From the Age of Enlightenment to the Christmas Truce, learn about some of history's most pivotal events.
Apartheid, which means "apartness" in Afrikaans, was an era of extreme, legalized racism that subjugated South Africa's black majority for decades. How did Apartheid come about, and how did it survive into the 1990s?
What do civil rights mean to you? Ultimately they represent freedom -- the freedom to live your life without being repressed or discriminated against by either the government or private institutions. See a visual chronicle of the Civil Rights movement.
Reality TV weddings aside, pop culture can do more than just melt your brain. The stuff of 2011's water cooler conversations contained kernels of credibility and nuggets of noteworthiness. What were pop culture's smartest moments this year?
With all the big headlines in 2011 you might've missed some gems, from "Cat Rescues Shelter" to "Planet-sized Diamond Detected." Here are our favorites.
As we look back on 2011, what images of hope, hardship and joy defined the year? Come with us on a photographic journey that winds through the streets of Cairo and Wall Street, along the banks of swollen rivers and onto the distant slopes of Mars.
Empires rise and empires fall -- it's a seemingly unavoidable fact of life on Earth. But these superpowers reigned longer than any others. What can we learn from their missteps and achievements?
The concept of revenge predates legal history, and one could even say that it's simply part of who we are as humans. But sometimes the need for vengeance can kick into overdrive – as it did in these 10 infamous acts of revenge.
What makes the American Revolution stand out in world history? Was it the introduction of guerrilla warfare or its stage outside the borders of its parent nation? All of those were noteworthy, but the real revolution was in what the Revolution created.
The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment turned to action when the U.S. broke from King George III and British rule. How did 18th century intellectual ideals incite revolution?
Whether it's the topic of a holiday greeting card or a beauty pageant question, peace on Earth is on almost everybody's wish list. But has the world ever been truly peaceful?
From the historical U.S. presidential inauguration to a world flu pandemic, 2009 was a year of successes and concerns. This year, we endured a recession, marveled at Mars and flooded the Internet with Michael Jackson searches.
The United States economy crumbles and rebuilds itself with astonishing regularity, falling from periods of economic success into panic. What are five of the worst financial panics in history, and what can they teach us about our current recession?
The Revolutionary War involved bloody battles and courageous heroes, and led to the foundation of the U.S. Explore the historical moments of this nation-building rebellion.
The war that began with German dictator Adolf Hitler's rise to power left much blood in its wake. Learn about some of the worst battles of the war that led to nearly 50 million combatant and civilian deaths.
The Code of Hammurabi is a 7-foot-tall piece of basalt with more than 300 laws engraved on it. According to the code, if you strike your father, then your hands will be cut off. Why would our modern society care about studying such inhumane mandates?
The year 2008 in pictures includes everything from newsmakers like Robert Mugabe and Michael Phelps to events like the Myanmar cyclone. See 2008 in pictures.
If you haven't been keeping news clippings for your 2008 scrapbook, you might've forgotten what happened earlier this year. That's where HowStuffWorks comes in. Here are 10 headlines from 2008 that'll go down in history.
Gettysburg pictures at HowStuffWorks show scenes from the famous Civil War battle. Take a look at pictures of the Battle of Gettysburg.
A two-month journey on the Mayflower from England brought religious separatists to America. Learn what life was like on the Mayflower and in Plymouth Colony in this image gallery.
There's more to Beijing than meets the eye at street-level. Under bustling sidewalks is a subterranean city with its own classrooms, movie theater and restaurants.
The Civil War was the bloodiest and most costly war fought on American soil. See the leaders of the Union and Confederate armies, and learn what life was like for soldiers of the North and South.
Boston Tea Party, in United States history, the dumping of three cargoes of tea in Massachusetts Bay on December 16, 1773, shortly before the American Revolution.
Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of the French province of Louisiana by the United States in 1803.
Much of the ice has melted, and the woolly mammoths are long gone. But could we still be in an ice age and headed for another?
Like the members of an ill-fated rock group, the seven continents struck out on their own hundreds of millions of years ago. But what caused the breakup? And is a reunion tour in the works?
Honey Badgers Don't Care Because They're Ferocious
May 22, 2019
How Alan Turing and His Test Became AI Legend
May 22, 2019
