A mother sits with five of her children at a Displaced Persons Camp in Europe.

Adolf Hitler Tried (and Failed) to Be an Artist

When US Troops Liberated Dachau Concentration Camp

Auschwitz: Numbers Reveal the Horrors of WWII's Deadliest Concentration Camp

The Holocaust, during which some 6 million Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and other people were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany during World War II, was one of the most horrific war crimes ever committed.

Arts &amp; Entertainment

Best-selling Millennium trilogy author Stieg Larsson dies at 50

2004

European History

Jean-Paul Sartre denounces communism

1956

Roosevelt travels to Panama

1906

Willie Nelson’s assets are seized by the IRS

1990

Natural Disasters &amp; Environment

The Great Northeast Blackout

1965

Nazis suppressed in Munich

1923

Robert McNamara becomes president of Ford Motor Company

1960

Holocaust

Nazis launch Kristallnacht

1938

Vietnam War

Supreme Court refuses to rule on legality of Vietnam War

1970

Captain Lance Sijan shot down over North Vietnam

1967

Antiwar protestor sets himself afire

Army and Notre Dame fight to a draw

1946

Teddy Roosevelt establishes a naval base in the Philippines

1901

Followers of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse identified as hostile

1875

Kodak Theatre, new home of Oscars, opens

2001

Crime

Dayton, Ohio shooting becomes second mass shooting in 24-hour period

2019

Immigration

U.S. and Mexico sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement

1942

Sports

Oscar Pistorius becomes the first amputee runner to compete at the Olympics

2012

Colonial America

George Washington becomes a Master Mason

1753

Black History

Slain civil rights workers found

1964

Exploration

Russians begin to settle Alaska

1784

Lizzie Borden's parents found dead

1892

Anne Frank captured

1944

Secret negotiations are initiated in Paris

1969

Reported North Vietnamese PT boat attacks result in retaliation strikes

Court upholds court-martial conviction of officer who participated in demonstration

Jesse Owens wins long jump—and respect—in Germany

1936

Washington receives highest Freemason rank

19th Century

Colonel Custer and 7th Cavalry clash with Indians

1873

Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet, is born

1792

The Holocaust was one of the worst war crimes ever committed. Learn more about Anne Frank, Kristallnacht, Nazi concentration camps and other Holocaust facts.

Holocaust: Definition and Facts | HISTORY

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HISTORY

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

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

Erin Blakemore is an award-winning journalist who lives and works in Boulder, Colorado. Learn more at <a title="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://erinblakemore.com__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!CIEioOBTV4yFbQEmSGiq4cXk2F0ZNZuyS9kOYFTisC017l-98oL6xawo3XPhTUEFtLr8Doo8X-r3lzfonSLnZm75SSl8$" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://erinblakemore.com__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!CIEioOBTV4yFbQEmSGiq4cXk2F0ZNZuyS9kOYFTisC017l-98oL6xawo3XPhTUEFtLr8Doo8X-r3lzfonSLnZm75SSl8$">erinblakemore.com</a>

Erin Blakemore

Dave Roos is a journalist and podcaster based in the U.S. and Mexico. He's the co-host of <a title="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biblical-time-machine/id1648738323__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!HXBYfsRrBo7N5os-y_lSq05ShV3dCj9JEctYUd9Gok5iCyZHx7Gw2tqSCGiGSqkIqI2JpY9mKkYaNAhA-3WOj0eb3mc$" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biblical-time-machine/id1648738323__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!HXBYfsRrBo7N5os-y_lSq05ShV3dCj9JEctYUd9Gok5iCyZHx7Gw2tqSCGiGSqkIqI2JpY9mKkYaNAhA-3WOj0eb3mc$">Biblical Time Machine</a>, a history podcast, and a writer for the popular podcast <a title="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stuff-you-should-know/id278981407__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!HXBYfsRrBo7N5os-y_lSq05ShV3dCj9JEctYUd9Gok5iCyZHx7Gw2tqSCGiGSqkIqI2JpY9mKkYaNAhA-3WORJo2DiQ$" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stuff-you-should-know/id278981407__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!HXBYfsRrBo7N5os-y_lSq05ShV3dCj9JEctYUd9Gok5iCyZHx7Gw2tqSCGiGSqkIqI2JpY9mKkYaNAhA-3WORJo2DiQ$">Stuff You Should Know</a>. Learn more at <a title="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.daveroos.com/__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!HXBYfsRrBo7N5os-y_lSq05ShV3dCj9JEctYUd9Gok5iCyZHx7Gw2tqSCGiGSqkIqI2JpY9mKkYaNAhA-3WO_YrhCB4$" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.daveroos.com/__;!!CyZMqN24eIU!HXBYfsRrBo7N5os-y_lSq05ShV3dCj9JEctYUd9Gok5iCyZHx7Gw2tqSCGiGSqkIqI2JpY9mKkYaNAhA-3WO_YrhCB4$">daveroos.com</a>.

Dave Roos

Natasha Frost

Elizabeth Svoboda is a writer based in San Jose, California and the author of What Makes a Hero?: The Surprising Science of Selflessness.

Elizabeth Svoboda

Elizabeth Yuko, Ph.D., is a bioethicist and journalist, as well as an adjunct professor of ethics at Fordham University. She has written for numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.

Elizabeth Yuko

Religion and spiritual issues, including Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, the Bible, Wicca, Buddhism and more, are at the core of human values and history.

Religion

Listicle

From religious and patriotic holidays to celebrations of ethnic pride, explore the history of Easter, Passover, New Year's Day, Veterans' Day, Memorial Day and more annual observances.

Annual Observances

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

Holocaust ‑ Stories

Oskar Schindler’s Heroic Holocaust Legacy

After WWII, Survivors of Nazi Horrors Found Community in Displaced‑Persons Camps

The Horrifying Discovery of Dachau Concentration Camp—And Its Liberation by US Troops

The Shocking Liberation of Auschwitz: Soviets ‘Knew Nothing’ as They Approached

Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII’s Deadliest Concentration Camp

Amid the Holocaust’s Horrors, Many Jews Found Ways to Mark Hanukkah

When Hitler Tried (and Failed) to Be an Artist

How a Sentimental Yiddish Song Became a Worldwide Hit—and a Nazi Target

Why 90 Percent of Danish Jews Survived the Holocaust

The Heartbreaking WWII Rescue That Saved 10,000 Jewish Children From the Nazis

Americans Were Shocked by Kristallnacht—But Their Outrage Soon Faded

10 Kristallnacht Photos That Capture the Horror of ‘The Night of Broken Glass’