North America

Illustration of figures holding hand

The long fight over abortion rights in the United States

Emmett TillThe murder that reshaped the American civil rights movement

Episode 4The road to resolution

Episode 3Dangerous days

On Havana waterfront, Cuban soldiers wait by anti-aircraft artillery, after receiving warning of an invasion from the United States

Max Hastings"If the Americans had bombed Cuba in 1962, escalation would have been almost inevitable"

Scene of the 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' at the Disney World in Orlando, Florida, 1971

Why we should remember...The day Walt Disney World Resort in Florida welcomed its first guests

Charles V of Spain depicted on a 16th-century gold coin

Kwasi Kwarteng"Wars are bloody expensive – so the only way nations can buy what they need is by printing their own money"

The USSR showcases its military might at the 1961 annual May Day parade in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)

Nuclear fall-out: how the USA & USSR became bitter enemies

Rosa Parks rides on a Montgomery bus

50 important historical events: from Sutton Hoo to Rosa Parks

Around 200,000 freed slaves, like this soldier, joined the Union military in the Civil Wa

The Emancipation ProclamationYour guide to Abraham Lincoln's proclamation

The CIA: everything you wanted to know

East German leader Willi Stoph greets West German chancellor Willy Brandt at Erfurt. (Getty images)

Cold War summits: how USA & USSR leaders worked to end the conflict

President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev together

What brought a thaw in the Cold War?

Bridal accessories, including lace gloves and pearls (Alchemia | Dreamstime.com)

Beyond fashion: 6 accessories that reveal changing attitudes in society, from the Georgians to the 20th century

National Woman’s Party activists sew a star onto their ‘ratification flag'

Why we should remember…The 19th amendment

Second World War allies Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin (left to right) at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. East and west would soon become bitter rivals, however

The Cold War: 9 key questions

George C Marshall, architect of the Marshall Plan, which pledged billions of dollars to help rebuild war-torn Europe

What was the Marshall Plan?

President Truman, seen here in 1948

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Craig Charles and Muhammad Ali

My history heroCraig Charles chooses Muhammad Ali

Hollywood history: everything you wanted to know

Reverend Spencer Parsons, head of the Chicago branch of the Clergy Consultation Service (CCS), an interfaith group dedicated to helping women obtain abortions before 'Roe v Wade'

The American clergy who helped women get abortions before Roe v Wade

Richard Nixon at the White House with his family following his resignation as president, 9 August 1974. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Richard Nixon's final address: the day the president departed the White House

Reconstructing black lives in the Antebellum South

A portrait of Moses Roper, the first African-American fugitive from slavery to make a home in Britain

Moses Roper: the story of an American fugitive from slavery in Britain

A painting showing a man and woman side by side with somber expressions. The man holds a pitchfork.

What great paintings sayAmerican Gothic By Grant Wood, 1930

Newspaper front page with headline 'Gen. Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer'

Why we should rememberThe Roswell Incident

An illustration showing the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress in 1850. The law aimed to make it easier for slaveholders to reclaim runaway ‘property’ in the free states, and contributed to rising political tension. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

The story of the American Civil War32 key moments in the landmark conflict

Painting showing the surrender at Yorktown – a man on a horse moves between two lines of cavalry

When and how did the American Revolution end?

The battle of Brooklyn (aka the battle of Long Island), 27 August 1776

American Revolutionary War: the 9 battles that made the United States

A late 18th-century portrait of proto-feminist and first lady Abigail Adams

Women in the American Revolution: what were their lives like?