Buzz Aldrin Poses next To The U.S. flag On Moon

American history

The bronze statue in Washington DC celebrating Abraham Lincoln's emancipation of slaves shows the 16th president standing over a shackled African American. Lincoln is "one of the towering figures in the story that Americans tell about themselves," writes Lucy Worsley. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Lincoln and slavery: "If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would"

A painting depicting George Washington with British soldiers at Yorktown. In the final battle of the war at the siege of Yorktown, writes Jem Duducu, there were nearlyas many French soldiers and sailors as American rebels fighting for colonial independence. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

American history myths: 7 things people get wrong

The president of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt and his staff gathered together in New York to find a solution to the economic crisis. 1935. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Icons: the game changers of the 20th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The "brilliant" Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse in 1935. (Getty Images)

My history hero: Walt Disney (1901-66). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

What if JFK had lived?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

JFK prepares to sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union. (Picture by Corbis/Getty Images)

Nuclear nightmare: the Cuban missile crisis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Ghent Altarpiece. (Image by Getty Images)

Who were the real monuments men of the Second World War?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Treaty Of Paris, 1783, by Benjamin West (Photo by Granger/REX/Shutterstock)

Brexit and American independence. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Singer Paul Robeson rehearses at a piano in 1958. He had a unifying outlook, observing that "neither suffering nor compassion is confined to one face." (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

My history hero: Paul Robeson (1898–1976). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the closing bell on 29 September 2008. A record 778 points were wiped off the Dow Jones that day, as the 2008 financial crisis pushed the world's banking system to the edge of collapse. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The credit crunch: "It's a story of hubris followed by a fall". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The first baby is born to English settlers in the Americas. (Illustration by Lynn Hatzius)

A big day in history: the first baby is born to English settlers in the Americas. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's funniest jokes

Brass band playing during Mardi Gras in Mew Orleans

ExploreNew Orleans, United States: Louisiana's 'big easy'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Troops in Korea, c1951. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Forging alliances: Britain and the US in the Korean War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The American War of Independence: Three Films

US president Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands at a summit in Singapore on 12 June 2018. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)

The Trump-Kim summit of June 2018: what did it really achieve?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

President Ronald Reagan throwing a football from his desk in the Oval Office. (Photo by Mary Anne Fackelman-Miner/White House/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Opinion: the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

America's changing dream. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

1983: the Cold War almost goes nuclear. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bay of Pigs invasion: Kennedy’s Cuban catastrophe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pathologist Thomas Harvey holds the brain of Albert Einstein in a jar, Kansas, 1994. Harvey, the on-duty pathologist during the eminent physicist's autopsy, removed Einstein’s brain and kept most of it stored in two glass jars, refrigerated inside a beer cooler, for more than 20 years. (Photo by Michael Brennan/Getty Images)

Q&AWhat happened to Einstein's brain?

TimelineKey moments in the American civil rights movement

The Vietnam War on film. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A badge featuring American civil rights activist Martin Luther King

The global legacy of Martin Luther King. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Martin Luther King waves to supporters on the Mall in Washington DC during the March on Washington, 28 August 1963. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

Martin Luther King's unfinished dream: the historians' view

The postwar world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Actresses in historical drama Jamestown

Transported to 17th-century Virginia: an interview with the women of 'Jamestown'

Ron Chernow on Alexander Hamilton: the man behind the hit musical. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Field Marshal Bill Slim

My history hero: Field Marshal Bill Slim (1891-1970). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A view of Old Trail Town, a collection of historic western buildings and artifacts, located in Cody, Wyoming. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)

General Early Modern

My favourite place: Cody, Wyoming