World War II

Seventy Years Ago Today, Queen Elizabeth Secretly Partied with Commoners

Before she became Elizabeth II, the then-princess slipped into London's streets incognito to celebrate Europe's victory over Germany

An image of Alexanderplatz in May 1945, set in Alexanderplatz today. Behind it, poking just above the image, is the Park Inn Hotel.

Dramatic Images of Berlin in May 1945, Set Against the City's Prosperous Present

"Spring in Berlin" compares Germany's capital city at the end of World War II and today

Germany Just Opened a Nazi Museum in the Party's Former Headquarters

70 years later, Munich's mayor says the city is ready to "face up to its Nazi past"

How Do Seals Find Their Prey and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

The flight deck of the U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet, some 800 miles off Tokyo Japan, where it shows some of 16 Billy Mitchell (B-25) Bombers, under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle, just before they were guided off flight deck for historic raid on Tokyo, April of 1942.

The Untold Story of the Vengeful Japanese Attack After the Doolittle Raid

When the U.S. responded to Pearl Harbor with a surprise bombing of Tokyo, the Imperial Army took out its fury on the Chinese people

There's New Information About Anne Frank's Death

New research challenges the notion that if the Frank sisters had lived a few days more, they’d have survived the war

Found: A Secret Nazi Hideaway in the Heart of an Andean Jungle

Hints of a dark Nazi history found in Argentina

Paul Allen used his superyacht Octopus to locate a Japanese battleship near the Philippines.

Microsoft Billionaire Finds Enormous Sunken Japanese Battleship

Paul Allen used his megayacht to locate the long-lost ship, which has been missing since World War II

United States Marines pose on top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima with the American flag on February 23, 1945.

Photos From the Battle of Iwo Jima to Mark Its 70th Anniversary

The battle for the Pacific island in the late winter of 1945 positioned the United States to invade mainland Japan, but at a cost

A former bombe operator shows the back of a drum from the decryption machine at Bletchley Park.

Brains Make Decisions the Way Alan Turing Cracked Codes

A mathematical tool developed during World War II operates in a similar way to brains weighing the reliability of information

An Enigma deciphering machine from the German navy

Notes From Alan Turing’s Code-Breaking Days Found in Roof Insulation

The rare code-breaking documents include sheets used to calculate settings for the machine working on "Enigma"

Jean Valentine, a former Bombe machine operator, shows a drum of the machine in Bletchley Park Museum in Bletchley, England.

Women Were Key to WWII Code-Breaking at Bletchley Park

Female operators and mathematicians play a greater role in the history of computers and code-breaking than most realize

Turing's journal was kept while he helped build the Bombe Machine, a device used to encrypt Nazi codes.

Turing’s Secret Notebook Is Up for Auction

The notebooks offer a glimpse into the mind of a codebreaker

Olympian and airman Louis Zamperini crouches in his starting position on a B-18 bomber.

"Unbroken"'s Louis Zamperini Crashed Into the Pacific on May 27, 1943. Here is the Missing Air Crew Report

The National Archives holds a record with details of the downing of the former Olympian's B-24 bomber that left him lost at sea for 47 days

Bound for Morotai Island, Private Bryan Carroll, Memphis, TN, relaxes on the deck of an LST with a book. He leans on a pile of his belongings, which include his helmet and mess kit.

How Books Became a Critical Part of the Fight to Win World War II

Author Molly Guptill Manning explains the importance of reading to the American victory

January 2015 marks 50 years since the death of Winston Churchill, shown here in 1943, known for his writing and speeches.

The Illustrious History of Misquoting Winston Churchill

Saying exactly what Churchill said isn’t easy—or cheap

The German U-576 off the coast of France, around 1940 or 1941. It sunk near North Carolina in 1942.

Wreckage of a Nazi U-Boat Was Found Off the Coast of North Carolina

A freighter lost in that skirmish was also discovered in the "graveyard of the Atlantic"

Ex-Nazis Received Social Security Payments From America

Dozens of former Nazis are suspected of collecting millions in Social Security in return for exiting the country

Distinctive gold cuff links provided a recognition signal between Soviet mole Pyotr Popov and his CIA contacts.

A Private Tour of the CIA's Incredible Museum

Inside the agency's headquarters is a museum filled with relics from half a century of cloak-and-dagger exploits

"I instinctively distrusted the food," Hess wrote. An American psychiatrist would later marvel at the "colossal naiveté of this Nazi mind."

Rudolf Hess’ Tale of Poison, Paranoia and Tragedy

Why are packets of food that belong to the Nazi war criminal sitting in a Maryland basement?

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