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

James Garfield, 1881. Artist Ole Peter Hansen Balling. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Flappers dancing while musicians perform during a Charleston dance contest at the Parody Club, New York City, 1926.

A Russian armored troop-carrier moves with soldiers atop next to a house set on fire by South Ossetian militia on in August, 2008.

A Polish soldier lifts a Nato flag in front of the Polish Parliament building on March 16, 1999, as an official sign that Poland became a full member of the alliance.

Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. She has been a frequent contributor to History.com since 2005, and is the author of Breaking History: Vanished! (Lyons Press, 2017), which chronicles some of history's most famous disappearances.

Sarah Pruitt

Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. She has been a frequent contributor to History.com since 2005, and is the author of Breaking History: Vanished! (Lyons Press, 2017), which chronicles some of history&#8217;s most famous disappearances.

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Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. She has been a frequent contributor to History.com since 2005, and is the author of Breaking History: Vanished! (Lyons Press, 2017), which chronicles some of history's most famous disappearances.

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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.

U.S. Presidents

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.

World War I

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.

1970s

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

Legacy Unpublished

From raising families to leading armies, women such as Catherine the Great, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen Amanirenas, Queen Elizabeth I, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin and countless others have played a vital role in history.

Women’s History

During the 1920s (often referred to as the "Roaring Twenties"), a surging economy in the U.S. created an era of mass consumerism, as Jazz-Age flappers flouted Prohibition laws and the Harlem Renaissance redefined arts and culture.

1920s

The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. The war ended when U.S. forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under Communist control two years later.

Vietnam War

The 1960s was one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in world history. The era was marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, countercultural movements, political assassinations and the emerging "generation gap."

1960s

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

In the early 20th century, America was flexing its economic and political muscle on the international stage. The era was defined by the temperance movement, Progressive-era activism, the sinking of the Titanic and World War I.

Early 20th Century U.S.

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

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.

Cold War

Explore the wars, battles, leaders, civilizations, regimes, prominent figures and major events from the continent that encompasses 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. From Stonehenge to the Great Awakening to the French Revolution to the rise and fall of Communism in Russia, see how Europe’s often tumultuous history unfolded.

Sarah Pruitt ‑ Stories

How Flappers of the Roaring Twenties Redefined Womanhood

How the Vietnam War Empowered the Hippie Movement

Did Vikings Use Crystals to Rule the Seas?

John McCain Was Defiant as a POW and, Often, in Politics

Abe Lincoln’s Bloodstained Gloves Could Be Auctioned as Museum Faces Debt

American Women’s Suffrage Came Down to One Man’s Vote

The First Left‑handed President Was Ambidextrous and Multilingual

How a Five‑Day War With Georgia Allowed Russia to Reassert Its Military Might

95 Bodies Suspected to Be Jim Crow‑Era Forced Laborers Found in Texas

What Is NATO’s Article 5?

How a Wrong Turn Started World War I

Ancient Grains? Crumbs From World’s Oldest Bread Found