Martin Stezano Archives ‑ History.com

How MLB’s First Japanese Player Made it to Big Leagues

On September 1, 1964, San Francisco Giants pitcher Masanori “Mashi” Murakami became the first Japanese‑born player to play in a Major League Baseball game. But a dispute between the trailblazer’s Japanese team and the Giants following his historic season effectively shut the door to the majors for players from his home country for nearly three decades. […]

World War I—in Color

Digitally colorized photographs from a century ago help bring “The Great War” to life.

One Man Exposed the Secrets of the Freemasons. His Disappearance Led to Their Downfall

Before his book could be published, William Morgan was dragged away by a group of Masons, never to be seen again.

The Biggest Political Scandals in American History

Grover Cleveland’s Secret Son Just days after Grover Cleveland won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1884, the Buffalo Evening Telegraph published a shocking expose. The paper revealed that, a decade earlier, Cleveland allegedly sexually assaulted Maria Halpin, a woman he was infatuated with, causing her to become pregnant with his child. According to Halpin’s affidavit, […]

Jackie Robinson’s Battles for Equality On and Off the Baseball Field

Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues on April 15, 1947, when he took the field in the top of the first inning against the Boston Braves. When Robinson took his spot at first base, he broke baseball’s six‑decade‑long color barrier, which not only made him an icon to […]

How Super Mario Helped Nintendo Conquer the Video Game World

Originally a second banana character in ‘Donkey Kong’ in 1981, Mario went on to conquer the video game world.

In 1950, Alan Turing Created a Chess Computer Program That Prefigured A.I.

Chess is one of the oldest, and most revered games of strategy and analysis in the world. It’s a game so intricate that some spend their entire lives trying to master it. Nearly 60 years ago, a new player entered the game–one powered not by human intelligence and dedication, but by lines of code on […]

They Can’t All Be iPhones: The Story of Apple’s Forgotten Flop

June of 2017 marked the 10‑year anniversary of the release of Apple’s iPhone, a device that not only revolutionized the way the world communicates, but also helped catapult Apple into a global economic and technological powerhouse. At a time when an estimated 700 million users around the world currently enjoy the fruits of Steve Jobs’ […]

What Were the White Night Riots?

On May 21, 1979, thousands of members of San Francisco’s predominantly gay Castro District community took to the streets to protest the lenient sentence received by Dan White for the murders of local politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Their anger–combined with the actions of police who arrived to quell […]

What is Patriots’ Day?

To most Massachusetts residents—and long distance running enthusiasts—the third Monday in April is “Marathon Monday.” The Boston Marathon has shared the limelight in the Bay State with another celebration for the last 120 years: Patriots’ Day. So what is Patriots’ Day, and what does it have to do with the marathon? For the answer, let’s […]

4 Black Baseball Players Who Followed Jackie Robinson’s Lead in 1947

Jackie Robinson wasn’t the only Black baseball player to suit up in the big leagues in 1947. After he broke the color line and became the first Black baseball player to play in the American major leagues during the 20th century, four other players of color soon followed in his footsteps. WATCH: The HISTORY Channel documentary […]

14,000 Long‑Lost Army Dog Tags May Soon Be on Their Way Home

In 2014, amateur military historian Dan Mackay of Extreme Relic Hunters (ERH) was on the hunt for artifacts in a field near London, England, when he made a remarkable find. Buried next to a World War II‑era anti‑artillery gun were more than 14,000 individually inscribed, British Army‑issued dog tags. Although ID tags like have been in […]