With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Did You Know?

  • How Many Emails Did Bill Clinton Write as President?
  • Who Wrote More Words than Anybody Else?
  • What Are the Origins of the Jewish Blood Libel Myth?
  • NASA Considered -- The Rejected -- Female Pilots in the 1960s
  • Ben Franklin's Musical Invention Enjoys a Revival
  • How the Zip Code Changed America
  • Does the Stock Market Do Better Under Democrats or Republicans?
  • Why Is Washington DC So Much Smaller than the Founders Envisioned?
  • What's a Spider Hole?
  • They Can't Both Be Right
  • How the Smithsonian Finally Got an African-History Museum
  • Why Is There a Pyramid on U.S. Money?
  • The Anasazi Ate Turkey Long Before the Pilgrims
  • Who Invented Port?
  • Lincoln Never Said That
  • So the Pilgrims Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
  • When Was Cloture Devised?
  • George McGovern's Faux Pas
  • JFK Was Almost Killed as President-Elect
  • The Woman Behind Thanksgiving
  • So Where Did the First Thanksgiving Take Place?
  • Iraq's Casualties Greater than Vietnam's During the First 3 Years of War in Asia
  • His Father Fought in the Civil War -- HIS FATHER!
  • Racist Place Names
  • Name the Person Who Made These Anti-Semitic Remarks
  • What Happened to the Riderless Horse at JFK's Funeral?
  • Oldest Condom in the World
  • What Does the Stock Market Tell Us About Next Year's Election (And Vice Versa?)(
  • Islam's Division into 2 Main Camps Began When ...
  • What? Charlie Chaplin Wasn't Jewish?
  • Just How Lewd Was Elizabethan England?
  • When the Papal Chair Is Empty
  • Benedict Arnold's Flawed Gravestone
  • How Did Mobsters Hide Bodies?
  • Noted Suicides Through History
  • Did the Japanese Use Mustard Gas in WW II?
  • How the Poverty Rate Is Determined
  • Dr. Rice, I Presume!
  • Reagan Opposed the Recall
  • Edison and the Electric Chair
  • How Many Generals Have Been Elected President?
  • Did the U.S. Count Civilian Dead in Vietnam?
  • Voting in California 100 Years Ago: How Things Have Changed
  • Korea Used to Be Spelled Corea: Why That Is Now Important
  • The 10 Commandments?
  • Bush Is a Divider not a Uniter
  • Peter L'Enfant?
  • Quick: Guess Which Film Clip from the 20th Century Is the Most Popular?
  • Muslim Against Muslim: The War Within Islam
  • Keep the 10 Commandments in the Alabama Courthouse?
  • What Was the Triangle Trade?
  • Why Do Suburbs Feature Grand Lawns?
  • House-Senate Conference Committees: A Tempestuous Past
  • Road Accidents ... Are Cars to Blame?
  • Has a UN Official Ever Been Specifically Targeted for Assassination?
  • When Did World War II End?
  • What Is the Baath Party
  • Productivity Isn't Increasing Faster Now than in the Past
  • Was Duke University Built with Tobacco Money?
  • Why Don't Editors Show Dead People on TV or in Newspapers?
  • What Event in History Cost the U.S. the Most Money?
  • Why Do Museums Now Have to Worry About the Origins of Their Artifacts?
  • Bush's 2 Question Rule
  • Did the British Invent Lasagne?
  • Putting the Death Toll of Saddam's Victims in Perspective
  • The Story of the Only Enlisted Man to Be Honored with a Memorial at Gettysburg
  • The Origins of the Great Seal
  • Wright Brothers Didn't Hail from North Carolina
  • Ohio's Importance in the Presidential Sweepstakes
  • Paul Revere's Ride: A Team Effort
  • How Easy Would It Be for a PhD to Make an Atomic Bomb?
  • Do You Know the Story Behind the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria?
  • How Much Do States and Localities Spend?
  • What War Since World War II Has Been the Deadliest?
  • Is the American Economy Really the Best Off in the World?
  • Just How Badly in Debt is the United States?
  • What Kind of Gas Mileage Did the Model T Get?
  • The Gay Betsy Ross
  • How Did St. Petersburg Come into Existence?
  • Does the Stock Market Affect Presidential Elections (Or At Least Reflect Economic Conditions that Decide Elections)?
  • How Did Arlington National Cemetery Come into Being?
  • Is It Iraq or Irak? (And Is It E-raq or Eye-raq?)
  • When the U.S. Government Tested Chemicals on American Citizens
  • Did State Spending in the 1990s Get Out of Control?
  • Why Do Soldiers Shout HOO-AH?
  • Where Does the Word Quarantine Come From?
  • "Render to Caesar": What Jesus Meant
  • What's a Cakewalk?
  • How Does the Bush Tax Cut Compare with Reagan's and Kennedy's?
  • When Did President Begin Releasing Their Tax Returns?
  • Was"Americanism" Always the Preserve of the Right?
  • What the Marshall Plan Cost
  • Terrorists and Pirates
  • Imbedded Journalists: Nothing New
  • New Zealand: We Beat the Wright Brothers
  • On the Relationship Between War and Money
  • Will the Bush Tax Cuts Prove Supply-Side Economics Works?
  • War-Speak
  • Iraq's Indebtedness Is as Deep as Its Oil Wells
  • War of Words
  • Public Opinion in the 1930s When Danger Lurked Everywhere

  • Do Wars Bring About Prosperity?

  • Blacks Were Not Over-Represented in the Ranks of the Vietnam Troops

  • Science and War

  • How Long Do Our Wars Last?

  • Why Do We Put Up Yellow Ribbons During Wars?

  • Will Iraq Begin Selling Oil in Dollars Again?

  • The History of the Marine Units Fighting in Iraq

  • Why do Soldiers Wave a White Flag When Surrendering?

  • Say Goodbye to the Cold War Peace Dividend

  • Just How Big Is the Projected Deficit?

  • Artists And War

  • How often has the u.s. Used the veto at the un?

  • Bush's Infrequent Press Conferences

  • How The NYT Missed The News That Crick And Watson Had Discovered Dna

  • Out Of Africa

  • So How Long Will We Stay In Iraq?

  • It Took Less Time To Try Eichmann

  • 25 Percent Of Gulf War Vets Disabled

  • Is The Stock Market Doomed This Year?

  • Hard To G