HISTORY.com Editors

When Neil Armstrong stepped down a ladder and onto the moon on July 20, 1969, the nation achieved an audacious vision. But there were surprising moments along the way and not everything went as expected.

Some have connected the site with the alleged government coverup of an alien spacecraft crash. Others claim the moon landing was filmed there. If that's not true, what is?

D-Day was a historic World War II invasion, but the events of June 6, 1944 encompassed much more than a key military victory.

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, these 250 people stand out as among the most influential in shaping America.

Revisit history’s defining conflict, from the rise of fascism to Hiroshima, through new insights and human stories. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 destroyed Black Wall Street in Greenwood, Tulsa.

The March 17 holiday is steeped in myths. These St. Patrick’s Day facts share the fun, surprising truth about the celebration.

Aileen Wuornos, Ed Gein and Dennis Rader left infamous legacies.

These standout titles don’t just recount battles.

These 12 trailblazers in government, arts, advocacy, business and sports helped shaped American history.

From 'I Have a Dream' to 'Beyond Vietnam,' revisit the words and messages of the legendary civil rights leader.

On December 7, 1941, a surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor shocked America. These are the stories of veterans who were there.

On the morning of December 7, 1941 Paul Kennedy found himself staring straight at an incoming Japanese aircraft.

Perfect picks for the wanna-be time traveler on your list.

As a first-grader, her image became an emotional symbol for civil rights and educational equality.

Before we carved pumpkins, the Irish chiseled creepy faces onto turnips.

From pagan rituals to costumes and candy corn, discover how Halloween—and its associated traditions—has evolved through the ages.

The practice can be traced to the ancient Celts, early Roman Catholics and 17th-century British politics.

Christopher Columbus' arrival in North America in 1492 undoubtedly changed the world and lives of the Indigenous people he met. But was it for the better?

U.S. presidents have received elaborate welcomes by the British monarchy since 1918.

From its colors to the rendering of a snake-eating eagle, the Mexican flag is packed with symbolism and history.

Preserved by icy waters, the majestic wooden ship of the infamous 1914-1916 Antarctic expedition is revealed in images from the deep of the Weddell Sea.

These people went off the beaten track. Then things went horribly wrong.

These aircraft, tanks, rocket launchers and more serve as the workhorses of American warfare. One has even earned the nickname "the finger of God."

Chris Mellon believes the government should more aggressively gather intel on military UFO sightings, some of which were captured on video.

Civil War secrets found in a battlefield garbage pile. A jewel thief in a powdered wig who hastened Marie Antoinette’s downfall. A Supreme Court showdown started by barmaids. Discover 25 fascinating—and often overlooked—moments that made history.

A brutally drawn-out election in 1271 led to the formation of the secretive, secluded conclave—and quicker elections.

A look back at some pivotal moments in the complicated relationship between the two superpowers.

Which famous French explorer is credited with naming them?

Their backstories may surprise you.

Halloween's focus on horror and make believe has spawned creepy legends, ghost stories—and hoaxes.

From witches to zombies to creepy clowns, the season's hair-raising legends all formed from decades—to centuries—of lore.

The Woodstock music festival may not have been a smoothly run event, but it featured electric moments—musical and otherwise—that made it unforgettable.

A diplomat who used the power of paperwork, a 16-year-old girl who shot Nazis from her bicycle and a teacher who hid Jewish children in baskets were among those who risked their lives to save others during World War II.

The 20-foot piece of the NASA space shuttle was found off the coast of Florida during the filming of the new HISTORY Channel series, 'The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters.'

Images show devastation during the 2001 terror attacks, and the tragic aftermath.

Watch videos about the attacks of 9/11 and the aftermath.

The struggle for LGBTQ rights dates at least as far back as 1924 and accelerated in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising.

He's America's first president. The icon we all think we know. But in reality, he was a complicated human being.

If you’ve ever received an anonymous flower basket at your doorstep on the first day of May, you may have been the recipient of a May Day basket.

This HISTORY Channel podcast, produced in partnership with WNYC Studios, was honored with a 2024 Peabody Award.

Meet the standout soldiers, spies and homefront forces who fought in American conflicts, from the Revolution to World War II.

'After Auschwitz, the human condition is no longer the same. After Auschwitz, nothing will ever be the same.' —Elie Wiesel.

On the morning of 9/11 in New York City, ordinary people picked up video cameras and recorded. This is what they saw—and how they reflected on the experience years later.

The first Indigenous cabinet member in U.S. history, Haaland hails from a lineage of 35 generations based in New Mexico.

These videos showcase the vision and hope John F. Kennedy inspired in Americans—and the immense national grief they shared upon his death.

Stories of a ghostly President Lincoln wandering the corridors and rooms of the White House have persisted for more than a century.

Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions, dating back nearly 4,000 years, and is considered to be the original Abrahamic faith.

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is the most important holiday in the Jewish faith and concludes a 10-day period of repentance.

Pompeii and Herculaneum were flourishing resorts on the coast of Italy until Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79.

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is one of Judaism’s holiest days and, with Yom Kippur, forms the High Holy Days in the Jewish religion.

The Titanic was a luxury British steamship of the White Star Line that sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg, leading to the deaths of over 1,500 passengers and crew.

The Salem witch trials of 1692-1693 were a series of prosecutions for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Hysterical accusations were hurled at hundreds of people, and 25 people were killed.

The women’s suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States.

An investigation to a 1972 break-in to the Democratic National Committee offices revealed gross abuses of power by the Nixon administration.

