History All Day – Stories From the Past, Every Day

Black and white photograph of Ottoman infantrymen in fezzes and dark uniforms standing in ranks with rifles and fixed bayonets

World Figureheads

Turkey and Qatar Sign a Defence Pact. In 1893 They Fought at Al Wajbah

Turkey and Qatar just signed a mutual defence pact. In 1893 Sheikh Jassim Al Thani beat an Ottoman column at Al Wajbah and starved its garrison out of Doha.

Tomás Ferreira · November 15, 2026

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Black and white photograph of a US Air Force C-119J cargo plane trailing a trapeze of poles and lines as it snags a parachute capsule above the ocean

SpaceX Caught a Starship. In 1960 a Cargo Plane Caught a Spy Capsule

November 15, 2026

Scan of two printed journal pages from 1856 showing Eunice Foote's paper with small tables of thermometer readings in common air and carbonic acid gas

COP31 Talks Carbon in Antalya. Eunice Foote Warned About It in 1856

November 15, 2026

Black and white photograph of Lys Assia in a white dress singing on a small round stage in a television studio, with an orchestra and conductor to her left

Eurovision Asia Has a Winner. The 1956 Original Never Published Its Scores

November 15, 2026

A dark grey US Navy RH-53D minesweeping helicopter of squadron HM-14 parked on an airfield apron, with crew standing nearby

Tankers Hit Mines Off Hormuz. In 1984 a Libyan Ferry Mined the Red Sea

November 15, 2026

Photograph of Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Soong Mei-ling seated in a garden in Cairo in November 1943, with advisers standing behind them

World Figureheads

In 1943 Stalin Refused to Sit With China's Leader, So FDR Held Two Summits

November 14, 2026

More Stories

Sepia carte de visite photograph of Ratu Seru Cakobau, an elderly Fijian chief with white hair and moustache, seated and wrapped in bark cloth

Measles Is Killing Americans Again. In 1875 It Emptied a Quarter of Fiji

Hannah Lindqvist · November 14, 2026

Night photograph of a floodlit crane barge lifting the capsized ferry George Prince out of the Mississippi River, with salvage workers standing on its railing

Before the New Orleans Riverboat Crash, There Was the Luling Ferry in 1976

Priya Raman · November 14, 2026

Painting by Emanuel de Witte of merchants in dark cloaks and hats gathered under the arcades of the Amsterdam exchange courtyard, with a clock tower beyond

Anthropic Goes Public. The First Public Share Sale, in 1602, Had No Exit

Eleanor Whitcombe · November 14, 2026

Black and white photograph of a small boy in a headscarf holding a fish at a crowded fish stall in Tsukiji, Tokyo, in 1949

Strange History

The Yen Is Past 160. In 1949 the Occupation Fixed It at 360, Legend and All

Jonah Okafor · November 14, 2026

Pope John Paul II waves from a white popemobile escorted by police motorcyclists past crowds in Edinburgh during his 1982 visit to Britain, with the castle rock behind

Pope Leo in Buenos Aires: When John Paul II Flew Into the Falklands War

Marcus Delacroix · November 13, 2026

A printed 1948 illustration of the new North Korean flag on a flagpole, blue, white and red stripes with a red star in a white circle

World Figureheads

North Korea Reshapes Its Flag. In 1948 a Linguist Had to Sell the First One

Tomás Ferreira · November 13, 2026

Black and white photograph of the steamship Talune, a single-funnel steamer, tied up at a wharf

Samoa's Other Epidemic: The Ship That Brought the 1918 Flu to Apia

Eleanor Whitcombe · November 13, 2026

Steve Jobs in a dark suit and tie leaning on a table behind an original Apple Macintosh computer, keyboard and mouse, against a red backdrop, in 1984

Nvidia Loses Its Founder. In 1985 Apple's Board Pushed Out Steve Jobs

Priya Raman · November 13, 2026

Black and white studio portrait of Sun Yat-sen in middle age, with a moustache, a high collar and a coat with a wide fur collar

