The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Prelude to the Tiananmen Square crackdown

On June 2, 1989, two days before the military-led massacre that would come to be known as the Tiananmen Square crackdown, nine of China's top leaders discussed how to stop pro-democracy protesters. During this meeting, leader Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech that has shaped the country ever since, in which he advocated for a forceful end to the protests while supporting China's economic "opening-up" featured in protesters' demands.

An in-depth account of the image of 'The Falling Man' whose final seconds capture the visceral horrors of 9/11

Do you remember the photograph above? In the US, people have taken pains to banish it from the record of Sept. 11, 2001. Here's a detailed account of the story behind it, the search for the man pictured in it, and its impact on those who lived through the tragic day.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

The Iranian Revolution relied largely on nonviolent tactics

Despite thousands of unarmed protesters killed by the Shah's forces, the revolution relied overwhelmingly on nonviolent tactics, including strikes, demonstrations, and civil disobedience, with up to 9 million Iranians peacefully taking to the streets, making it one of history's largest protest movements by population percentage.

A group claims a man is trapped inside Chicago's 'Cloud Gate'

Although they appear to be performance artists, the group claims they're earnestly protesting the captivity of a man inside the iconic public art piece designed by Anish Kapoor. City officials say there is no man inside the object.

Bitcoin's founder has always remained anonymous

A pseudonym used by the person or group of people who created bitcoin—the first decentralized cryptocurrency—the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has baffled millions of enthusiasts for years.

The tragic story behind 'Afghan Girl' (1984)

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is "Afghan Girl" by Steve McCurry. Sharbat Gula, the subject of the photo, was not credited until 2002 for her role in the famous National Geographic cover, and continued to live in poverty after the photo was taken.

Conspiracy theories persist around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 assassination

Despite multiple investigations—including FBI inquiries and a 1979 House committee report—questions and conspiracy theories have continued to surround the 1968 assassination of Dr. King long after his assassin’s conviction.

How a Nazi leader became known as the 'living Buddha' of Nanjing

Nazi party leader John Rabe helped Chinese civilians and soldiers survive Japan’s World War II invasion, earning the title living Buddha of Nanjing, previously anglicized as Nanking. Read more about his efforts in this article.

A photo story of the Chinese civil war and creation of modern-day China

A deep dive of the twists and turns of China's civil war and how the People’s Republic of China was established, illustrated through restored photographs in color.

See the list of alleged communists Orwell gave to the British government

In 1949, Orwell provided a list of communist sympathizers to a British anti-communist propaganda unit, naming figures like actor Charlie Chaplin and writer John Steinbeck. When it was made public in 2003, some called Orwell a government informant, though others blamed his tuberculosis, which would take his life a year later, while others blamed his romantic interest in the woman who asked him for the names.

How the Guy Fawkes mask became iconic

The Guy Fawkes mask, popularized by the film "V for Vendetta," is now one of the most iconic visual symbols in recent history. Learn about the mask's origin and adoption by protest movements in this brief piece. The movie presents an anonymous,...

Protesters in Boston tossed chests of a type of Chinese black tea called Bohea

There were hundreds of chests of loose tea dumped into Boston Harbor on Dec. 16, 1773, in protest. The tea was not bagged (tea bags were not invented for another 150 years), and they were not bricks, either, a common way to pack tea elsewhere in the world. The tea was mostly Bohea tea, a common Chinese blend of black teas originating from southeastern China.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Was the Mỹ Lai massacre an outlier?

Hundreds of Vietnamese civilians, including children, were tortured and slaughtered during an attack by American troops in what came to be known as the Mỹ Lai massacre. Was such violence as much of an outlier as we’d like to believe? Not according to this researcher’s findings. Author and researcher Nick Turse explains the evidence behind the realization in this 31-minute interview.

Tony Hawk often doesn't get recognized in public

Tony Hawk is frequently misrecognized—partly because he's older now and his legal name is Anthony—with strangers often telling him he "looks like Tony Hawk" without realizing he is, in fact, the famed skateboarder.

Meet Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space

In addition to being the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin was a charismatic propaganda icon and a diplomatic headache for the West. This article examines why his image—and legacy—endured long after he died in 1968.

A Chinese-Mexican alliance marked one of history's largest nonviolent money laundering schemes

In 2019, Chinese-American gangster Xizhi Li was arrested for an expansive money laundering scheme spanning four continents. Li reportedly laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for cartel members, wealthy Chinese Americans, and other foreign countries.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located in Arlington National Cemetery

Dedicated on Armistice Day in 1921, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier serves as a symbolic memorial for unidentified fallen service members. It has been guarded continuously since 1937 at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sartre's 1980 funeral attracted a massive crowd

The legendary existentialist died April 15, 1980. A week later, mourners packed the streets of Paris to pay tribute. Estimates suggest that between 20,000 and 50,000 people were in attendance. In the Associated Press footage below, you can watch them following the hearse from the hospital where the thinker died to his resting place in Montparnasse Cemetery.

One Martin Wong painting contains a secret homage to graffiti culture

After the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired painter Martin Wong's "Houston Street," they discovered there was another work on the back of the canvas that featured contributions from some of the luminaries of the 1980s New York graffiti scene.

How 'the Iceman' got his tattoos remains a mystery

Ötzi the Iceman, discovered in 1991, is one of the oldest human mummies ever found—and his 61 tattoos remain a mystery. This explainer looks at how researchers believe the tattoos were made, what their placement suggests about ancient medicine and culture, and why we’re still piecing together their true purpose today.

In 1968, two American Olympians raised their fists while the anthem played

Tommie Smith won the gold medal in the 200-meter event at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games, followed closely by his teammate John Carlos, who earned the bronze. When they stood on the winner's podium while the national anthem played, the athletes raised their fists, mirroring a popular Black Power gesture.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

The 1974 anarchist protest in Denmark that later inspired SantaCon

An interview with one of the participants explains what the performance art group that planned the event was hoping to achieve. Hordes of Santas walking down the street with a giant goose, attacking buildings with backhoes and pickaxes, handing out “presents” stolen from department stores, and eventually being arrested.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Wojtek the bear fought for Poland in World War II

Wojtek was a Syrian brown bear who eventually became a mascot, symbol, and eventually a soldier attached to the Polish II Corps during World War II. Learn about the amazing Wojtek, the Polish II Corps, and the incredible history of the Polish soldiers, many of whom had been imprisoned by the Germans or Soviets, who served during World War II.

Who is the woman behind today's CPR doll?

According to a recent survey, about half of Americans know how to do CPR—many of whom learned on a mannequin called Rescue Annie. It turns out that this training doll may be based off a woman who became famous after drowning in the Seine, after...

A West Berlin student dug a tunnel under the Berlin Wall—29 East Germans escaped

This podcast recounts how a young West Berlin student excavated a secret 135‑meter tunnel beneath the Berlin Wall in 1962. A total of 29 East Germans escaped to freedom, even as a Stasi mole threatened exposure.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'