Skylab floats above Earth in February 1974.

U.S. Navy nuclear test, Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

Fred Noonan with Amelia Earhart on June 11, 1937.

CHIBA, JAPAN - JUNE 03: A wartime Zero fighter plane flies over Tokyo Bay off Chiba on June 3, 2017 in Chiba, Japan. After the end of World War II, Zero planes flew a few times over Japanese airspace. However, all those flights were undertaken with American pilots at the controls. The Zero aircraft is a Model 22 manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. in 1942. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

From Sputnik to Spacewalking: 7 Soviet Space Firsts

Free Soil Party, presidential elections, martin van buren

Physicist Leon Lederman moves the hands of the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight on February 27, 2002.

Surface of Mars, taken by Viking 1. The round areas are impact craters where asteroids have hit the planet. 1975.

Elizabeth Hanes

Elizabeth Hanes Archives | HISTORY

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HISTORY

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.

Ancient Rome

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

Each year on February 14, people exchange cards, candy or flowers with their special “valentine.” St. Valentine’s Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia.

Valentine’s Day

The U.S. government, with its three branches of government and a system of checks and balances, is responsible for governing the 50 states and all districts and territories of the United States.

U.S. Government and Politics

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.

World War II

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.

Space Exploration

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

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.

19th Century

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.

Elizabeth Hanes ‑ Stories

9 Lesser‑Known Political Parties

10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Old West

6 Surprising Facts About St. Valentine

From Sputnik to Spacewalking: 7 Soviet Space Firsts

Mars and Martian Mania: A Brief History

The Day Skylab Crashed to Earth: Facts About the First U.S. Space Station’s Re‑Entry

Tantalizing Theories About the Earhart Disappearance

Amelia Earhart’s Navigator: The Life and Loss of Fred Noonan

The End of Civilization?: 7 Moments in the History of the Doomsday Clock

The Akutan Zero: How a Captured Japanese Fighter Plane Helped Win World War II

9 Nuclear Near‑Misses During the Cold War