A small island nation built the largest empire in history

Watch the British Empire expand and recede over 5 centuries

This interactive map traces the British Empire from 1450 to today—showing its explosive 19th-century expansion to one-quarter of the world's land and its steady contraction after World War II.

The British Empire, explained

This three-minute 1440 explainer traces the rise of the British Empire, which at its height ruled nearly one in four people—about 500 million—and spanned so many regions that admirers called it “the empire on which the sun never sets.”

How the British Empire transformed into today’s voluntary Commonwealth of Nations

This video explains how former British colonies—now independent states—evolved into the modern Commonwealth, a loose association representing nearly one-third of the world’s population. It traces the shift from imperial rule to a cooperative forum with no legal obligations to Britain or its monarch.

The history of the British Empire—all in a single take

This video delivers a rapid, rhyming walk-through of the British Empire—filmed in one continuous shot aboard a sailing ship and featuring costumed actors portraying figures from Sir Francis Drake to Pocahontas.

British colonialism left economic institutions that still shape growth today

This analysis argues that while the British Empire inflicted exploitation and long-term harm, it also exported institutions—like standardized property rights and land surveying—that boosted economic development in some colonies.

A trading company became Britain's most powerful imperial force

The East India Company began as a private merchant venture and grew into Britain’s dominant power in India—amassing wealth, fielding armies, and governing tens of millions until the Crown took direct control in 1858.

An alternate-history BBC homepage imagines a world where the British Empire endured

An image on Reddit envisions a 2021 BBC homepage from an uncollapsed Empire, featuring hypothetical crises in Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland, and Barbados, alongside upbeat coverage of tourism in “British Palestine”—a snapshot of how imperial news might look today.

Hear about the legacy of the British Empire

This popular history podcast hosts a discussion about the legacy of the British Empire with guest Sathnam Sanghera, a journalist and author of the books "Empireland" and "Empireworld." The conversation contemplates the impact and lasting legacy of the Empire.

See how Britain promoted imperial trade through 1920s propaganda posters

This photo gallery showcases posters from the Empire Marketing Board, created after Canada gained dominion status in 1926. The campaign encouraged Canadians to buy goods from across the British Empire, producing more than 800 posters displayed nationwide.

Some colonies were centuries-old before they broke from Britain

The revolution did not happen overnight, but was a culmination of centuries of settlement, policies, and war in North America. This timeline provides key, fascinating events from the 1600s through the Revolution in a smooth, easy-to-read interface.

History of Hong Kong: an illustrated timeline

This visual timeline explores the history of Hong Kong, a Chinese community that was under British rule for 156 years until it was returned in 1997. Hong Kong was ceded to the British via the Treaty of Nanjing, an agreement that ended the First Opium War. This timeline details 25 crucial events that have happened to and in Hong Kong, a Democratic territory that stands apart from mainland China's Communist government.

One hundred rare, vintage photos of the British royal family

Their power may be in symbol only, but the Royal family commands our attention anyway. Take a look through the last few decades at some of the more choice, unknown shots of the Royal family, from Queen Elizabeth II to King Charles III.

How did China go from an empire to a republic?

In the 1800s, as China's economy was in flux, foreign imperialist powers began appearing on the horizon, leading China to lose land and influence in the region. This 48-minute podcast episode explores how this destabilization set the stage for the...

Japan was an empire from 1868 until 1947

The Empire of Japan began on Jan. 3, 1868, and facilitated rapid modernization. It endured through a period of colonial expansion—including Korea and Taiwan—1930s militarism, and participation in WWII, until Japan’s formal transformation into a constitutional state under the 1947 constitution following Allied occupation.

What was it like to rebel against the Inca Empire?

The Inca Empire grew to its gargantuan size and became the largest empire in ancient Americas through conquest, annexation, and arranged marriage, approaches that didn't always go over well with locals. Watch this five-minute video to experience a...

The world's largest coral, as seen from space

The world’s largest individual coral colony—measuring over 100 feet wide and 100 feet long—was discovered in the Solomon Islands. This coral is so large it can be seen from space, and is estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old. The coral's size and health provide hope amidst a global coral bleaching crisis, wherein three-quarters of coral reefs have experienced significant bleaching in recent decades. See the photos from space and learn more here.

In a 2012 poll, Brits named Washington as the kingdom's greatest military enemy

The poll by the UK's National Army Museum ranked Washington above Irish independence hero Michael Collins, France's Napoleon Bonaparte, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

The British pound is the oldest currency still in use

Also known as the “pound sterling,” the British pound is more than 1,200 years old. It dates back to around 775 CE, but it didn’t become the official currency of England until the 12th century. One pound originally represented a pound of silver. The below graphic shows some of the other oldest currencies still in use today.

How the Beatles became the most influential band on Earth

Beatles geek and comedian Conan O'Brien is a special guest with the Rest is History podcast in this exploration of the quartet from Liverpool's mammoth role in global pop culture. The two-part podcast was recorded in Abbey Road Studios, the world's first dedicated recording facility, where the band recorded 190 of its 210 songs.

World War I causes

World War I was, as the name says, truly war on the global scale. Fought between the French, Russian, British, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman, and Russian Empires, it was in part, a battle for territory. And after the war ended, several of these empires collapsed. Explore the different causes of World War II in this article.

Great Zimbabwe: the massive medieval trading hub in southern Africa

Arising during the 13th century, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe’s capital quickly grew into a central trading hub, dealing in items from across the world, before its decline in the 1400s. Great Zimbabwe had three distinct districts, each surrounded by...

Critics of Alexander the Great see him as power-hungry and ruthless

Arguments against his greatness include that he likely murdered his father for the throne, poorly led his territories, and only conquered one empire despite touting greater feats. Proponents argue that he was a skilled military leader and helped usher in the Hellenistic Age, where Greek cultural influence spread across Europe and Asia.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

The world reached historic levels of democracy under the rules-based order, though that trend has reversed

The share of democracies worldwide grew dramatically from the mid-20th century, reaching an all-time high in the early 2010s. Since then, the trend has reversed, with an increasing number of countries experiencing democratic backsliding.

How a 19th-century aristocrat scammed the rich to buy fake Caribbean land

Nearly 200 years ago, Gregor MacGregor pulled off one of the most brazen real estate scams in history. A disgraced military leader, MacGregor sold plots of land in what is today Honduras, touting the country of Poyais as a new major region in South America. But no building was taking place, and instead of investing the proceeds of bond sales in construction, MacGregor was lining his pockets. Read the unbelievable story of MacGregor's exploits here.

See how New York City has grown since 1609

Wall Street and the southern tip of Manhattan were the first parts of the island to be developed beyond farmland by Dutch and English settlers. It wasn’t long until New York City resembled the city we know today.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

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

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.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

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

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.