Strange History

Sun Yat-sen at 160: The 12 Days He Was Held Inside a London Legation

Jonah Okafor · November 13, 2026

Black and white photograph of Morarji Desai, far left in a white cap and dark waistcoat, standing with Mani Ram Bagri and a group of Indian and European guests in front of clipped hedges and a stone building

World Figureheads

India's Note Ban Is 10 Years Old. Morarji Desai Tried It First in 1978

Tomás Ferreira · November 12, 2026

Photograph of Deng Xiaoping and President Jimmy Carter waving from a White House balcony, January 1979

Xi Hosts Trump in Shenzhen, the Border Town His Father Helped Unlock

Hannah Lindqvist · November 12, 2026

Spain's Biggest General Strike Was Called Against a Socialist in 1988

Marcus Delacroix · November 12, 2026

Front view of a cast of the Taung Child fossil: a small face with large eye sockets and milk teeth, with the reddish stone of the brain cast behind it, against a black background

Strange History

The Taung Child Is Now 3 Million Years Old. In 1925 Nobody Believed It

Jonah Okafor · November 12, 2026

Photograph of the first permanent soldier guarding the low marble Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, March 1926

The Unknown Soldier's Tomb Got a Guard Because People Picnicked on It

Priya Raman · November 12, 2026

Colour photograph of Sheikh Hasina in glasses and a red and pink sari over her head, speaking into a microphone at a rally in Gopalganj in 2023

World Figureheads

Hasina Wants to Go Home From Delhi. She Did It Once Before, in 1981

Tomás Ferreira · November 11, 2026

Studio photograph of Isaiah T. Montgomery, a Black man with a grey goatee, in a dark suit and patterned tie with a ribbon on his lapel

Mississippi's Senate Count Runs on Rules From an 1890 Convention

Marcus Delacroix · November 11, 2026

Color photograph of two Saudi princes in white headdresses and dark robes seated on a purple sofa in front of a vase of chrysanthemums

Saudi Arabia Won Its 1934 War With Yemen, Then Gave Back the Port

Eleanor Whitcombe · November 11, 2026

Black and white photograph of a painting of Le Frigorifique, a three-masted steamship under sail with smoke from its funnel, flying the French flag at the stern

The Cold Chain Hackers Hit in France Began on a Ship From Rouen

Hannah Lindqvist · November 11, 2026

Black and white photograph of uniformed soldiers in campaign hats marching with rifles past a tobacco warehouse during the Armistice Day parade in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, November 1942

Congress Moved Veterans Day to October in 1971. The States Refused

Priya Raman · November 11, 2026

Black and white studio portrait of General Juan Vicente Gómez, Venezuela's ruler, with a heavy moustache, wearing a dark suit and patterned tie, about 1910 to 1915

Strange History

Venezuela's Oil Age Began With a Well That Sprayed Crude for Nine Days

Jonah Okafor · November 10, 2026

Hand-colored 1749 engraving of a West Indian sugar works, with cane growing on the left, a boiling house, an animal-driven cane mill and enslaved workers watched by an overseer

In 1972 John Berger Won the Booker and Gave Half to the Black Panthers

Hannah Lindqvist · November 10, 2026

Color photograph of the sheer limestone walls of Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park, with the Rio Grande running between Mexico on the left and the United States on the right

Big Bend Was Meant to Be Half of a Park Shared With Mexico, Not a Wall

Priya Raman · November 10, 2026

Black and white photograph of the old Cairo railway station, a long building with a clock tower, seen across a square crowded with street vendors' carts in the early 1900s

World Figureheads

Egypt's Heir Drowned When His Train Fell in the Nile, and Ismail Got Egypt

Tomás Ferreira · November 10, 2026

Black and white photograph of President Sukarno in a peci cap and dark glasses, smiling and waving from the back of an open car in Washington, with photographers and onlookers behind him, May 1956

Indonesia's First Vice President Quit in 1956. The Post Sat Empty 17 Years

Marcus Delacroix · November 10, 2026