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117612b57f1fc13ab83c4bda642091bd | https://www.history.com/news/the-truth-about-polands-vampire-burials | The Truth About Poland’s “Vampire” Burials | The Truth About Poland’s “Vampire” Burials
Legends of “revenance,” or people returning from the dead, have deep roots among human civilizations, stretching all the way back to ancient Egypt, Greece, Babylonia and beyond. As reported in LiveScience, vampire tales have circulated in eastern Europe since at least the 11th... |
8296f76d841377c014854fdd6c4d84f3 | https://www.history.com/news/the-tuskegee-airmen-5-fascinating-facts | The Tuskegee Airmen: 5 Fascinating Facts | The Tuskegee Airmen: 5 Fascinating Facts
On March 24, 1944, a fleet of P-51 Mustangs led by Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, commander of the Tuskegee airmen, set out on the longest escort mission their crews would fly during World War II. The 43 fighters were there to help B-17 bombers run a gauntlet of over 1,600 miles int... |
3269669148cfa6ebb867f6bde5c16269 | https://www.history.com/news/the-two-mothers-who-molded-lincoln | The Two Mothers Who Molded Lincoln | The Two Mothers Who Molded Lincoln
On the winter morning of January 31, 1861, Abraham Lincoln stepped inside a secluded farmhouse seemingly adrift on the vast Illinois prairie. The president-elect had left his hometown of Springfield only once in the eight months since garnering the Republican presidential nomination—i... |
55c51bf335399fc7d32fd9617a934f8e | https://www.history.com/news/the-unexpected-death-of-president-harding | The Unexpected Death of President Warren G. Harding | The Unexpected Death of President Warren G. Harding
Born on a farm in Ohio, Warren G. Harding purchased a struggling local newspaper soon after graduating from college and turned it around financially. He then steadily moved up the political ranks, serving as an Ohio state senator for four years, as lieutenant governor... |
db2e2fdfc86de898b21adba504bf8202 | https://www.history.com/news/the-viking-explorer-who-beat-columbus-to-america | The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America | The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America
Nearly 500 years before the birth of Christopher Columbus, a band of European sailors left their homeland behind in search of a new world. Their high-prowed Viking ship sliced through the cobalt waters of the Atlantic Ocean as winds billowed the boat’s enormous single sa... |
0a60a893041ff4930a0fe0ebf3620582 | https://www.history.com/news/the-war-of-words-behind-happy-holidays | The War of Words behind ‘Happy Holidays’ | The War of Words behind ‘Happy Holidays’
In recent years, the debate over whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” has become as reliable a post-Thanksgiving tradition as the Black Friday shopping craze.
Like many issues these days, the great holiday greeting debate tends to separate along political lines a... |
e912222e978a25b4bc841b9a4f25117b | https://www.history.com/news/the-warship-of-peace-that-fed-famine-stricken-ireland | The Warship of Peace That Fed Famine-Stricken Ireland | The Warship of Peace That Fed Famine-Stricken Ireland
As the stalks of Ireland’s potato plants began to wilt in the autumn of 1845, so did her people. Already mired in extreme poverty under the thumb of the British, Ireland plunged into ruin during the Potato Famine. So desperate was the plight of the Irish that former... |
661cb5c46e1d9123da28112457d50f85 | https://www.history.com/news/the-wartime-origins-of-the-mm | Six Times M&Ms Made History | Six Times M&Ms Made History
M&Ms were first released in 1941, and since then have had an oversized impact on American popular culture. From their beginnings as snacks for World War II soldiers, to their time aboard both the first and last NASA space missions, here are some of the highlights in their long history.
In 19... |
8014ff46eb508bf94b5deebc5444acb2 | https://www.history.com/news/the-weather-forecast-that-saved-d-day | The Weather Forecast That Saved D-Day | The Weather Forecast That Saved D-Day
In contrast to the bright morning about to dawn over Portsmouth, England, on June 4, 1944, gloom settled over the Allied commanders gathered inside Southwick House at 4:15 a.m. Years of preparation had been invested in the invasion of Normandy, but now, just hours before the launch... |
b620abd907cc442a38f24f452c85e8c2 | https://www.history.com/news/the-white-house-is-taking-down-the-188-year-old-jackson-magnolia | The White House is Taking Down the Iconic Jackson Magnolia | The White House is Taking Down the Iconic Jackson Magnolia
For nearly 200 years, the Jackson Magnolia has been photobombing pictures of the White House’s south lawn. You can see the famous tree in CBS’s coverage of Richard Nixon leaving the office in 1974, pictures from numerous White House Easter Egg Rolls, as well as... |
204edd82690ca8792547b87304e8d5c7 | https://www.history.com/news/the-worlds-first-web-site | The World’s First Web Site | The World’s First Web Site
The son of computer scientists, Berners-Lee was born in London in 1955 (the same year as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates) and studied physics at Oxford. While employed at CERN in the 1980s, Berners-Lee observed how tough it was to keep track of the projects and computer systems of the organization’... |
84be58106373ad228913497dc275c351 | https://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-ciphers-what-we-know | The Zodiac Ciphers: What We Know | The Zodiac Ciphers: What We Know
Killers usually go to great lengths to avoid the police and media attention, but the self-proclaimed Zodiac, who terrorized the Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was an exception. He called the police on two occasions to report murders he had committed and sent dozens of lette... |
d15462ff2a8850ebb97daafdfce88525 | https://www.history.com/news/there-was-a-dangerous-purpose-behind-t-rexs-tiny-arms | There Was a Dangerous Purpose Behind T. Rex’s Tiny Arms | There Was a Dangerous Purpose Behind T. Rex’s Tiny Arms
The Tyrannosaurus rex is revered as one of the most fearsome creatures to inhabit the earth, with an average weight of six tons and the power to tear off 500 pounds using its massive jaw. But one researcher believes the dinosaur’s most ridiculed body part may have... |
