Hot Topics

The History of Iraq

Background on the history of Iraq.

Related LinksTruman's Acceptance Speech, 1948, Endorsing Civil Rights. Text.

Teaching About 9-11

What historians have to say about 9-11.

HNN Hot Topics: Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster

The underside of the Space Shuttle Columbia shortly before it began to burn up upon re-entry on February 1, 2003. Credit: U.S. Air Force. Columbia shuttle crew not told of possible problem with reentry (1-31-13) Jonathan Coopersmith: After Columbia, Now What? (8-5-05) NYT: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Space Program (2-2-03)

What the Democrats Should Do (And Shouldn't) Rick Perlstein What the Democrats Have to Do Now Alan Brinkley Rarely Has an Election Left Progressives in Such Despair Eric Foner

Political Conventions

Fun facts and articles.

John Kerry

Fred Barnes: No Candidate in History Hs Ever Run on His War Record Like Kerry Is  Who Is John O'Neill? Was Nixon Behind His Attacks on Kerry in 1971?  Weekly Standard: Kerry Was Always a Peacenik NYT Compares the Background of Bush and Kerry  Mackubin Thomas Owens: Kerry Operated on the Radical Fringe of the Vietnam Anti-War Movement  Stanley Kutler: Why Is Vietnam Back?

What Historians Are Saying About the Pope: Excerpts by Bonnie Goodman High and Low Points in the History of the Papacy by AP Papal Succession Stirs Hope for Real Change by Bill Broadway

Nixon Library and NARA Exchange Thoughts By Bruce Craig The Nixon Papers Deal--An Archivist's Perspective By Maarja Krusten NYT Editorial In an editorial in the NYT the paper chides the Nixon Library for cancelling the Vi

Hiroshima: Harry Truman on Trial

In the summer of 2001, on the occasion of the anniversary of Hiroshima, History News Network staged a mock trial of Harry Truman. The charge: that he violated the Nuremberg standards regarding the lawful conduct of war.

Just for fun, HNN is keeping track of the historians in 2003 who succeed in placing an op ed in the NYT.MIKE WALLACE"Madison Square Mayhem"1-11-03STEPHEN PELLETIERE

Quotes from the past that seem especially relevant to the course modern events are taking.Reagan's View of Yalta (posted 5-17-05) From the Houston Chronicle, May 15, 2005, quoting Ronald Reagan's speech in 1984 on the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising: Let me state emphatically that we reject any interpretation of the Yalta agreement that suggests American consent for the division of Europe into spheres of influence. On the contrary, we

News Stories About Ward ChurchillExcerpts and ArticlesWard Churchill: Links and Comments from Around the Internet By Ralph LukerImagine If Ward Churchill Had Referred to the Victims of AIDS as"Little Perverts" By Max Boot

On this page we'll keep track of attempts to censor history. Entries are often drawn directly from the websites cited without quotation marks.Indians: With this year marking the 300th anniversary of the Deerfield MA raid, the local historical society -- which oversees many of the markers -- has taken to placing removable covers on memorials

Index to the Story

On this page are comments guaranteed to provoke a full 15-round fight. Pugilists, put on your gloves and come out fighting. Re: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Bob Bateman on Richard Pyle Martin Kramer on Juan Cole About Alan Dershowitz

Thomas Bailey was fascinated with historical myths. He wrote several books about them and in 1968 devoted his presidential address to the Organization of American Historians to the subject. In his address he noted that myths are being debunked by scholars all the time but because the debunking often appears in obscure journals"the overburdened teacher" never hears of them. Thus, the myths remain in circulation. Bailey's solution? He suggested that the chief historical societies cre

Articles and Excerpts on HNN Islamist Terrorists Target Us When They Smell Fear By Caleb Carr Grievance Explanations and the Politics of Fantasy By Irfan A. Khawaja Weak Brits, Tough French? By Daniel Pipes

Did You Know?

How Many Emails Did Bill Clinton Write as President? Who Wrote More Words than Anybody Else? What Are the Origins of the Jewish Blood Libel Myth? NASA Considered -- The Rejected -- Female Pilots in the 1960s Ben Franklin's Musical Invention Enjoys a Revival