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The Iroquois Theater in 1903

On This Day in History

A 1903 Fire at a Chicago Theater Killed 602 People, Prompting Enduring Safety Reforms

Officials thought the brand-new Iroquois Theater was fireproof and designed for maximum safety. The scope of the tragedy and the ensuing panic quickly proved them wrong

Dating from 1940, this photograph depicts a sign at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, South Dakota, where 250 American Indians were killed in 1890.

On This Day in History

On This Day in 1890, the U.S. Army Killed Nearly 300 Lakota People in the Wounded Knee Massacre

The mass murder made sensational news at the time, but getting to the heart of the matter took a much deeper view of American history

Alexander Solzhenitsyn in West Germany following his deportation from the Soviet Union in February 1974

On This Day in History

Discover the Story Behind a Legendary Exposé of the Brutality of the Soviet Union

Published on this day in 1973, “The Gulag Archipelago” drew on Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s experiences as a political dissident in a prison camp, but it left him deported and stateless for the next two decades

Fascinating finds unveiled in 2024 ranged from a jade Maya funerary mask to a Roman dodecahedron.

Cool Finds

Seventy-Seven Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2024, From a Mysterious ‘Anomaly’ Near the Great Pyramid of Giza to a Missing Portrait of Henry VIII

The year’s most exciting discoveries included musket balls fired in the early days of the American Revolution, a lost composition by Mozart and a medieval chess piece

The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on February 7, 1964.

On This Day in History

Beatlemania Took the United States by Storm on This Day in 1963, Launching the British Invasion

With their arrival in America, the Beatles ushered in a new era of hyper-popular rock ’n’ roll music

Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain in southern England.

New Research

Ancient Britons May Have Built Stonehenge to Symbolize Unity

The monument was built during a period of immigration from mainland Europe, and it may been intended to unify communities across the British Isles

A drawing of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914, when German and British soldiers left their trenches to meet, talk and swap food in no-mans land.

On This Day in History

A Stunning Series of Informal Ceasefires Known as the ‘Christmas Truce’ Began on This Day in 1914

After official attempts at a World War I truce failed, soldiers in the trenches of the Western Front took it upon themselves to share in the bonhomie of the season

The bone and tile floor was found in a building in Alkmaar's historic center.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in the Netherlands Just Uncovered a Centuries-Old Floor Made of Cow Bones

Found beneath a building in the town of Alkmaar, the animal bones had been used to fill in gaps between crumbling pieces of tile

Over the centuries, mollusks have eaten away at the ship's hull, which was constructed using the "on the shell" technique.

Divers Discover 2,500-Year-Old Shipwreck Off the Coast of Sicily

Dating to the fifth or sixth century B.C.E., the vessel could provide new insights into the relationship between the ancient Greeks and Carthaginians

Researchers made replicas of Neolithic clay trays and baked their own focaccia bread.

New Research

Scientists Say Bakers Were Making an Early Version of Focaccia Bread 9,000 Years Ago

New research suggests that Neolithic communities living in the Middle East experimented with recipes and baked large flatbreads between 7000 and 5000 B.C.E.

Sculptures of Grýla, mother of the 13 Yule Lads, and Skyrgámur, a Yule Lad fond of Icelandic yogurt

Before the Yule Lads Evolved Into Icelandic Versions of Santa Claus, They Terrorized Children Into Following the Rules

Today, the 13 brothers are said to leave presents in well-behaved youngsters’ shoes. But they used to be depicted as frightening monsters

An illustration of Joseph Smith Jr. (right) and his brother Hyrum (left)

On This Day in History

Joseph Smith, the Founder and Prophet of Mormonism, Was Born Into an Impoverished and Itinerant Family in Vermont

Throughout his childhood, the young Smith, born on this day in 1805, fought disease, poverty and spiritual battles of his own

Engraving of General Sherman's "March to the Sea"

On This Day in History

General Sherman Offered Savannah as a ‘Christmas Gift’ to President Lincoln. The Victory Signaled the End of His Brutal March to the Sea

Unlike much of Georgia, the historic port city was preserved from Sherman’s wrath, but suffered psychological terror nonetheless

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, holding a soccer ball and a basket

On This Day in History

How a College Gym Teacher in Massachusetts Invented a New Sport to Keep His Students Entertained and Fit During the Frigid Winter

From a humble first game with peach baskets and a soccer ball on this day in 1891, basketball evolved quickly into one of the world’s most popular sports

In Bastogne, Belgium, dignitaries and American veterans who fought in the Battle of the Bulge gathered to commemorate the conflict's 80th anniversary.

Veterans Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s Last Major Attack on the Western Front

Veterans and dignitaries gathered in Belgium and Luxembourg this month to reflect on the deadly World War II conflict that paved the way for a full Nazi defeat

The new quarter design featuring Ida B. Wells, the suffragist, journalist and civil rights activist

Women Who Shaped History

These Five Trailblazing American Women Will Be Featured on Quarters in 2025

The U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program has announced its fourth and final group of honorees from throughout American history

During a systematic metal detector survey in southern Arizona, Deni Seymour unearthed a 16th-century cannon likely left behind by Spanish conquistadors.

These 500-Year-Old Cannons May Help Unravel the Mysteries of the Coronado Expedition

The 16th-century artifacts were found during excavations in Arizona. Researchers say they may be the oldest firearms ever discovered in the continental United States

The silver amulet contained a thin foil scroll.

New Research

Archaeologists Say This Tiny Amulet Is the Oldest Evidence of Christianity Found North of the Alps

Discovered in central Germany, the 1,800-year-old silver artifact held a tiny scroll, which researchers have now deciphered using high-resolution scans

Happiness "lights up" similar areas on both modern and ancient body maps, with the exception of the liver, which was more significant for the ancient Mesopotamians.

Ancient Texts Reveal How Mesopotamians Felt Emotions—From Happiness in the Liver to Anger in the Feet

Researchers found that ancient Mesopotamians associated body parts with emotions, just as we do—but they discovered some hilarious differences

Frances Perkins served as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945.

Who Was Frances Perkins? Meet the Trailblazing Workers’ Rights Advocate Whose Homestead Just Became a National Monument

Perkins was America’s first female cabinet secretary and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor

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