ab5ef9a427bf2f7f248b003634a8990e | https://www.history.com/news/these-legendary-fighters-wielded-the-fiercest-swords-in-history | These Legendary Fighters Wielded the Fiercest Swords in History | These Legendary Fighters Wielded the Fiercest Swords in History
Master sword fighters are a recurring motif in fiction, but there were also several historical figures who were renowned for their ability to wield a blade with deadly precision. From soldiers and samurai to duelists and expert fencers, take a look back at... |
b930a52f151cac01564b01b9b914e91d | https://www.history.com/news/theyre-back-a-bed-bug-history | They’re Back: A Bed Bug History | They’re Back: A Bed Bug History
These cities are all plagued by a massive resurgence of Cimex lectularius, the speck-sized insect that loves to infiltrate the mattresses–and haunt the dreams–of its human hosts. In the last decade, bed bug calls to exterminators have nearly tripled, according to a survey by the National... |
634de75ad605a186a1ca255699d5565b | https://www.history.com/news/third-black-hole-merger-proves-yet-again-that-einstein-was-right | Third Black-Hole Merger Proves (Yet Again) That Einstein Was Right | Third Black-Hole Merger Proves (Yet Again) That Einstein Was Right
According to data picked up by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the two black holes that smashed together some 3 billion light-years from here were large in themselves, measuring 19 and 32 times the mass of the sun. But wh... |
225334cf0ede7b2fdf37b0d90b3c2ae7 | https://www.history.com/news/this-flamethrower-operator-is-the-last-living-medal-of-honor-recipient-from-the-pacific-theater | This Flamethrower Operator is the Last Living Medal of Honor Recipient from the Pacific Theater | This Flamethrower Operator is the Last Living Medal of Honor Recipient from the Pacific Theater
On February 23, 1945, Hershel “Woody” Williams crawled toward a string of Japanese guard posts with a 70-pound flamethrower strapped to his back. His Marine Corps unit had suffered heavy casualties since arriving on the isla... |
e1b25f18d4b681ebf2aacd7d8156af40 | https://www.history.com/news/this-king-hated-coffee-so-much-he-tried-to-kill-someone-with-it | This King Hated Coffee So Much He Tried to Kill Someone With It | This King Hated Coffee So Much He Tried to Kill Someone With It
There are 92 references to coffee in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, whose protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, wreaks bloody revenge in Stieg Larsson’s Swedish crime thrillers. Indeed, people in the Scandinavian country drink the equivalent of 18 pounds of cof... |
54a038749ddb5748830bf062a613c9aa | https://www.history.com/news/this-little-known-l-a-library-offers-a-look-into-political-movements-of-the-past | This Little-Known L.A. Library Offers a Look into Political Movements of the Past | This Little-Known L.A. Library Offers a Look into Political Movements of the Past
Location: The open-access archives of the Southern California Library in Los Angeles, California.Expert: Cindy I-Fen Cheng, Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin
The Southern California Library is... |
722735996a8c298177e9961a59fb4524 | https://www.history.com/news/this-new-dinosaur-study-could-change-everything | Do We Have to Rewrite the Dinosaur Family Tree? | Do We Have to Rewrite the Dinosaur Family Tree?
For 130 years, our teachers, textbooks and museums have all taught us the same thing. Dinosaurs could be divided into one of two main groups, based on a seemingly obvious physical difference: the shape of their hips.
But what if that theory—first proposed by British paleo... |
0804a56eb2f71bcc2b3aecdb1e728beb | https://www.history.com/news/this-newly-discovered-exoplanet-might-be-able-to-support-life | This Newly Discovered Exoplanet Might Be Able to Support Life | This Newly Discovered Exoplanet Might Be Able to Support Life
A team of scientists just announced a blockbuster discovery: a potentially habitable exoplanet about the Earth’s size, orbiting a dim dwarf star just 11 light years away.
The newly named exoplanet is named Ross 128 b, after the red dwarf star it orbits, Ross... |
e8ad83738547e8c611fc38ea7631196e | https://www.history.com/news/this-supercomputer-was-programmed-to-think-like-the-zodiac-killer | This Supercomputer Was Programmed to Think Like the Zodiac Killer. No Wonder Its Poetry is So Creepy. | This Supercomputer Was Programmed to Think Like the Zodiac Killer. No Wonder Its Poetry is So Creepy.
After being fed all the known writings of the infamous Zodiac killer, a supercomputer named CARMEL has developed the ability to think like the elusive serial murderer.
It often writes poetry like one, too.
The artifici... |
af616a69d7c7d65b79fff28081d94f38 | https://www.history.com/news/thomas-edison-inventions | 6 Key Inventions by Thomas Edison | 6 Key Inventions by Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison applied for his first patent in 1868, when he was just 21 years old. The famous inventor’s first brainchild was for a device that recorded legislative votes. That was just the start of a career in which he would obtain 1,093 U.S. patents, in addition to another 500 to 600... |
b2d58da5f33dd899b3aa95312aeb1aae | https://www.history.com/news/thomas-jeffersons-complicated-relationship-with-thanksgiving | Thomas Jefferson’s Complicated Relationship with Thanksgiving | Thomas Jefferson’s Complicated Relationship with Thanksgiving
Since the United States became a nation, people have come together to count their blessings, feast on bountiful foods and give thanks with family and friends. These days, Thanksgiving celebrations usually involve turkey, pie and a food coma; in the past, the... |
116e16f8dbb57fcd9bfd7afdf4f448ac | https://www.history.com/news/three-mile-island-evacuation-orders-controversy | How the Three Mile Island Accident Was Made Even Worse By a Chaotic Response | How the Three Mile Island Accident Was Made Even Worse By a Chaotic Response
For tellers at a Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania bank, the final days of March 1979 should have felt like business as usual. Instead, they were sheer chaos: customers piled up, trying to withdraw money in the days before ATMs.
