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Great Wall of China. (UNESCO World Heritage site)
5 Famous Border Walls
If you build it, they won't come.
Workers pressure cleaning rocks coated in oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, March 1990. In the intertidal zone, Prince William Sound, Alaska. pollution disaster
9 of the Biggest Oil Spills in History
Disasters of epic proportions.
The Great Depression Unemployed men queued outside a soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone The storefront sign reads 'Free Soup
5 of the World’s Most Devastating Financial Crises
And you thought misplacing your wallet was a financial catastrophe…
French infantry coming into position at the Marne during World War I, 1914-18.
Battles of World War I
From Amiens to Ypres
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC, USA. The memorial was opened in August 2011.
Attendees of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Funeral
Find out who was who at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral.
Shah Jahan. Taj Mahal. Mughal architecture. Emperor Shah Jahan fifth Mughal Emperor (reigned 1628-1658) India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli or Jammu and Kashmir, Mankot, circa 1690 Drawings; Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper (see notes)
6 Important Mughal Emperors
Find out more about the rulers of the Mughal Empire.
American troops at the front in Italy. American soldiers on the Piave (river) front hurling a shower of hand grenades into the Austrian trenches, Varage, Italy; September 16, 1918. (World War I)
Leaders of World War I
Learn more about the leaders of World War I.
A soldier standing guard in a Washington, D.C. street with the ruins of buildings that were destroyed during the riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., April 8, 1968.
There’s a Riot Goin’ On: Riots in U.S. History (Part Two)
Unlawful assemblies to remember.
Fidel Castro addressing the General Assembly, United Nations, New York, October 14, 1979.
6 Interesting Facts About Fidel Castro
From his famous beard to his ubiquitous cigar, learn more about...
Battle of Fleurus (June 16, 1794), the most significant battle in the First Coalition phase of the French Revolutionary Wars; by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse, 19th century.
What Led to France’s Reign of Terror?
Some 17,000 people were killed in the Reign of Terror, and as...
Spanish Civil War (1936- 1939), Loyalist machine gunners, 1937.
Timeline of the Spanish Civil War
Who did what and when?
Portrait of Salvador Dali in front of painting "The Madonna of Port Lligat."
Famous Mustaches in History
We mustache you a question: Who had the greatest mustache in...
The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.
26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History
Which events were the most important in any given decade of U.S....
Cleopatra hieroglyphic carving the Ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Wall of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt.
What Did Cleopatra Look Like?
Cleopatra’s Beauty Was in the Beholder’s Eye
Woman tied to a ducking stool, a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. (cucking stool)
8 Unusual Punishments Inflicted on Women Throughout History
The opposite of Lady Luck.
Portrait of Gregor MacGregor (1786-1845), mezzotint by Samuel William Reynolds, after Simon Jacques Rochard, c. 1820-1835. (Poyais)
The Craziest Scam? Gregor MacGregor Creates His Own Country
Welcome to Poyais, not quite as advertised…
Defenestration of Prague, this incident marks the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1618.
Defenestration: Prague's History of Literally Throwing Authority Out the Window
Learn about Prague’s surprisingly rich history of defenestration.
Invasion of alien spaceships at sunset, illustration.
The Great Moon Hoax of 1835 Was Sci-Fi Passed Off as News
On August 25, 1835, the New York Sun began running a...
The Dionne Quintuplets, accompanied by Mrs. Olive Dionne and Brother Gustave Sauve, taking part in a religious music program at Lansdowne Park, during the five-day Marian Congress celebrating the centenary of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, June 1947.
How the First Surviving Quintuplets Became a Tourist Attraction
The Dionne sisters were the first known set of quintuplets to...
The Wedding of Victoria I, Queen of England and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in London, England. Vintage etching circa mid 19th century. The wedding was on February 10th, 1840.
Why Have So Many World Leaders Married Their Cousins?
Royal weddings through history have often had one thing in common:...
Leopard. Leopard (Panthera pardus) male leopard on a termite mound in Sabi Sand nature reserve, South Africa. panther, mammal, large cat, animal
6 Real-Life Man-Eating Animals
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
General view of Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California. (prisons, penitentiary
6 Ingenious Escapes
Feeling stuck? Get inspired by these brilliant breakouts.
Marie Curie, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911).
Radium Girls: The Women Who Fought for Their Lives in a Killer Workplace
Being poisoned by their employer led these women to fight back.
bird. mourning dove. pigeon and dove. Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) family Columbidae.
Nikola Tesla's Weird Obsession with Pigeons
Scientist Nikola Tesla is known for many things, but not many...
"John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I" by Henry Gillard Glindoni. Oil painting 18th century. Pentimento, occult, sorcery, magic.
Queen Elizabeth's Court Occultist
Was John Dee a sorcerer or a scholar?
A background with a view of earthen lamps arranged on the holy Swastika design made of flowers, during Diwali festival in India.
How the Symbolism of the Swastika Was Ruined
The swastika went from being a positive symbol to a negative...
Cathedrale St.Jean in Lyon, France has a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows religious feast days till the year 2019; Perpetual Calendar
Ten Days That Vanished: The Switch to the Gregorian Calendar
In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII introduced a more accurate calendar....
Julius Caesar in full Gaius Julius Caesar (100? BCE-44 BCE) statue in Rimini, Italy. Roman general and statesman and dictator
The Time Julius Caesar Was Captured by Pirates
Be careful who you kidnap.
Old medieval wooden pirate military war ship with a cannon on the deck pointed out and aiming
Pirate School: 5 Things You Can Shoot from a Cannon
Hit me with your best shot.
Gilles de Rais (1404-1440). Breton baron, marshal of France. Fought in guards of Joan of Arc. Accused of being serial killer of children.
Gilles de Rais: History’s First Serial Killer?
Gilles de Rais was a wealthy nobleman and a war hero. Today,...
Joan of Arc, in the presence of Charles VII, King of France, answers the questions of the prelates; she anounces her mission and the visions which have revealed her task. Gillot Saint-Evre, Oil on Canvas, 142 x 167 cm. In the Louvre, Paris, France (notes)
6 Teenagers Who Made History
Youth wasn’t wasted on these young people.
The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., April 14th, 1865; from a lithograph by Currier and Ives.
9 Infamous Assassins and the World Leaders They Dispatched
Meet the people behind the guns.