war

Hurricane Dorian uncovered two Civil War cannonballs on South Carolina's Folly Beach—and it's not the first time cannonballs have washed up there.

New York State Military Museum // Public Domain

In May 1918, Henry Johnson found himself alone in a French forest with a wounded ally, an empty rifle, and dozens of German soldiers closing in. He didn't run. He fought.

Thomas Franklin Vaughns served his country twice, and has spent the rest of his life serving America’s youth.

The American destroyer USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor's contributions to world history didn’t begin—or end—on December 7, 1941. From epic rock concerts to astronaut visits, the storied lagoon has seen quite a lot.

On August 10, 1984, 'Red Dawn' stormed into theaters and made history as the first-ever PG-13 film. Wolverines!

A week before Germany invaded Poland, Hitler organized and then called off a series of border skirmishes. This telegram shows that one Nazi didn’t get the memo.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Friend, one of the remaining original members of the Tuskegee Airmen—the first group of African-American pilots to serve in the U.S. military—passed away at 99 years old on June 21.

Charles Gomez Jr. was 20 years old when he was killed in the Pearl Harbor attacks. On what would have been his 97th birthday, he was finally buried at home.

Decades after John W. Hayes died in World War II, his remains were discovered in a Belgian American military cemetery.

During World War II, the Marine Corps turned to the Navajos and their complex language to create a code no one could crack.

The Battle of Towton (1461) during the War of the Roses.

This 30-plus-year period of bloodshed between England's House of Lancaster and the House of York inspired 'Game of Thrones.'

The slang of WWI is still being used today.

Though it was more than 100 years ago—on April 6, 1917—that the United States entered the First World War, its effect on our language continues.

Portrait of detainnee Tom Kobayashi at Manzanar War Relocation Center, Owens Valley, California, 1943

On February 19, 1942, FDR sanctioned the removal of Japanese immigrants and Americans of Japanese heritage from their homes to be imprisoned in camps throughout the country.

Kurt Hutton, Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In 1952, at the height of the Cold War, elementary schools in Lake County, Indiana asked hundreds of students to line up, raise their arms, and get ready for the stabbing pain of a tattoo gun, all in the service of post-apocalyptic blood transfusions.

Rockfleet Castle, which Grace O’Malley used as a base

She debated with Queen Elizabeth I, sat at the head of a prosperous pirate empire, and told the English where to go.

General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

To make the banknotes, Nazis relied on forced labor from artists, bankers, and known forgers being held captive in concentration camps.

Karolina Kristensson, the Swedish National Maritime Museums

In 1628, the 'Vasa' sank on its maiden voyage. For the next 300 years, it sat in a watery grave—until one man sparked a monumental effort to salvage it.

During World War II, even America's "greatest thing" wasn't safe.

Julius Neubronner/Jennavecia, Wikimedia Commons // Public domain

An ingenious way to take aerial photos.

WWI fighters had a lot to fear in battle—but few thought they'd be battling wolves.

Get to know the pony-riding, eel-eating, cave-dwelling rogue who became Scotland's most famous king.

Advances in DNA technology have made it possible to identify previously unknown victims.

The story of how a swashbuckling duck became a sergeant with honors in the United States Marine Corps.

Hajotthu, Wikimedia Commons // Public domain

Hester Pulter broke convention—and the expectations of her gender and class—by writing about science and politics.

Civil War Cannonballs Found on South Carolina Beach in Aftermath of Hurricane Dorian

Henry Johnson, the One-Man Army Who Fought Off Dozens of German Soldiers During World War I

Thomas Franklin Vaughns, 99-Year-Old Former Mechanic for the Tuskegee Airmen, Just Received Five Army Medals

10 Things You Might Not Have Known About Pearl Harbor

12 Surprising Facts About Red Dawn

World War II’s First Telegram Will Be Auctioned Off Later This Month

Robert Friend, One of the Last Surviving Tuskegee Airmen, Dies at 99

Navy Sailor Who Was Killed During Pearl Harbor Is Finally Laid to Rest, 77 Years Later, On His 97th Birthday

Remains of World War II Soldier From Texas Finally Identified Nearly 75 Years After His Death

Fighting Words: The Navajo Code Talkers of World War II

11 Fascinating Facts About the War of the Roses

20 Slang Terms From World War I

12 Facts About Japanese Incarceration in the United States

The Disturbing Reason Schools Tattooed Their Students in the 1950s

Grace O'Malley, the Fearless 16th-Century Irish Pirate Queen Who Stood Up to the English

When Germany Planned to Airdrop Fake Money to Take Down Great Britain in World War II

The Quest to Find—and Save—the World's Most Famous Shipwreck

The Time the U.S. Government Banned Sliced Bread

When Pigeon Photographers Offered a Real-Life Bird’s-Eye View of the World

The Time German and Russian WWI Soldiers Banded Together to Fight Wolves

11 Facts About Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

More Than 75 Years Later, Remains of Pearl Harbor Sailors Are Being Returned to Their Homes

The Story of Siwash, the Beer-Drinking Duck Who Joined the Marines

A 17th-Century Noblewoman's Rare Poems About War-Torn England Can Be Read Online