“Customers were stoppin... |
9cf9950b3a754f2adf4d5ee4501c1a2e | https://www.history.com/news/titanic-1912-accident-investigation-reports | Did the Official 1912 Titanic Investigations Go Far Enough? | 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 Titan... |
63dab8b75b3ab350bd865c9114f3f8cf | https://www.history.com/news/titanic-photos-shipwreck-before-after | The Titanic: Before and After Photos | The Titanic: Before and After Photos
The R.M.S. Titanic has gone down as one of the most famous ships in history for its lavish design and tragic fate. It was a massive 46,000-ton ship, measuring 882 feet long and 175 feet high. The "Ship of Dreams" included a swimming pool, gym, Turkish baths, a photography darkroom a... |
ea04e65d202124d932b07dcd415b08e3 | https://www.history.com/news/titanic-sinking-conspiracy-myths-jp-morgan-olympic | The Craziest Titanic Conspiracy Theories, Explained | The Craziest Titanic Conspiracy Theories, Explained
Pivotal events have a way of attracting harmful myths and conspiracy theories. This goes for great achievements like the moon landing (which Buzz Aldrin punched a guy for denying) as well as great tragedies like Martin Luther King’s assassination, the 9/11 attacks and... |
8b82299f032d817a1f720c003c1ee5ba | https://www.history.com/news/tomb-discovery-egypt-hetpet-priestess-burial-ground | 4,400-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Discovered in Ancient Burial Ground | 4,400-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Discovered in Ancient Burial Ground
Archaeologists have uncovered a 4,400-year-old Egyptian tomb that they believe belonged to a high-ranking priestess. The Egyptian government revealed the new discovery on February 3, 2018, noting that this tomb on the Giza plateau contains rare wall paint... |
2e58d245c00c90abf2663cc956893c7b | https://www.history.com/news/tomb-discovery-egypt-saqqara | Look Inside the Pristine 4,400-Year-Old Tomb of an Egyptian Royal Priest | Look Inside the Pristine 4,400-Year-Old Tomb of an Egyptian Royal Priest
Archaeologists have discovered a more than 4,000-year-old tomb decorated with colorful drawings and sculptures hidden beneath the sands of Saqqara, the sprawling royal burial ground located in the desert near Cairo, Egypt.
Hieroglyphs carved above... |
9e3b11789f3685851a7facea946a1ca1 | https://www.history.com/news/toys-r-us-closing-legacy | Inside the Rise and Fall of Toys ‘R’ Us | Inside the Rise and Fall of Toys ‘R’ Us
It was 1948, and Charles Lazarus had a hunch. Newly returned from World War II, he knew he wanted to go into business, and he knew—long before the term “baby boom” was a common phrase—that his friends were about to start having lots of babies.
“Everyone I talked to said they were... |
1b39f3478bb3721297e2b98da827aef7 | https://www.history.com/news/trade-war-great-depression-trump-smoot-hawley | The Great Depression Lesson About ‘Trade Wars’ | The Great Depression Lesson About ‘Trade Wars’
President Donald Trump has tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” But many economists have disagreed that raising tariffs sharply can improve the economy. In particular, experts have pointed to the failure of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, passed in June 1930, ... |
86003597bf6f7fd6fa819538d71004a5 | https://www.history.com/news/trail-of-tears-conditions-cherokee | How Native Americans Struggled to Survive on the Trail of Tears | How Native Americans Struggled to Survive on the Trail of Tears
In the early 1800s, the sovereign Cherokee nation covered a vast region that included northwest Georgia and adjacent land in Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama. Under the terms of an 1819 treaty, the United States guaranteed that Cherokee land would be ... |
c642f1f2de04202400465e86efadd3e6 | https://www.history.com/news/transcontinental-railroad-changed-america | 10 Ways the Transcontinental Railroad Changed America | 10 Ways the Transcontinental Railroad Changed America
There was a time when traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast meant riding for months in a horse-drawn wagon or stagecoach, or sailing southward to Panama and then crossing the Isthmus to board another ship for a journey up the other coast. But that all chan... |
91e333e5f068b27f23a57b41111a2788 | https://www.history.com/news/transcontinental-railroad-chinese-immigrants | Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How Some 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen | Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How Some 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen
They toiled through back-breaking labor during both frigid winters and blazing summers. Hundreds died from explosions, landslides, accidents and disease. And even though they made major contributions to the construction of the Tra... |
19fa484148b48d172ac969f881076655 | https://www.history.com/news/transiting-exoplanet-with-longest-known-year-found | Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year Found | Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year Found
Following its launch in March 2009, the unblinking eye of NASA’s powerful Kepler telescope spent more than four years patiently staring at the same corner of the Milky Way in search of exoplanets—planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. Relying on the “transi... |
193f81ae9b4c02d43c3169883fe33e6a | https://www.history.com/news/treaty-of-versailles-provisions | Key Provisions in the Treaty of Versailles | Key Provisions in the Treaty of Versailles
In January 1919, two months after the fighting in World War I ceased, a conference was convened at Versailles, the former country estate of the French monarchy outside Paris, to work out the terms of a peace treaty to officially end the conflict.
Though representatives of near... |
03732b2192860d07a044aaebf6e40a5f | https://www.history.com/news/treaty-of-versailles-world-war-ii-german-guilt-effects | How the Treaty of Versailles and German Guilt Led to World War II | How the Treaty of Versailles and German Guilt Led to World War II
When Germany signed the armistice ending hostilities in the First World War on November 11, 1918, its leaders believed they were accepting a “peace without victory,” as outlined by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his famous Fourteen Points. But from the... |
aa7e083d4c2d8c2e3fb85102dbb73ac9 | https://www.history.com/news/triumph-and-tragedy-atop-the-matterhorn-150-years-ago | Remembering the Triumph and Tragedy Atop the Matterhorn | Remembering the Triumph and Tragedy Atop the Matterhorn
The pure air that Edward Whymper inhaled atop the summit of the Matterhorn on July 14, 1865, was so rarified that it had never filled the lungs of another person—or so the English mountaineer hoped.
