Ancient Egypt
The remarkable civilization along the Nile River that endured for over 3,000 years and shaped human history
Historical Topics
Explore history through focused topic pages covering events, people, sciences, and more.
Ancient History
Ancient Greece
The birthplace of democracy, philosophy, and Western civilization that flourished from 800-146 BCE
Related years: 508, 490, 431 ...
Roman Empire
The vast Mediterranean civilization that dominated the ancient world for over 400 years
The Neolithic Revolution
The agricultural revolution that transformed human society from hunting-gathering to farming (10,000-3,000 BCE)
Related years: 8000, 6000, 4000 ...
Culture and Arts
Enlightenment
The intellectual movement that championed reason, science, and individual rights in 18th-century Europe
Related years: 1687, 1748, 1762 ...
Modern Art
Revolutionary artistic movements from the late 19th through 20th centuries that broke from traditional forms and embraced new styles and themes
Related years: 1863, 1907, 1917 ...
Protestant Reformation
The 16th-century religious movement that split Western Christianity and transformed European society
Surrealism
Artistic and literary movement that explored the unconscious mind through dream imagery and automatic techniques
Related years: 1917, 1924, 1929 ...
The Renaissance
The cultural rebirth of Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries that revolutionized art, science, and human thought
Related years: 1452, 1503, 1519 ...
Disasters
Hurricanes
The devastating power of nature: how these massive storms have shaped American history, from the Great Galveston Hurricane to Hurricane Katrina
Related years: 1900, 1938, 1992 ...
Johnstown Flood
The catastrophic dam failure of 1889 that killed over 2,200 people and transformed disaster relief in America
Related years: 1889
Economic History
Economics
Exploration
Health and Medicine
Smallpox Eradication
Humanitys greatest medical victory: the complete elimination of a deadly disease through global vaccination campaigns (1966-1980)
Related years: 1796, 1958, 1966 ...
The Black Death
The devastating pandemic of 1347-1351 that killed one-third of Europe and fundamentally transformed medieval society
Medieval History
Byzantine Empire
The Eastern Roman Empire that preserved classical civilization for over 1000 years (330-1453 CE)
Medieval Europe
The thousand-year period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance that shaped European civilization
Ottoman Empire
Multi-ethnic Islamic empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa for 600 years
The Crusades
The holy wars between Christianity and Islam that transformed medieval Europe and the Middle East (1095-1291)
Related years: 1095, 1099, 1187 ...
The Viking Age
The era of Norse expansion, exploration, and cultural exchange that connected Europe to distant lands (793-1066)
Related years: 793, 850, 982 ...
Military History
American Civil War
The defining conflict of 19th-century America that preserved the Union and ended slavery (1861-1865)
Related years: 1861, 1862, 1863 ...
Cold War
The global ideological and geopolitical confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union (1947-1991)
Related years: 1947, 1949, 1961 ...
Cuban Missile Crisis
The thirteen-day confrontation in October 1962 that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war
Related years: 1962
Mongol Empire
The largest contiguous land empire in history that connected East and West (1206-1368)
World War I
The Great War that reshaped the modern world and ended four empires (1914-1918)
Related years: 1914, 1917, 1918
World War II
The global conflict from 1939-1945 that reshaped the world order and marked humanity's most devastating war
Related years: 1939, 1940, 1941 ...
Political History
American Revolution
The colonial rebellion that created the United States and established modern principles of democratic government (1775-1783)
Related years: 1773, 1775, 1776 ...
Civil Rights Movement
Struggle for racial equality and justice in America from the 1950s-1960s that transformed society through nonviolent resistance
Related years: 1954, 1955, 1963 ...
Decolonization
The global movement that dismantled European empires and created dozens of new independent nations (1945-1990)
Related years: 1947, 1957, 1960 ...
French Revolution
The revolutionary upheaval that transformed France and inspired democratic movements worldwide (1789-1799)
Mexican Revolution
Armed struggle (1910-1920) that transformed Mexico from dictatorship to constitutional republic and inspired social revolutions worldwide
Related years: 1910, 1911, 1913 ...
Progressive Era
American reform movement (1890s-1920s) that addressed industrialization problems through government regulation and social activism
Related years: 1890, 1901, 1906 ...
Rise of Democracy
The gradual development of democratic government from ancient origins to modern representative systems
Russian Revolution
The revolutionary upheaval that ended the Tsarist regime and brought the Bolsheviks to power (1917)
Related years: 1905, 1917, 1918 ...
Science
Physics
The study of matter, energy, space, and time - from ancient philosophy to modern quantum mechanics
Related years: 1865, 1900, 1905 ...
Scientific Revolution
The transformation of European science from 1450-1700 that established modern scientific methods
Related years: 1543, 1609, 1610 ...
The Scientific Method
The development of systematic observation, experimentation, and reasoning that revolutionized human understanding from medieval times onward
Related years: 1265, 1543, 1620 ...
Social History
The Atlantic Slave Trade
The forced migration of millions of Africans that shaped the Americas and modern world (1444-1888)
Related years: 1444, 1619, 1807 ...
The Holocaust
The systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany (1933-1945)
Related years: 1933, 1938, 1942 ...
Technology
Internet and World Wide Web
The revolutionary network technologies that connected the world and transformed human communication
Related years: 1969, 1989, 1991
The Printing Press
Gutenberg's revolutionary invention that transformed knowledge, literacy, and communication across Europe from 1440 onwards
Related years: 1440, 1450, 1455 ...
The Space Race
The 20th-century competition between the United States and Soviet Union to achieve spaceflight supremacy
Related years: 1957, 1961, 1969 ...
Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
The engineering marvel that connected Europe and America with instant communication, shrinking the world forever (1858-1866)
Related years: 1844, 1858, 1866 ...