History

The year is 1692 and Salem, Massachusetts, is filled with dangerous tales of witchcraft. Twelve-year-old Prudence is shocked when she and her cousin Elizabeth visit neighbor girls who claim to be bewitched. By the next morning, Elizabeth appears to be...

On April 9, 1939, Black contralto Marian Anderson stood on a stage before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Facing a crowd of 75,000 people on the National Mall, she began to sing “America, My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” From the very...

As the only child of the famous Irish chieftain Owen “Black Oak” O'Malley, piracy was in young Grace O’Malley's blood. She grew up on Ireland’s west coast and loved the land and seas her family had controlled for generations. They...

Born poor in rural China, Ching Shih's early life was full of challenges. But she would grow to become one of the most powerful pirates the world had ever seen. She made a name for herself using her intelligence and cunningness. Learn how Ching Shih...

The year is 1937, and the Hindenburg airship is about to land. Twelve-year-old Bonnie has enjoyed her journey across the Atlantic Ocean on the airship. She’s marveled by the sight of New York City when she hears a big THUD! In the moments that...

Little is known about Edward Teach’s life before he became known as the fearsome pirate Blackbeard. But during the Golden Age of Piracy, he ruled the seas along the coast of the North American colonies and beyond. Learn more about...

Throughout his three years as a pirate, Bartholomew Roberts—aka Black Bart—ruled the Atlantic Ocean. He plundered more than 400 ships in three years, making him one of the most successful captains of piracy's golden age. Learn how Roberts...

Twelve-year-old Anya has a good life with her family in the town of Pripyat, not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But then, one night, an explosion lights up the night sky—and something about the flames doesn’t look right...

The year is 1912 and the famed ocean liner, the Titanic has just hit an iceberg. Twelve-year-old Annie has left her home in Ireland to begin a new life in America with her widowed mother. The peaceful journey across the sea comes to an end when...

Today, we can talk to someone across town or even across the country right away. We just pick up the phone and call them. But it took a lot longer to get in touch with folks before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. With historical images and...

How can medicine that tastes like bubble gum make you feel better so quickly? It has penicillin in it—an antibiotic that helps treat bacterial infections. But we wouldn’t have the drug without the work of Alexander Fleming. With historical...

In 2019, the remains of the Clotilda were discovered in the Mobile River. The discovery of the last slave ship helped document the history of Africatown—a community built by Africans who had been illegally brought to Mobile, Alabama, on...