History

Why King Charles III Was an Unpopular Heir

Examining King Charles III's decades of controversy could offer some clues to how he might rule as sovereign.

The Story Behind TIME's Queen Elizabeth Cover

TIME's cover commemorating the Queen, who has died at age 96, features a timeless image by Sir Cecil Beaton

Watch Live: The World Mourns the Death of Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen's Style Evolution Over the Years

The monarch's time on the throne wasn't just characterized by her impressive reign, but also by her sharp sense of style.

When Did Queen Elizabeth II Become Queen?

Queen Elizabeth II had an unexpected rise to power, as well as an unexpected duration on the throne

Queen Elizabeth II Showed Why Britain Still Has a Monarchy

Her power was not the work of tradition alone. Look back at TIME's coverage

Where This Labor Day Fits Into American History

“This is going to be one of the most hopeful Labor Days that the American labor movement has seen in many a year,” says Joe McCartin, an expert on U.S. labor history at Georgetown University

The Untold Story of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in World War II

During World War II, thousands of Japanese Americans fought for the U.S. against Japan, now their story is finally being told

The Cold War Didn't Have to End. Gorbachev Made It Happen

Mikhail Gorbachev made three crucial decisions that were key to ending the Cold War peacefully

The Best Movies and Shows About Princess Diana

From 'The Crown' to 'Spencer'

How Princess Diana Is Still Shaping the Royal Family

Princess Diana represented a vision of what the royals could be. That dynamic has only grown stronger since her death in 1997.

How 'Glasnost' and 'Perestroika' Changed the World

Those two Russian words were synonymous with Mikhail Gorbachev's campaign for reforming Soviet society. Here's what to know about them.

Climate Change Is Destroying American History

As climate change increases the severity of extreme weather—and as the history community struggles to meet the crisis—the nation’s legacy is at risk

African-American History Finally Gets Its Own AP Class

'Nothing is more dramatic than having the College Board launch an AP course in a field,' says Henry Louis Gates Jr., who helped develop the curriculum

The Inside History of How Guns Are Marketed and Sold in America

America's gun industry is currently fixated on selling military-style weapons to consumers, but it wasn't always this way

Is Joe Biden Really Another Jimmy Carter?

Historians and former Carter advisers fact-check the critics who have compared Joe Biden to Jimmy Carter

What Is the Espionage Act?

Documents reveal that the FBI is investigating whether former President Trump violated the Espionage Act of 1917. Here's what to know

Women in Civil War Changed the Idea of Who Could Be Nurses

Before the war, most nurses were men.

Indigenous Groups in Canada Want More Than the Pope's Apology

Brian Normand spent only a couple years—between the ages of five and six—at St. Charles Day Residential School in Manitoba, Canada, in the early 1960s, but he still feels the effects of that experience decades...

What Watergate Experts Think About the Jan. 6 Hearings

And how the two moments compare

Looking Back at TIME's Coverage of Shinzo Abe: 'I Am a Patriot.'

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday, appeared on TIME's cover three times.

How Depictions of Abortion in Movies and TV Have Changed

Sociologist Gretchen Sisson traces the history of abortions on screen back to the 1916 silent film Where Are My Children?, about a woman who has been rendered infertile after having multiple abortions

The Supreme Court Is Dooming America to Repeat History

Those who do not learn from history, George Santayana famously wrote, are doomed to repeat it. But today’s Supreme Court majority seems to have a different idea of the lessons of the past. Increasingly, they...

Beyond the Founding Fathers: 12 Unsung Figures Who Helped Build America

From the brain behind the “We the People” clause in the U.S. Constitution, to a woman who risked her life holding loyalist soldiers prisoner during the Revolutionary War

The Era of 'Self-Evident' Truth Is Over

"We hold these truths to be self-evident." On Independence Day 2022, these words stand out as starkly anachronistic. What does that mean for America?

Anti-'Critical Race Theory' Laws Are Working

Teachers say there's a 'chilling' effect on how they talk about race

What People Get Wrong About the History of Bisexuality

Bisexuality introduces nuance, which has always made it easier to discard than accommodate it

The True Story Behind Starz's Becoming Elizabeth

The Starz series Becoming Elizabeth centers on the teenage years of Queen Elizabeth I. To the surprise of show creator Anya Reiss, this era was one aspect of the English monarch’s life and historic 45-year...

Juneteenth Is Now a National Holiday. Are Reparations Next?

The drumbeat for reparations for Black Americans is sounding again, perhaps louder than ever before

Why Juneteenth and July 4 Honor Different Kinds of Freedom

If we already had one Independence Day, why did we need another? This works as a question about the holidays, but also about the history

The Surprisingly Progressive Promises of General Order No. 3

The language of Order No. 3 also promised a lot that couldn’t be delivered, advising freedmen to “remain quietly at their present homes” and “work for wages” without any way to guarantee either

How to Honor Juneteenth, According to Black Activists

Already, companies are learning how not to celebrate Juneteenth

How Andrew Jackson Lost a Presidential Election and Wound up in the White House

Charges of stolen presidential elections are rare in American history. Only three candidates—Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump—have been associated with such claims. In Nixon’s case, rumors of voting irregularities in the 1960 race...

80 Years On, It's Unclear the U.S. Would Win a New Battle of Midway

On June 4, 1942, the first day of the battle of Midway, the U.S. Navy sank four Japanese aircraft carriers for the loss of one of its own. This tore the heart out of Kido...

A Lynching in New York 130 Years Ago Shows That the North Isn’t Immune to Racial Hatred

On June 2nd a gathering in Port Jervis, New York will witness the unveiling of a plaque memorializing the lynching 130 years ago, on June 2, 1892, of Robert Lewis, a local Black citizen. Though...

Who Is the Longest Reigning Monarch?

Just months before her death, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne