Barbara Maranzani Archives ‑ History.com

How U.S. Intelligence Misjudged the Growing Threat Behind 9/11

Among the missteps: lack of intel‑sharing between agencies, tepid responses to earlier attacks and a failure to grasp the magnitude of the terrorists’ ambitions.

Why Mexico Won the Alamo but Lost the Mexican‑American War

In March 1836, Mexican forces overran the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, achieving victory over those who had declared Texas’ independence from Mexico just a few weeks earlier. Although nearly everyone at the Alamo was killed or captured, Texas achieved independence when Sam Houston won an unlikely victory at the Battle of San Jacinto the […]

Why the British Royal Crown Failed to Save the Romanovs

Nicholas’ five children were shot, bludgeoned, stabbed and then shot again. Could the Romanovs’ many royal relatives across Europe have helped prevent the slaughter?

Did Perestroika Play a Role in the Fall of the Soviet Union?

Mikhail Gorbachev introduced perestroika and glasnost as well‑intentioned reforms to transform the Soviet Union.

What Happened to Aaron Burr After He Killed Alexander Hamilton in a Duel?

Burr’s political achievements are largely overshadowed by his duel with Hamilton.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Robert F. Kennedy

1. He attended nearly a dozen schools and failed the third grade. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on November 20, 1925, Robert Francis Kennedy was the seventh child (and third boy) born to Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife Rose, the daughter of a former Boston mayor. Smaller and frailer than his siblings, Bobby was often […]

Why the Battle for Hamburger Hill Was So Controversial

For almost 11 days in May 1969, American troops waged a deadly battle for control of a 3,000‑foot‑tall hill in a remote valley in South Vietnam. Famously known as “Hamburger Hill,” the battle launched the first phase of Operation Apache Snow, a coordinated attack by the U.S. Army and South Vietnamese forces (known as the […]

Map: Top Templar Sites in Western Europe

These were special spots for the Brotherhood.

Knights Templar Hot Spots in the Holy Land

This strategic Holy Land port came under Western control during the First Crusade—but changed hands several times after. In 1291 it was the last Christian‑held fortress in the Holy Land when it fell to the Mamluks—one of the most devastating events in Templar, and Western, history. One of the four Crusader states established following the […]

Why Friday the 13th Spelled Doom for the Knights Templar

Why are Fridays that fall on a month’s 13th day so fearful? Some attribute the origins to the Code of Hammurabi, one of the world’s oldest legal documents, which may or may not have superstitiously omitted a 13th rule from its list. Others claim that the ancient Sumerians, who believed the number 12 to be […]

The ‘Silent’ Protest That Kick‑Started the Civil Rights Movement

At 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 28, 1917, a group of between 8,000 and 10,000 African American men, women and children began marching through the streets of midtown Manhattan in what became one of the first civil rights protests in American history—nearly 50 years before the March on Washington. Accompanied only by the sound of […]

8 of History’s Most Notorious Serial Killers

These are history’s most infamous serial killers.