The sinking of Lusitania by a German submarine off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, 1915. The tragedy killed 128 US citizens, helping bring the US into World War I. (Credit: Three Lions/Getty Images)

Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie riding in an open carriage at Sarajevo shortly before their assassination.

Farm Security Administration photographers (left to right) John Vachon, Arthur Rothstein, and Russell Lee with Roy Stryker, reviewing photographs. (Credit: The Library of Congress)

Women workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17 bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach, California.

A line of British Soldiers fire on a crowd of unarmed colonists in an attack that came to be known as the Boston Massacre. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Annette McDermott

Annette McDermott Archives | HISTORY

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HISTORY

<p>America’s Founding Fathers decided that one elected civilian—the U.S. president—would lead the executive branch of the federal government, a governmental structure that has remained in place for more than 200 years.</p>


U.S. Presidents

<p>Colonial America was a vast land settled by Spanish, Dutch, French and English immigrants who established colonies such as St. Augustine, Florida; Jamestown, Virginia; and Roanoke in present-day North Carolina.</p>


Colonial America

<p>World War I pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan. New military technology resulted in unprecedented carnage. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.</p>


World War I

<p>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.</p>


1970s

<p>Native American history spans an array of diverse groups and leaders, including Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Tecumseh, and events like the Trail of Tears, the French and Indian War and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.</p>


Native American History

<p>The Revolutionary War waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a small fledgling nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.</p>


American Revolution

<p>World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. Explore the battles, leaders and atrocities from the war and its impact on geopolitics and humankind.</p>


World War II

<p>Though the 19th century saw the rise of populism, the labor movement and Jacksonian democracy, it also ushered in the Gilded Age, when men like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. P. Morgan wielded vast control over politics and business.</p>


19th Century

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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

<p>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.</p>


Annette McDermott ‑ Stories

What Was Life Like in Jamestown?

How World War II Empowered Women

Did a Snowball Fight Start the American Revolution?

Did World War II Launch the Civil Rights Movement?

How ‘Deep Throat’ Took Down Nixon From Inside the FBI

How Photography Defined the Great Depression

How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I

Did Franz Ferdinand’s Assassination Cause World War I?

What Really Happened at the Battle of the Little Bighorn?