The Atomic Bomb’s First Victims Were in New MexicoThe Manhattan Project’s Trinity test—the first atomic bomb detonation—led to infant deaths, cancer and decades of health problems.Read more
How Lewis Strauss Shaped the Atomic Age—and Orchestrated Robert Oppenheimer’s DownfallAmateur physicist Lewis Strauss spurred the hydrogen bomb’s development—and became Robert Oppenheimer’s nemesis.Read more
J. Robert Oppenheimer: 5 Facts About the ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’The theoretical physicist read Sanskrit, loved horseback riding in New Mexico and was targeted during the Red Scare.Read more
5 Things You May Not Know About NATONATO invoked its Article 5 military commitment for first time after 9/11.Read more
The Cold War Rivalry Between Berlin’s Two ZoosA proxy culture war was fought between East and West Germany in post-WWII Europe. The unlikely weapon? Animals.Read more
Who Were the Hollywood 10?Hollywood blacklisted these screenwriters, producers and directors for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.Read more
Photos: 7 Decades of the Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union, founded in 1922 on Marxist-socialist principles, became one of the biggest and most powerful nations in the world—before its fall and dissolution in 1991.Read more
How the US and Japan Went From Enemies to Allies After WWIIGeneral Douglas MacArthur led a seven-year occupation that demilitarized, democratized and helped rebuild the Pacific nation.Read more
Why Eisenhower Added ‘Under God’ to the Pledge of Allegiance During the Cold WarThe pledge, as recited by U.S. schoolchildren, wasn’t standardized until World War II, and didn’t contain “under God” until 1954.Read more
7 Surprising Facts about the Nuclear Bomb Tests at Bikini AtollBetween 1946 and 1958 the United States detonated 23 nuclear weapons on the tiny, remote ring of islands that make up Bikini Atoll.Read more
Henry Kissinger’s Controversial Role in the Vietnam WarAs Nixon’s Secretary of State, Kissinger both escalated the war—and tried to end it.Read more
How Germany Was Divided After World War IIA temporary solution to organize Germany into four occupation zones led to a divided nation under the Cold War.Read more