The 25-year-old illustrator from London had never even seen a mou... |
5c9d8ce32bce1a898b4fa21c9ef0f2a2 | https://www.history.com/news/trove-of-thomas-jeffersons-books-discovered | Trove of Thomas Jefferson’s Books Discovered | Trove of Thomas Jefferson’s Books Discovered
An assortment of 74 books that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson, some with his handwritten notes tucked inside, has been unearthed from the rare books collection at Washington University in St. Louis. The precious trove was discovered by scholars who specialize in the histo... |
53b70e81c0f6c3a7c2d26ef5b868c9b6 | https://www.history.com/news/tulip-mania-financial-crash-holland | The Real Story Behind the 17th-Century ‘Tulip Mania’ Financial Crash | The Real Story Behind the 17th-Century ‘Tulip Mania’ Financial Crash
In 1636, according to an 1841 account by Scottish author Charles MacKay, the entirety of Dutch society went crazy over exotic tulips. As Mackay wrote in his wildly popular, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, as price... |
6cbf357838f98238b0e25e07d8e4ec1d | https://www.history.com/news/tupperware-parties-brownie-wise | Tupperware Parties: Suburban Women's Plastic Path to Empowerment | Tupperware Parties: Suburban Women's Plastic Path to Empowerment
If you peeked into a suburban living room in the 1950s, you might see a group of women in funny hats playing party games, tossing lightweight plastic bowls back and forth and chatting about their lives as they passed around an order form for Tupperware.
W... |
9bc28eda47fbf01834d8be7bd73bd302 | https://www.history.com/news/turkey-talk-the-story-behind-your-thanksgiving-bird | Turkey Talk: The Story Behind Your Thanksgiving Bird | Turkey Talk: The Story Behind Your Thanksgiving Bird
Let’s talk turkey. ‘Tis the season for this noble animal, a true native American and Benjamin Franklin’s pick for national bird. A turkey is much more than just a yearly holiday roast, or the humble sliced lunchmeat on your club sandwich. This week, we’ll examine som... |
9a5bc7f43f3a9cbcba3b9d27ca94260f | https://www.history.com/news/two-tuskegee-airmen-die-on-same-day-in-los-angeles | Two Tuskegee Airmen Die on Same Day in Los Angeles | Two Tuskegee Airmen Die on Same Day in Los Angeles
As many as 19,000 pilots and other personnel are believed to have participated in the so-called “Tuskegee Experience,” which trained African-American men and women for military service from 1941 to 1949 at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Though the exact number of T... |
ffdf926112c43da6cd8f759ac3715a0e | https://www.history.com/news/u-s-air-force-closes-the-book-on-ufos-45-years-ago | How the U.S. Air Force Investigated UFOs During the Cold War | How the U.S. Air Force Investigated UFOs During the Cold War
On the afternoon of June 24, 1947, amateur aviator Kenneth Arnold was flying near Mt. Rainier, Washington, when he suddenly spotted nine unusual objects on the horizon. Arnold claimed the craft flitted from side to side and flipped in unison like “the tail of... |
e4e10ec3fa2c52fa0437cda4bcfc0cda | https://www.history.com/news/u-s-military-lifts-ban-on-women-in-combat | U.S. Military Lifts Ban on Women in Combat | U.S. Military Lifts Ban on Women in Combat
No law bars women from combat, but official military policy has long kept female service members away from the front lines by banning them from artillery, armor, infantry and other combat roles. Before 2001, American service women had largely been kept out of ground combat. Ov... |
65a580a7778f2053505324a50238b4a3 | https://www.history.com/news/ufo-chiles-whitted-soviet-spycraft-air-force-coverup | Two Pilots Saw a UFO. Why Did the Air Force Destroy the Report? | Two Pilots Saw a UFO. Why Did the Air Force Destroy the Report?
Whatever occurred at 2:45 a.m. on the morning of July 24, 1948 in the skies over southwest Alabama not only shocked and stymied the witnesses. It jolted the U.S. government into a top-secret investigation—the results of which were ultimately destroyed.
The... |
77402aeda5f972b0437502b28348ddb5 | https://www.history.com/news/ufo-fighter-jet-disappears-over-lake-superior-kinross-incident | This Air Force Jet Was Scrambled to Intercept a UFO—Then Disappeared | This Air Force Jet Was Scrambled to Intercept a UFO—Then Disappeared
The night an Air Force jet mysteriously disappeared over Lake Superior—November 23, 1953—was a stormy one.
Near the U.S.-Canadian border, U.S. Air Defense Command noticed a blip on the radar where it shouldn’t have been: an unidentified object in rest... |
9e9065b23402a9844dfa95c08efdead4 | https://www.history.com/news/ufos-aliens-animal-human-mutilation-lovette-cunningham | The Dark Connection Between UFOs and Grisly Mutilations | The Dark Connection Between UFOs and Grisly Mutilations
The details are both grisly and strangely surgical: corpses found under the open sky with their eyes plucked out, tongues removed and private parts excised—all extracted with the utmost precision and leaving not a drop of blood.