Machu Picchu, an archeological site in the Andes Mountains of Peru, is believed to have been built in the 15th century as a royal estate for Incan leaders.

The Taj Mahal is an enormous mausoleum complex commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the remains of his beloved wife. Constructed over a 20-year period on the southern bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, India, the famed complex is one of the most outstanding examples of Mughal architecture.

Building the World’s Tallest Building Retailer Frank W. Woolworth commissioned his namesake building in 1910, a year after the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company moved into their 700-foot tower on Madison Square, just a block away from the triangle-sha...

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest, features four gigantic sculptures depicting the faces of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. While revered as an icon of Democracy by some, the land where the memorial was carved was taken from the Lakota Sioux by the US government.

The Golden Gate Bridge, opened in 1937, is an iconic suspension bridge connecting the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. It spans almost two miles across the Golden Gate, the narrow strait where San Francisco Bay opens to meet the Pacific Ocean.

Stonehenge is a prehistoric display of dozens of massive stones in a circular layout. Historians have puzzled over the many mysteries of the English monument.

Labor Day became a US holiday in 1894 during a railroad workers’ strike. It celebrates the labor movement on the first Monday in September.

The Great Wall of China was conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century B.C. and eventually spanned more than 13,000 miles across northern China.

Built for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is a 1,000-foot tall wrought iron tower, considered an architectural wonder and one of the world's most recognizable structures.

The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by France, as a symbol of the two countries' friendship. It was erected atop an American-designed pedestal on a small island in Upper New York Bay, now known as Liberty Island, and dedicated by President Grover Cleveland in 1886.

Built in 70 A.D., Rome's Colosseum has been the site of celebrations, sporting events and bloodshed. Today, the amphitheater is a major tourist attraction, playing host to 3.9 million visitors each year.

The die-off of the dinosaurs, known as the K-T event, took place some 65.5 million years ago.

The prehistoric reptiles known as dinosaurs arose during the Middle to Late Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, some 230 million years ago. They were members of a subclass of reptiles called the archosaurs (“ruling reptiles”), a group that also includes birds and crocodiles.

The Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, was a prominent national labor organization that advocated for worker protections.

The Knights Templar was a powerful medieval organization of devout Christians which protected visitors to the Holy Land and carried out military operations.

The Woodstock Music Festival began on August 15, 1969 in Bethel, New York. Billed as "3 Days of Peace and Music,” the epic event become synonymous with the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

Hurricane Katrina was a powerful storm that made landfall on the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. The storm triggered catastrophic flooding, especially in New Orleans, and caused at least 1,200 deaths.

The famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered by Martin Luther King in August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, remains a defining moment of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

Explore the history of Apollo 11, the first moon landing, including JFK's vision, NASA's Apollo program and a complete mission timeline.

The 1960s saw John F. Kennedy elected to the White House and gains in civil rights before America splintered amid cultural divisions and Vietnam War protests.

The Space Race refers to the period of competition over space exploration between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War.

Learn about Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that ended school segregation and reshaped the Civil Rights Movement.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact signed in 1939 by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union before World War II broke out. The pact lasted until Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of East Germany began to build the Berlin Wall, a barbed wire and concrete wall separating East and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989.

The atomic bomb and nuclear bombs, powerful weapons that use nuclear reactions as their source of explosive energy, were developed during World War II and are regulated by international agreements.

During the 1950s, the United States was the world’s strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the 1950s also saw great conflict. The nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed underlying divisions in American society.

On the home front during World War II, life in the U.S. was changed by rationing, defense production, women’s jobs and popular radio and movie entertainment.

King Philip’s War, a failed effort by Native Americans of New England to drive out English colonists, was led by Wampanoag chief Metacom (aka King Philip).

Sitting Bull (1831-1890) was the Native American chief under whom the Lakota tribes united in their struggle for survival on the North American Great Plains.

Crazy Horse was a Lakota leader and warrior who clashed with the U.S. federal government.

Witness to some of the most consequential military interactions between Plains Indians and the US government in the latter part of the 19th century, Black Elk wrote a vivid chronicle of Lakota Sioux history and spiritual traditions.

Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804-06, exploring the lands procured in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

When the first European settlers arrived in the region around Narragansett Bay (present-day Rhode Island) around 1635, they encountered a number of Indigenous peoples, including the Algonquian-speaking Narragansett.

George Armstrong Custer rose to fame as a young Union commander in the Civil War before his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Wounded Knee in South Dakota was the site of an 1890 Indian massacre by U.S. Army troops, and a deadly 1973 occupation by Native American activists.

In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation, mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands.

The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a grassroots movement for Indigenous rights, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group has organized many high-profile protests and occupations, and was a driving force behind the Native American civil rights movement of the 1970s.

As Europeans sought to control newly settled American land, wars raged between Native Americans and the frontiersmen who encroached on their territory, resources and trade.

Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief who organized a Native American confederacy to create a free Indian state and stop white settlement in the Great Lakes region.

As explorers sought to colonize their land, Native Americans responded in various stages, from cooperation to indignation to revolt.

Native Americans, also known as American Indians and Indigenous Americans, are the indigenous peoples of the United States. By the time European adventurers arrived in the 15th century A.D., scholars estimate that more than 50 million Native Americans were already living in the Americas — 10 million in the area that would become the United States.

The Trail of Tears was the deadly journey Native Americans were forced to undergo after being removed from their ancestral lands.