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History.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan, Matt Mullen and Christian Zapata.

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1867

1520

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

The 1990s is often remembered as a decade of relative peace and prosperity: The Soviet Union fell, ending the decades-long Cold War, and the rise of the Internet ushered in a radical new era of communication, business and entertainment. However, the decade was not without violence and tragedy, including the Bosnian genocide, the Rodney King beating and subsequent L.A. Riots, and the bombing of the World Trade Center. The Columbine High School shooting marked a solemn chapter in gun violence, and the devastatingly deadly Oklahoma City bombing by a domestic terrorist followed lethal standoffs between federal agents and armed civilians at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas.

1990s

Videos

The history of art and entertainment tells the complex story of human civilization through visual art, design, literature, music, film and television. It ranges from cave drawings of the Neolithic period to Renaissance masterpieces to rock 'n' roll and video games.

Arts & Entertainment

In 1957, the Soviet Union shot its Sputnik satellite into orbit, launching a space race with the U.S. The Little Rock Nine integrated an Arkansas high school to fierce local opposition, forcing President Eisenhower to send in federal troops to escort them. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first such law since Reconstruction. In Liverpool, England, 16-year-old John Lennon and 15-year-old Paul McCartney met for the first time at a church fair. In the U.S., frisbees flew into popularity.

1957

1959

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

As World War II raged on, Allied troops made their first landing in Europe on the island of Sicily. Russian forces turned back German invaders in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the Pacific, Japanese troops evacuated Guadalcanal after bloody battles with U.S. troops. In the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Polish resistance fighters tried and failed to stop the deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps. Back on the American homefront, crooner Bing Crosby scored a huge hit with the song “White Christmas.”

1943

Discover what happened on May 24 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

May 24

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

Discover what happened on November 18 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

November 18

World War II ended in 1945, after Germany surrendered in May and Japan capitulated in August, days after powerful new atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two months later, 29 nations ratified a charter to form the United Nations. Writer George Orwell coined the term “cold war,” predicting icy relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., while popular songs like “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" and “Sentimental Journey” reflected the stateside mood as some 4 million G.I.s returned home.

1945

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

1978

Discover what happened on March 2 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

March 2

After a devastating Windsor Castle fire and assorted family crises, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II called 1992 her “annus horribilis,” or horrible year. The police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles sparked one of the worst riots in U.S. history, while exploding sewers in Mexico killed hundreds. On the brighter side, South Africa ended apartheid, the U.S. and Russia declared the Cold War over, Mae Jemison became the first Black woman in space and a big purple dinosaur named Barney hit TV, singing about love, kindness and cleaning up.

1992

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

Landmarks and monuments, the physical record of human civilization, include spectacular structures like the Eiffel Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge and more.

Landmarks

The horrors of modern warfare were on full view in 1915, the second year of World War I. A German U-boat sank the passenger liner Lusitania off Ireland, German zeppelins bombed London, the French developed a fighter plane that could fire precisely timed machine-gun bullets through its propeller, and German troops unleashed poison gas for the first time on the battlefield. In America, meanwhile, a young Boston Red Sox pitcher named Babe Ruth clubbed his first major-league homer.

1915

Discover what happened on November 28 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

November 28

Discover what happened on October 4 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

October 4

Discover what happened on April 16 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

April 16

Discover what happened on April 29 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

April 29

Discover what happened on September 6 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

September 6

Discover what happened on March 9 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

March 9

1883

Discover what happened on October 18 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

October 18

Discover what happened on February 23 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

February 23

1934

1904

Discover what happened on May 11 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

May 11

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.

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