Reports of such unexplained mutilat... |
8cada9ab86179caa8e1acb229b761738 | https://www.history.com/news/ufos-green-fireballs-nuclear-facilities-new-mexico | Why Mysterious Green Fireballs Worried the U.S. Government in 1948 | Why Mysterious Green Fireballs Worried the U.S. Government in 1948
In February 1949, the Los Alamos, New Mexico Skyliner newspaper ran a piece on what it referred to, in typical newspaper parlance, as “flying saucers”—and a possible conspiracy around them:
“Los Alamos now has flying green lights. These will ‘o wisps se... |
8b8612e5aa0f17764caf711a78598db7 | https://www.history.com/news/ufos-washington-dc-news-reports | In 1952, UFOs Over Washington Sent the National Press Into a Frenzy | In 1952, UFOs Over Washington Sent the National Press Into a Frenzy
If 1952 marked the year that UFO fever spread across Cold War America, events in late July of that year spiked that mania to critical levels. That's when the grandfather of all "saucer" sightings took place in the skies above the nation's capital, caus... |
24b1d5672c456d12189c832e68d1d3fd | https://www.history.com/news/uk-ufos-mainbrace-nato?fbclid=IwAR1utCmDIq4nooSfwPXbLtsaHis5JPJo9DhwrM65239jSdmPoe8eadIR6Lw | The UFO Sightings that Pushed the UK to Take 'Flying Saucers' More Seriously | The UFO Sightings that Pushed the UK to Take 'Flying Saucers' More Seriously
In late September 1952, only months after a rash of “flying saucer” sightings over Washington, D.C. made headlines around the world, dozens of military officers participating in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic were struck by their own UFO... |
1a87a0c75b0cf0c4df3ed56986cd855e | https://www.history.com/news/ukrainian-famine-stalin | How Joseph Stalin Starved Millions in the Ukrainian Famine | How Joseph Stalin Starved Millions in the Ukrainian Famine
At the height of the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine under Joseph Stalin, starving people roamed the countryside, desperate for something, anything to eat. In the village of Stavyshche, a young peasant boy watched as the wanderers dug into empty gardens with their bar... |
e3177189ba9f9c32e558181b6a54ecb9 | https://www.history.com/news/ulysses-grant-expulsion-jews-civil-war | Ulysses Grant’s Civil-War Expulsion of the South’s Jews | Ulysses Grant’s Civil-War Expulsion of the South’s Jews
The 1862 letter was short, but its meaning was clear—and devastating. “You are hereby ordered to leave the city of Paducah, Kentucky, within twenty-four hours,” it read.
Cesar Kaskel couldn’t believe it. He had emigrated to the United States after leaving Prussia,... |
df071bb5e2fd65ec6113b541f6e5d5c0 | https://www.history.com/news/ulysses-s-grant-civil-war-general-strengths | 7 Reasons Ulysses S. Grant Was One of America’s Most Brilliant Military Leaders | 7 Reasons Ulysses S. Grant Was One of America’s Most Brilliant Military Leaders
In March 1864, Ulysses S. Grant went to Washington, D.C., to receive his commission from Abraham Lincoln as lieutenant-general in command of all the Union armies. After several years of frustration with a parade of unsuitable commanders, th... |
593fcd18a424257f2292369b1b6896c6 | https://www.history.com/news/ulysses-s-grant-civil-war-west-point | The Key Way West Point Prepared Ulysses S. Grant for the Civil War | The Key Way West Point Prepared Ulysses S. Grant for the Civil War
Ulysses S. Grant, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1843, didn’t go there because he dreamed of being a soldier. The future Civil War general and two-term U.S. president went because, as he later recalled, his father “said he... |
7c1cc44402e26de0fd5f9792b440e543 | https://www.history.com/news/unabomber-letter-bombs-investigation-arrest | Why the Unabomber Evaded Arrest for 17 Years | Why the Unabomber Evaded Arrest for 17 Years
By the time federal authorities arrested Theodore J. Kaczynski (aka the “Unabomber”) at his primitive log cabin in Montana in April 1996, he had managed to outwit the law for more than 17 years.
From 1978 to 1995, the former math professor with a genius-level IQ and a massiv... |
96e3516e5a46c2193392f2a01a57540d | https://www.history.com/news/uncovering-the-mysteries-of-the-bog-bodies | Uncovering the Mysteries of the Bog Bodies | Uncovering the Mysteries of the Bog Bodies
In Denmark alone, more than 500 bodies and skeletons were buried in the peat bogs between 800 B.C. and A.D. 200. Thanks to lack of oxygen and the anti-microbial properties of peat moss, their mummified corpses have been extraordinarily well preserved, including discernible fac... |
d1051451d2825d457779f8cf622b268e | https://www.history.com/news/underground-railroad-harriet-tubman-strategies | How the Underground Railroad Worked: 6 Strategies to Freedom | How the Underground Railroad Worked: 6 Strategies to Freedom
Despite the horrors of slavery, it was no easy decision to flee. Escaping often involved leaving behind family and heading into the complete unknown, where harsh weather and lack of food might await.
Then there was the constant threat of capture. So-called sl... |
d128356963371607b80599db4a0b701d | https://www.history.com/news/underground-railroad-mexico-escaped-slaves | The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico | The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico
The Underground Railroad ran south as well as north. For slaves in Texas, refuge in Canada must have seemed impossibly far away. Fortunately, slavery was also illegal in Mexico.
Researchers estimate 5,000 to 10,000 people escaped from bondage into Mexico, s... |
e3f156b815227c42a6e95a1510a8f628 | https://www.history.com/news/unicorn-horns-royal-protection-poison-antidote | How ‘Unicorn Horns’ Became the Poison Antidote of Choice for Paranoid Royals | How ‘Unicorn Horns’ Became the Poison Antidote of Choice for Paranoid Royals
Being a king or queen has always been a treacherous job. Between homicidal enemies, duplicitous courtiers and back-stabbing family members, royals had every reason to constantly fear for their lives. And there was one form of assassination tha... |
39d6aad133a5f66fa4446e289f993f3a | https://www.history.com/news/union-troops-capture-atlanta-150-years-ago | Union Troops Capture Atlanta | Union Troops Capture Atlanta
With the outcome of the Civil War still in doubt, the North turned its hopes to Ulysses S. Grant, who in March 1864 was given command of all Union armies and promoted to lieutenant general, a rank last held in wartime by George Washington. In this capacity, Grant came up with a plan to atta... |
8b39c2e0cac7f01b1a40797a58ca8019 | https://www.history.com/news/united-kingdom-scotland-northern-ireland-wales | How Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Became a Part of the U.K. | How Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Became a Part of the U.K.
