Images

A photograph showing the US aircraft carrier Hornet and a B-25 Mitchell bomber taking off on the Doolittle Raid which attacked Japan on 18 April 1942 during the Second World War (1939-45). Imperial War Museums

The rise and reign of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (effective rule c. 976–997; tsar 997–1014) marked the final sustained effort of the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) to preserve its independence against Eastern Roman expansion. Following the...

Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, photograph by Judson McCranie, 11 October 2009. Shown here is Fort Sumter, a notable location in US history that marked the beginning of the American Civil War. It is now a national monument...

Major Robert Anderson, photograph by Mathew Brady, circa 1860 to circa 1865. Major Robert Anderson was the Union commander of Fort Sumter, the site of the first battle of the American Civil War. Anderson’s actions ensured he was promoted...

Bombardment of Fort Sumter by the Batteries of the Confederate States, April 13, 1861, woodcut by an unknown artist, 27 April 1861. This woodcut shows the opening of the American Civil War, the attack on Fort Sumter by the Confederate States...

The storm flag of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, 1861, photograph by an unknown photographer. After the original larger garrison flag became ripped, it was replaced by the smaller storm flag shown here, which flew over the fort...

The Age of Sail (c. 1400–1860 CE) witnessed a dramatic expansion of long-distance maritime exploration, driven by commercial ambitions, imperial competition, strategic interests, and the pursuit of geographic knowledge. Powered by wind and...

In early 1861, the United States faced an unprecedented constitutional crisis rooted in the expansion and protection of slavery. Abraham Lincoln’s election (president, 1861–1865) intensified Southern fears that Republican control threatened...

Roman Hispania under Hadrian (reign 117–138 CE) represented the outcome of a long and often violent process of conquest, beginning during the Second Punic War (218–201 BCE) and concluding with the Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BCE). By c. 125 CE...

The Homestead and the Building of the Barbed Wire Fences, oil on paperboard by John Steuart Curry, c. 1935-1943. The Homestead Act of 1862 accelerated settlement of the Western territory, guaranteeing title to 160 acres of surveyed land...