They were women pilots who went into battle using plywood biplanes. They faced frostbite and bullets when flying. On the ground, they faced sexual harassment and skepticism. Known as the Night Witches, they were some of the most feared pilots of the Russian Air Force during World War II.
Though Christopher Columbus was not the first European to discover North America, he was the first to map parts of two new continents and begin the process of Spanish colonization of the New World.
It is estimated that 90 percent of Americans have a microwave oven. Percy Spencer was an engineer testing a military gadget called the magnetron. During the test, Spencer put his hand in his pocket and realized his snack had melted. Spencer then used the magnetron with other snack items.
Jonathan R. Dull's book on the French navy is mistitled and is really more about the Seven Years' War written around the objectives and needs of the French Navy—much different than what it advertises, but it is very well done.
Wilhelm Röntgen was a German physicist and mechanical engineer. He created and then detected electromagnetic radiation on November 8, 1895. This was done in a way to produce images using X-rays. He was awarded the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physics for his achievements.
During World War II, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a sniper with the Soviet Red Army. She accumulated over 300 confirmed kills. Pavlichenko has the distinction of being the most lethal female sniper in military history.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler was an American author and physician. In 1864, after completing her course of studies at the New England Female Medical College, she became the first African-American female to be a doctor of medicine.
Did Adolf Hitler really commit suicide in the Führerbunker during the last days of WWII?
Agent 355 was the code name for a female spy who served during the Revolutionary War. She was one of the first people to conduct spy operations on behalf of the Colonial Army. Her true identity remains a mystery.
At the end of World War Two, many Nazi war criminals had the help of the Catholic Church in getting out of Europe.
John Logie Baird was a Scottish electrical engineer and inventor. On January 26, 1926, he demonstrated his newest invention. It was the world's first working television broadcast system. Nobody at that time realized the impact television would have on society.
John Chapman was better known as Johnny Appleseed. He is recognized as an American pioneer nurseryman. He is responsible for introducing apple trees in various places around the United States as well as Canada.
Sybil Ludington was 16 when she rode her horse sidesaddle all night to warn local townspeople of British forces attacking Danbury, Connecticut. She rode twice as far as Paul Revere. Sybil Ludington is considered a true heroine of the Revolutionary War.
This article will take a look at the Atomic Age in America, including how it started and how it shaped the country's culture.
Mary Edwards Walker was a surgeon during the Civil War. Because of her dedication to treating the wounded on the battlefield, she was awarded the medal of honor.
Madam C. J. Walker was the first female in the United States to become a self-made millionaire. She developed and marketed cosmetics, hair care products, and more.
A grim discovery in 1942 in the Himalayas has led investigators on a hunt to explain how hundreds of skeletons ended up in and around a small lake.
Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight as a soldier during the Revolutionary War. Her service made her the only female to receive a full military pension for her service in the war.
A massive, almost forgotten, wildfire struck northeastern Wisconsin on the same day as the Great Chicago fire.
Ivan VI became Emperor of All Russia when he was just two months old; his reign was short and tragic.
When Detroit prohibited liquor sales a group of vicious criminals stepped in to satisfy demand.
A surprisingly large number of people wanted a brilliant Canadian engineer dead.
In the 19th century, European powers used opium as a tool for dominating south-east Asia.
In 1961, the US launched a failed operation to topple the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba. What became known as the 'Bay of Pigs Invasion' was a flashpoint of Cold War tension between the US and the USSR, and an example of the challenges of using covert action as a diplomatic tool.
Jack Kipling was one of the thousands of young British men callously thrown into the meat-grinding battlefields of World War I.
The men who go down to the sea in ships know only too well about the dangers involved when the weather turns angry.
Huge numbers of people responsible for the Holocaust escaped punishment; some Jewish survivors decided to correct that.
Nicholas Culpeper was an English apothecary, astrologer, botanist, herbalist, and physician. He is remembered to this day as ‘the people’s herbalist’ who spent his life helping the sick, the poor, and the powerless and fighting the establishment to bring medicine and medical treatment to all.
The Bohemian Club is a secret society where "the one percent" frolics in the forest stirring the imaginations of critics.
Cow Palace is a world-famous landmark building, but how many know its real history? This article discusses the past, present, and future of this California landmark.
After the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act was passed in 1956, conspiracy theories and communist plot allegations followed an attempt to help the mentally ill.
Legendary Chinese female warriors such as Hua Mulan continue to be regularly depicted in pop entertainment. But how many existed in Chinese history?
The Spanish flu pandemic that swept across the globe in 1918 was far more deadly than the seasonal flu or COVID-19. Cities in the U.S. dealt with the flu outbreak from 1918 to 1920 in much the same ways but had quite different outcomes.
This article will provide everything (well, everything important) you'll need to know about fireworks in a short, punchy, informative read.
This timeline of the stock market crash of 1929 gives a chronology of events, quotes from individuals involved in the markets, Dow Jones Industrial Average pricing information, economic data from the 1920s and 1930s, and major newspaper headlines that tell the story of the market crash.
This article discusses the history and significance of the Stonewall Inn in New York City, its 1969 raid by police, and the riots that followed. Annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations trace their roots back to this historic uprising that has served as part of the foundation of the LQBTQ+ movement.
Despite the country’s reputation for conformity, uprisings are not unknown in Japan. Here are 5 famous Japanese rebels who have left a mark in Japanese history.
Seven legendary Chinese beauties who played key roles in the destruction, or decline, of the dynasties they lived in.
To many people, the Middle Ages and the Dark Ages are interchangeable terms. But during the Middle Ages, ideas of philosophy, science, and engineering were being made every day—just not in Europe.
One of the most infamous crooks of the Victoria era was a violent burglar.
At the height of the Cold War, Canadian engineers built an advanced combat interceptor, but it never went into production.
Late in the 19th century, work began on building a railway to the top of the Jungfrau Mountain in the Swiss Alps.
An examination of the Louisiana Purchase and Thomas Jefferson's role in the decision to approve the Purchase.
Ada Lovelace, the mathematician daughter of poet Lord Byron, is sometimes called “the first computer programmer.”
The battle of Haliartus was the first major confrontation of the Corinthian War, the first serious challenge to Sparta's new leadership position in Greece after the end of the Peloponnesian War.
On the day of 11/11/1940, the Armistice Day blizzard took many by surprise, leaving over 100 dead. Many of them were duck hunters. It would be remembered as one of the earliest storms.
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle" (General John Pershing).
While education is important, there are those who accomplish greatness with little or no formal schooling. This article takes a brief look at ten great people in history that changed the world although their educational opportunities were extremely limited.
At the start of the 20th century, riots broke out in London over the vivisection of a brown terrier mongrel. This article discusses the causes and implications of the anti-vivisection movement.
By the late 1800s, the Yahi band of Indians in California had been hunted and killed to extinction, except for one man.