The United Kingdom is made up of four constituent states: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. But there have long been tensions between England and the other three U.K. states, in part because England has always been the dominant political po... |
bcbc8a904d38be35a1691c1d04dcd24f | https://www.history.com/news/unknown-pharaohs-remains-identified-in-egypt | Unknown Pharaoh’s Remains Identified in Egypt | Unknown Pharaoh’s Remains Identified in Egypt
Working in cooperation with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, lead archeologist Josef Wegner and his team from the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Museum found Senebkay’s tomb earlier this month, while excavating the larger tomb of an earlier pharaoh, Sobekhotep, wh... |
4d5e1a8c3fed3e431f6e46009d1c392f | https://www.history.com/news/unlikely-world-war-ii-soldiers-awarded-nations-highest-honor | Unlikely World War II Soldiers Awarded Nation’s Highest Honor | Unlikely World War II Soldiers Awarded Nation’s Highest Honor
Almost immediately after the December 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, the loyalty of all those of Japanese descent living in America, regardless of their citizenship status, was called into question. In February 1942, President Frankl... |
6b301b66d2dcc150a9990a693e0fb488 | https://www.history.com/news/until-1975-sexual-harassment-was-the-menace-with-no-name | Until 1975, ‘Sexual Harassment’ Was the Menace With No Name | Until 1975, ‘Sexual Harassment’ Was the Menace With No Name
Rain poured down in Ithaca, New York, but the women who streamed into the Greater Ithaca Activities Center on May 4, 1975 weren’t daunted by a bit of weather. Hundreds of women packed into the modest room. Then they began tospeak about their experiences being ... |
dc8ecb7d844447edf56bb3bca1347457 | https://www.history.com/news/urban-infernos-throughout-history | Urban Infernos Throughout History | Urban Infernos Throughout History
Chicago (1871) Made vulnerable by dry weather, prairie winds and an abundance of wooden buildings, Chicago suffered through chronic fires throughout the 19th century. On October 8, 1871, flames leapt out of a barn owned by one Patrick O’Leary, eventually consuming the city’s booming do... |
79adbb5554ad817c253b3f94508d461a | https://www.history.com/news/urban-legends-mr-rogers | Why Are There So Many Urban Legends About Mr. Rogers? | Why Are There So Many Urban Legends About Mr. Rogers?
You may have read it on the internet or heard it from a friend: Before Fred McFeely Rogers became a beloved TV legend, he was a sniper in the Vietnam War. Then he took to the airwaves, adopting his signature sweater to cover his full-sleeve tattoos, using his platfo... |
1ca8f4ccf05d8a01fe60f21a948717f2 | https://www.history.com/news/us-capitol-building-violence-fires?cmpid=email-hist-inside-history-2021-0111-01112021&om_rid=&~campaign=hist-inside-history-2021-0111 | A History of Attacks at the US Capitol | A History of Attacks at the US Capitol
In its over 200-year history, the U.S. Capitol has been the main location where the Senate and the House of Representatives pass the country’s laws and where presidents are inaugurated and deliver their annual State of the Union addresses. But while the Capitol was built to house ... |
e1a53be6a3634d411e1330a2f2451aae | https://www.history.com/news/us-economic-recessions-timeline?cmpid=email-hist-inside-history-2020-0504-05042020&om_rid=a5c05684deeced71f4f5e60641ae2297e798a5442a7ed66345b78d5bc371021b&%243p=e_iterable&%24original_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fnews%2Fus-economic-recessions-timeline%3Fcmpid%3Demail-hist-inside-hist... | US Economic Recessions Since WWII—And How They Ended | US Economic Recessions Since WWII—And How They Ended
A recession is defined as a contraction in economic growth lasting two quarters or more as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP). Starting with an eight-month slump in 1945, the U.S. economy has weathered 12 different recessions since World War II.
On average,... |
b91c093270128883356ab415b2a1bf39 | https://www.history.com/news/us-election-1920-warren-harding-return-to-normalcy | When World War I and Pandemic Influenced the 1920 Presidential Election | When World War I and Pandemic Influenced the 1920 Presidential Election
Lashed by a squall of historical events over four harrowing years, exhausted Americans longed to catch their collective breath as Election Day approached.
The four years leading up to the presidential election of 1920 had delivered a ghastly conflu... |
0b2734a33329a705c99c1cb8324ce24e | https://www.history.com/news/us-forgotten-wars | 5 US Wars Rarely Found in History Books | 5 US Wars Rarely Found in History Books
You’ve heard of the Vietnam War, but what about the “secret war” in Laos? Over 16 million members of the Greatest Generation fought in World War II, but what about the 5.8 million Americans who served in the “Forgotten War?” History is full of conflicts that have become footnotes... |
2786dec7a7bcee4ff66571801f64a66b | https://www.history.com/news/us-navy-ufo-sighting-guidelines | Reporting UFO Sightings to the U.S. Navy Just Got Easier | Reporting UFO Sightings to the U.S. Navy Just Got Easier
Back in the 1950s, if you saw an unidentified flying object, you could fill out one of the U.S. Air Force’s handy UFO questionnaires for Project Blue Book. That government program dissolved in 1969, but the military has remained interested in UFO sightings ever s... |
fecd13a1d389baf48311c12af90fd294 | https://www.history.com/news/us-post-office-benjamin-franklin | How Ben Franklin Established the US Post Office | How Ben Franklin Established the US Post Office
During the Revolutionary War, when there wasn’t any internet or telephones to provide instantaneous communication over long distances, the connective tissue that held the American colonies together was mail that was transported by horseback riders on the rough-hewn roads ... |
76d6cf65b2e438cd24a4a8a5f4594bde | https://www.history.com/news/us-presidents-athletes | U.S. Presidents and the Sports They Played | U.S. Presidents and the Sports They Played
From George Washington, who was a skilled horseman, to Donald Trump, whose longtime passion is golf, most U.S. presidents played various sports in their youth, and many continued their athletic pursuits while in the White House.
