On March 20, 1945, a British Mosquito fighter-bomber was patrolling the Norfolk coast in search of enemy German fighter planes when it crashed in the Wash near Terrington Marsh. However, ... Read More

Molecular biologist Francis H. C. Crick and zoologist James D. Watson discovered the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, a discovery that opened the doors to the study of genetics. ... Read More

Josef Mengele, the murderous doctor at Auschwitz, especially enjoyed experimenting on twins. What did he do and why?

Many of the old Russian palaces and other historic monuments are falling into ruin because the government doesn't have enough money to preserve the more than 7,000 sites. Some ... Read More

As part of its regular declassification process, the British government recently released some documents that reveal former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's feelings for President Nixon. One of ... Read More

On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world's first successful test-tube baby was born. Though the technology that made her conception possible was heralded as a triumph, it also ... Read More

A new documentary has just been released about the life of historian Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States. Zinn abandoned the popular top-down look ... Read More

When Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in the late 19th century, thousands of people recorded their voices on the wax cylinders. Unfortunately mold and age has deteriorated the cylinders to ... Read More

On the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky apologized for their lack of coverage of the civil rights movement. The paper ... Read More

It's been 86 years since their death and six years after their royal burial, yet another controversy has surfaced about the remains that were identified as the Romanov royal family. ... Read More

For centuries, treaties, doctrines, business reports, familial concerns, etc. have been recorded in physical form, often it was on paper and at even earlier times it was written on papyrus. ... Read More

After a long and bitter civil war in China between the Communists and the Nationalists, the Communists had gained control over most of China by 1949, so Chiang Kai-shek and ... Read More

A collection of letters written by British RAF pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain during World War II have been donated to London's Imperial War Museum. The ... Read More

Jone Johson Lewis, About.com's Women's History Guide, has created a fantastic and huge collection of quotes from Helen Keller. Be sure to check these out!

An anti-Nazi, Kurt Gerstein never intended to be a witness to the Nazi murder of the Jews. Yet he joined the SS and soon saw, first-hand, gassings at Belzec. ... Read More

In the 19th century, there was a popular fad in Europe to collect preserved heads of the Maori people as trophies. The Maori, the aboriginal people of New Zealand, tattooed ... Read More

Actor Marlon Brando passed away on Thursday, July 1, 2004 at the age of 80. Brando made over 40 movies but is probably best remembered for his roles in The ... Read More

If J. Robert Oppenheimer hadn't passed away in 1967, he would be celebrating his 100th birthday this year. Friends, family, scientists, politicians, and others joined in a two-day event sponsored ... Read More

Archaeologists were diving for ancient Roman pottery shards near a busy beach on Cyprus when they found a live bomb from World War II instead. A bomb disposal team ... Read More