American history

American business magnate JD Rockefeller sits at a desk

Q&A Who was the first billionaire?

US President John F Kennedy gives his first State of the Union address to Congress at the House of Representatives, Washington DC, 30 January 1961. Kennedy is one of eight presidents to have died during their term in office. (Photo by NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)

Q&A How many US presidents died in office?

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Native American leader Sitting Bull

History hero Steven Knight chooses Sitting Bull (1831–90) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Emma Dabiri. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Why black hair matters . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

US infantrymen in snowdrifts

Second World War

Q&A Why is Hitler’s Ardennes campaign called the battle of the Bulge?

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Young people celebrate outside the boarded-up Stonewall Inn after riots over the weekend of June 27, 1969. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)

Stonewall and the fight for gay rights . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

(Image courtesy of NASA)

NASA’s unknown Welsh hero: the story of Tecwyn Roberts

Launch of the Apollo 16 mission, 1972. ((Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

The Space Race: The Cold War rivalry that put humans on the Moon

(Illustration by Kate Hazell for BBC World Histories Magazine)

Back down to Earth: the legacy of the 1969 moon landing

Dornier 217 bombers of the Luftwaffe bomb London during the Battle of Britain.

9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one)

This is an American flag with waves folding over the blue field of stars and red and white stripes. (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)

Revealed: the history of America’s national anthem

The nearly 2,000-mile First Transcontinental Railroad, seen shortly before completion in 1869. (Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images)

How wild was the Wild West?

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To the point: soldiers prepare themselves for hand-to-hand combat by learning bayonet skills. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

The road to D-Day: the masterplan . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Members of a British parachute regiment consult their maps during a training exercise just weeks before D-Day. Training was intensive – and dangerous. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post /Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The road to D-Day: getting ready for action . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Through MK ULtra's experiments, often performed on unwitting test subjects, the CIA hoped to make 'brainwashing' real. (Image by RF CREATIVE/Getty Images)

MK Ultra: the secrets of the CIA’s mind-control programme