“Presidents tend to be extraordinarily competiti... |
546922cc25ca8729494104830c639cf3 | https://www.history.com/news/us-presidents-vietnam-war-escalation | How the Vietnam War Ratcheted Up Under 5 U.S. Presidents | How the Vietnam War Ratcheted Up Under 5 U.S. Presidents
At the end of World War II, the United States was broadly popular in Vietnam for having repelled the Japanese occupiers. Even Ho Chi Minh, the nationalist and communist revolutionary, started off pro-American. But, through the terms of five U.S. presidents, that ... |
46e07941e7af48ab25836a0a07292606 | https://www.history.com/news/us-presidents-war-powers-congress | Can US Presidents Start Wars? | Can US Presidents Start Wars?
The United States Constitution is clear about which branch of government has the power to declare war. In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution states that “Congress shall have the power… To declare war.” But that simple statement has left room for interpretation, and centuries of America... |
031d358d512104eb562042b915e3d2b1 | https://www.history.com/news/us-virgin-islands-denmark-purchase | The U.S. Bought 3 Virgin Islands from Denmark. The Deal Took 50 Years | The U.S. Bought 3 Virgin Islands from Denmark. The Deal Took 50 Years
Every March 31, the U.S. Virgin Islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix observe “Transfer Day” to commemorate the sale of the islands from Denmark to the United States. Of the U.S.’s five permanently inhabited territories, the U.S. Virgin... |
3b14cc4ce1c13c5d3c47d48ad5cca374 | https://www.history.com/news/valentines-day-chocolate-box-history-cadbury | How Chocolate Became a Valentine's Day Staple | How Chocolate Became a Valentine's Day Staple
Conversation hearts, truffles galore and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates—these are the symbols of Valentine’s Day for many lovers around the world. But where did this tradition come from? While the roots of Valentine’s Day go all the way back to Roman times, candy gift-giv... |
7167233bc6e7642c23362ce4f9aa6cce | https://www.history.com/news/valentines-day-massacre-capone | See the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929—in Color | See the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929—in Color
The Past in Color features the work of colorist Marina Amaral, bringing to life black and white photos with color applied digitally.
On the morning of Valentine’s Day, 1929, a group of men with tommy guns, a 12-gauge and police uniforms stepped out of a black Cadill... |
2a30994973eeb7ef5a497c23e7664207 | https://www.history.com/news/van-gogh-painted-mutant-sunflowers | Van Gogh Painted Mutant Sunflowers | Van Gogh Painted Mutant Sunflowers
In 1888, plagued by despair and hallucinations, Vincent van Gogh left Paris to settle in the Provençal city of Arles. There he undertook several paintings featuring bunches of sunflowers, which he hoped would help brighten the studio he planned to share with fellow artist Paul Gaugin.... |
a757696c28835f2093bcac4383cb6dc7 | https://www.history.com/news/vast-underground-city-found-in-turkey-may-be-one-of-the-worlds-largest | Vast Underground City Found in Turkey May Be One of the World’s Largest | Vast Underground City Found in Turkey May Be One of the World’s Largest
Turkey’s Cappadocia region has long been designated a World Heritage site for its dazzling rock formations and more than 200 underground cities and villages, but according to government officials, a new discovery in Nevşehir Province could be the m... |
7af62cb198de32f34ec3e914935eb3ea | https://www.history.com/news/versailles-palace-opulence | How the Palace of Versailles Became a Symbol of Magnificence—and Scorn | How the Palace of Versailles Became a Symbol of Magnificence—and Scorn
In the early morning of October 6, 1789, hundreds of starving, defiant women and men (some disguised as women) from Paris stormed the palace of Versailles, the legendarily extravagant seat of government in France. They tore through the gilded halls,... |
6a2c4485bd445d9ec7031e610567bef1 | https://www.history.com/news/vets-on-harleys-escorting-civil-war-soldiers-ashes-home | Vets on Harleys Escorting Civil War Soldier’s Ashes Home | Vets on Harleys Escorting Civil War Soldier’s Ashes Home
When Jewett Williams died in an Oregon psychiatric institution in 1922, no one came to claim the Civil War veteran’s grizzled body. Like thousands of other lost souls, the old man’s cremated remains were poured into a copper canister and unceremoniously shuffled ... |
e21f9208c48952efbeb470b0ec492206 | https://www.history.com/news/vice-president-candidates | 5 Vice Presidential Candidates Who Made an Impact | 5 Vice Presidential Candidates Who Made an Impact
Picking a vice president can be dicey. Although the presidential candidate is the main focus in an election, there’s a chance that a popular or particularly adept veep can help the ticket, just as a particularly unpopular or offensive candidate can hurt it.
The selectio... |
500fd80ac58585643b9dfe774e201e43 | https://www.history.com/news/victorian-christmas-cards | Some of the Earliest Christmas Cards Were Morbid and Creepy | Some of the Earliest Christmas Cards Were Morbid and Creepy
In the 19th century, before festive Christmas cards became the norm, Victorians put a darkly humorous and twisted spin on their seasonal greetings. Some of the more popular subjects included anthropomorphic frogs, bloodthirsty snowmen and dead birds.
