From the Age of Enlightenment to the Christmas Truce, learn about some of history's most pivotal events.
Yugoslavia is no more. Prussia? Vanished from the face of the Earth. From war to political unrest to rebranding, there are all sorts of reasons that leaders rename their nations. Can you pick the former names for these countries?
Is graphically recounting the horrors of the Holocaust the only way to honor the dead and educate the living about this tragedy? One sociologist doesn't think so.
While it's technically just a glorified shift change, the British monarchy's Changing the Guard ceremony is steeped in history and tradition.
Magda Herzberger is in her 90s and was silent for years about the horrors she witnessed. But today she speaks freely of the Holocaust, and with a sense of urgency.
A "trail of tears and death" is how a Choctaw leader described the experience of his people being forcibly removed from their tribal homelands and sent west of the Mississippi. How many people were affected?
Queen Elizabeth II has reigned over England for a record-breaking 66 years. But with Prince Harry and Meghan just announcing the birth of their new baby boy, how does the line of succession look now?
The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, ended with a stalemate and left North and South Korea as adversaries. It also changed the course of U.S. national security policy.
Hundreds of explorers tried to locate the Northwest Passage. Many of those attempts ended badly.
The guys at Stuff They Don't Want You To Know break down some of the myths behind one of the darkest times in the colonies.
These engraved stones may hold the key to a 400-year-old American mystery, but they also might just be forgeries.
The 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I offers up a reminder — and a second chance — for us to remember the soldiers' sacrifices and to learn from our past mistakes.
Ron Stallworth was a black detective in Colorado Springs who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan to the point that he was asked to lead a local chapter. How he pulled that off is now the subject of a major motion picture.
There's a popular story that George Washington was offered the chance to be crowned king of the U.S. but it turned it down in support of a true republication government. But what really happened?
The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, which involved immigrants, anarchy and chaos, is one of the 20th century's most controversial and famous.
Blackface is alive and well. HowStuffWorks explores the history behind the practice, from minstrel and Halloween costumes to Shirley Temple and Drake.
When a shipwreck is found, who gets the loot? The case of the San Jose has got interested parties battling and legal scholars scratching their heads.
What really happened when the late Senator Ted Kennedy's car plunged off a bridge in 1969 killing Mary Jo Kopechne?
You may know the story of how Fletcher Christian and his men mutinied aboard the ship the Bounty. But what was the voyage all about in the first place?
A blinding smog enveloped London in 1952, wreaking havoc on the city, bringing life to a standstill and killing thousands.
The plague took millions of lives in the 1600s, but Parisians fought back with tart, sweet lemonade.
In 1928, Glen and Bessie Hyde embarked on an ambitious trip down the Colorado River. But their adventurous honeymoon came to an unfortunate early end. What happened?
Their pioneering story is little known, but from 1967 to 1975, an ambulance crew recruited from a poverty-stricken black neighborhood in Pittsburgh became the first set of trained EMTs in America.
The raid amplified tensions between the North and South and intensified fear of slave rebellion.
In 1789, thousands of women frustrated by good shortages marched to Versailles with some serious demands for King Louis XIV.
Getting a prescription for alcohol back was once kind of like getting a prescription for medical marijuana today.
Carbon Capture-to-fuel Is Here
September 22, 2019
Can a Genetic Test Tell that You'll Prefer Chocolate Ice Cream?
September 21, 2019
How (and Why) Hurricanes Get Their Names
September 20, 2019
