturnalia, an ancient festival celebrated on December 17-24 that consisted of wild merrymaking and people enjoying themselves to the fullest. The day after this festival was adopted by the church as Christmas in an attempt to counteract the effects.

June 1965) Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot for the Gemini-Titan 4 (GT-4) spaceflight, floats in the zero-gravity of space during the third revolution of the GT-4 spacecraft.June 1965) Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot for the Gemini-Titan 4 (GT-4) spaceflight, floats in the zero-gravity of space during the third revolution of the GT-4 spacecraft. (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Press conference for the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

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HISTORY

<p>The Roman Empire, led by rulers such as Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Caligula and Nero, was a vast and powerful domain that gave rise to the culture, laws, technologies and institutions that continue to define Western civilization.</p>


Ancient Rome

<p>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."</p>


1960s

<p>Art history tells the complex story of human civilization through art, literature and design. It ranges from prehistoric art of the Neolithic period through Renaissance masterpieces, Impressionism, Modernism, the Bauhaus and contemporary art.</p>


Art, Literature and Film History

1965

<p>Space exploration, one of the greatest technological achievements in human history, includes the Apollo missions, the Space Shuttles Columbia and Challenger, and people like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.</p>


Space Exploration

<p>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.</p>


Inventions & Science

1975

1966

<p>The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.</p>


Cold War

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">African Americans have played a central role in shaping U.S. history. From slavery and its abolition to the Great Migration, the civil rights movement and military, scientific, cultural and political achievements, explore key moments, milestones and figures in Black History.</div>
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Black History

1983

1900

<p>Paranormal activity refers to any event or situation outside the scope of modern scientific reasoning, such as UFO sightings, the Roswell crash, the predictions of Nostradamus and other curiosities.</p>


Paranormal

<p>During the 1980s, conservative politics and Reaganomics held sway as the Berlin Wall crumbled, new computer technologies emerged, AIDS ravaged the United States, especially the gay male community, and blockbuster movies and MTV reshaped pop culture.</p>


1980s

<p>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.</p>


Space

Topics

Saturnalia

Eclipses

UFOs and Alien Invasions in Film

The Space Race

Stories

The Apollo Mission That Nearly Ended With a Mutiny in Space

Life on Mars? The Search for Signs Goes Back Centuries

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Stephen Hawking

Big Bird Nearly Rode on the Disastrous Challenger Mission

This Day in History

Guion S. Bluford becomes the first African American to travel to space

Lunik 9 soft-lands on lunar surface

Mariner 4 studies Martian surface

Pioneer 10 departs solar system

The birth of quantum theory

Superpowers meet in space