“May your... |
e00b2baac4387ce73a4ff90ec989cd59 | https://www.history.com/news/victorian-valentines-day-cards-vinegar?l | Victorian-Era Valentine's Day Cards Could Be Mean and Hostile | Victorian-Era Valentine's Day Cards Could Be Mean and Hostile
In the Victorian era, and into the 20th century, lovers exchanged elaborate lace-trimmed cards on Valentine’s Day, expressing their undying love and devotion with sentiments and poems. For those not on good terms, or who wanted to fend off an enemy or unwant... |
a4ddb2d37d8305460ba829e646cb039a | https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-combatants | Who Was Involved in the Vietnam War? | Who Was Involved in the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War was ostensibly a civil war between the communist North and pro-Western South. Yet the Vietnamese didn’t do all the fighting. The United States and many other countries intervened, propping up both sides—but especially South Vietnam—with troops, weapons and supplies a... |
67fbb9b698479bb593ff17280a672133 | https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-draft-voting-age-26-amendment | How the Vietnam War Draft Sparked the Fight to Lower US Voting Age to 18 | How the Vietnam War Draft Sparked the Fight to Lower US Voting Age to 18
In the summer of 1965, support for the conflict in Vietnam eroded as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s advisors recommended sending hundreds of thousands of servicemen over the course of at least five years to win the war. Troop buildup grew steadily,... |
e14241fac3013567b7f80cef3396ccf7 | https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-hippies-counter-culture | How the Vietnam War Empowered the Hippie Movement | How the Vietnam War Empowered the Hippie Movement
On March 8, 1965, two battalions of U.S. Marines landed on beaches of Da Nang, marking the first official engagement of American troops in the Vietnam War. Over the next several years, as the United States escalated its ill-fated involvement in that conflict, hundreds o... |
f08254e81d4a2bcf00c7a4f1d3762744 | https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-origins-events | What Led to the Start of the Vietnam War? | What Led to the Start of the Vietnam War?
The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was fought between communist North Vietnam, backed by the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States. The bloody conflict had its roots in French colonial rule and an independence movement driven by communist leader Ho ... |
b4adf25bda7918e0140e8af1400e58e5 | https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-veterans-treatment | Why Vietnam War Vets Were Treated Poorly When They Returned | Why Vietnam War Vets Were Treated Poorly When They Returned
Twenty-one-year-old Steven A. Wowwk arrived as an infantryman in the Army’s First Cavalry Division in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam in early January 1969 to fight in an escalating and increasingly unwinnable war. By June, Wowwk had been wounded twice—the second time s... |
984ca6a16c8654325a212f05932aee57 | https://www.history.com/news/viking-boat-burial-reveals-its-secrets | Viking Boat Burial Reveals its Secrets | Viking Boat Burial Reveals its Secrets
Originally unearthed in 2011, the site in Swordle Bay, Scotland, was the first undisturbed Viking boat burial found on the UK mainland. After six years of work, Ardnamurchan Transitions Project’s findings were recently released in an in-depth report in the Journal of Antiquity, re... |
da5e3ade7502aa230d88cbb146dd6008 | https://www.history.com/news/viking-boat-grave-discovery-sweden | Two Viking Boat Graves—With a Warrior Inside—Found in Sweden | Two Viking Boat Graves—With a Warrior Inside—Found in Sweden
Archaeologists digging near the Swedish village of Gamla Uppsala have unearthed two rare boat burials from the Viking Age. Inside one of them, which was found intact, were the remains of a man, a horse and a dog, as well as several weapons and a comb.
Though ... |
8cb0b1afe840527e5981c09eeb92e88c | https://www.history.com/news/viking-cats-discovery | How Vikings Cats Were Different to Today's Cats | How Vikings Cats Were Different to Today's Cats
We know the ancient Egyptians loved cats, but what about the Vikings?
Recent genetic research has shown that these seafaring Nordic explorers brought domesticated cats on board their ships to kill rodents, helping the furry felines spread across the globe. But the Vikings... |
26ff362de70d2fad0c53a8dd49ff65b5 | https://www.history.com/news/viking-era-ring-unearthed-in-northern-ireland | Viking-Era Ring Unearthed in Northern Ireland | Viking-Era Ring Unearthed in Northern Ireland
The artifact was discovered in April 2012 while David Taylor and his brother-in-law Andrew Coulter were removing stones from a field on Coulter’s farm in the village of Kircubbin in Northern Ireland’s Country Down. After spotting the dirt-encrusted object lying on one of th... |
41adae1cfb9011a0a7209b38da1003ae | https://www.history.com/news/viking-navigation-sunstones-evidence | Did Vikings Use Crystals to Rule the Seas? | Did Vikings Use Crystals to Rule the Seas?
Long celebrated as master shipbuilders and seafarers, the Vikings ruled the waters of the North Atlantic from 900 to 1200 A.D., regularly sailing their longboats for hundreds of miles over open water to their colonies in Iceland and Greenland. On clear days, they used a sundia... |
47f0b238b244fc2c5b89d2d88fef27bf | https://www.history.com/news/viking-ship-discovery-shallow-burial-norway | Massive Rare Viking Ship Revealed by Radar | Massive Rare Viking Ship Revealed by Radar
A massive Viking ship has been found in Norway less than two feet below the Earth’s surface. Archaeologists at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) made the discovery using radar designed to permeate the ground without actually excavating any artifacts... |
04d88653ae14d61db9aef483a13de156 | https://www.history.com/news/viking-treasure-trove-unearthed-from-english-field | Viking Treasure Trove Unearthed from English Field | Viking Treasure Trove Unearthed from English Field
James Mather was giving up hope of getting a birthday surprise. After spending hours scanning a muddy field 40 miles west of London with his metal detector, the treasure hunter had nothing to show for his time except for some stray soda can tabs and cartridge cases, ac... |
8d5b549a25caf4684f070911423653d5 | https://www.history.com/news/vikings-had-mice-did-travel | Vikings Had Mice, Did Travel | Vikings Had Mice, Did Travel
From the late eighth century to the mid-900s, Vikings from Norway established settlements in parts of the northern and western British Isles, including Scotland and regions of Ireland. They also ventured across the North Atlantic, exploring Greenland, Iceland and Newfoundland. But the Scand... |
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