Contemporary
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Ending School Segregation
The Supreme Court held 9–0 that state-mandated racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, overturning 'separate but equal' in education.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Contemporary
Laika and Sputnik 2 (1957): The First Animal in Orbit
Laika became the first animal to orbit Earth, showing that a living creature could survive launch and weightlessness, but she died within hours from overheating.
Contemporary
UN Partition Plan for Palestine 1947: Resolution 181 Explained
The General Assembly recommended partition by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions; the Jewish Agency accepted, Arab leaders rejected it, and civil war broke out in Palestine.
Contemporary
Berlin Airlift (1948–1949): Supplying a Blockaded City by Air
The Western powers supplied West Berlin entirely by air for over ten months; the Soviet Union lifted the blockade in May 1949 and Germany was divided into two states.
Ancient World
Proclamation of Telepinu: The Hittite Law of Royal Succession
Established a fixed order of royal succession and gave the assembly (panku) power to judge murders within the royal family.
Ancient World
Olmec Colossal Heads: The Giant Stone Portraits of San Lorenzo
Seventeen colossal heads are known; they are the best-known symbols of Olmec civilisation and among the most remarkable sculptures of the ancient Americas.
Ancient World
Battle of Muye (1046 BC): The Zhou Conquest of the Shang
Decisive Zhou victory; the Shang dynasty fell, Di Xin died, and the Zhou dynasty was founded.
Ancient World
Mohenjo-daro: Great Bath and Planned City of the Indus Valley
Mohenjo-daro became the best-known city of the Indus Valley Civilisation and, in 1980, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ancient World
Fall of Veii (396 BC): Rome Conquers Its Etruscan Rival
Rome destroyed Veii as an independent city, annexed its territory and became the dominant power in the lower Tiber valley.
Ancient World
Linear B (c. 1450 BC): The Script That Revealed Mycenaean Greek
The decipherment showed that Linear B records the oldest known form of Greek, pushing written Greek back some five centuries before Homer.
Ancient World
Meidum Pyramid: The Collapsed Pyramid of Sneferu's Era
The pyramid was completed as a smooth-sided pyramid but later lost its outer layers, leaving a tower-like core rising from a mound of debris.
Ancient World
Stele of the Vultures: Lagash Victory over Umma in Sumer
Eannatum defeated Umma, restored Lagash's claim to the Gu-edena and imposed a border sworn by oaths to the gods.