The story of Hitler's first—failed—attempt to takeover Germany

The Nazi Party was founded in Germany in 1920 and tried a failed coup in 1923

Founded in Germany in February 1920, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) attempted its first major power grab in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch—a failed coup in Munich that killed about 16 Nazis and four police officers, led to Hitler’s arrest and treason trial, but ultimately elevated his public profile.

There were dozens of attempts to assassinate Hitler—most famously Operation Valkyrie in July 1944

Across his reign, Hitler survived at least 40 plotted and actual assassination attempts, ranging from lone actors in beer halls to organized military conspiracies. The most notable, Operation Valkyrie on July 20, 1944, led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, planted a bomb at the Wolf’s Lair in an effort to kill Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. Though the explosion injured several, Hitler escaped with minor wounds, prompting a brutal purge of conspirators.

In 13 years, Hitler transformed a fringe sect into Germany’s dominant political force

The BBC Radio 4 podcast Nazis: The Road to Power chronicles Hitler’s meteoric rise—from fewer than 100 followers in 1910s Bavaria to absolute control by 1933—highlighting key conspiracies, political deals, brutal street violence, and forgotten figures that paved the way for Nazi tyranny.

How the Great Depression and end of WWI paved the way for Hitler’s rise to power

The end of WWI was triggered by an armistice that blamed the conflict on Germany and required the financially struggling country to pay reparations. This outraged nationalists and ignited conspiracies that Hitler was able to capitalize on, according to this six-minute video. It was during this financial strain that the Great Depression hit.

Dreaming under the Nazi Regime

Days after Hitler seized power, a man told psychoanalyst Charlotte Beradt that he had dreamed of being forced to raise his arm in a Nazi salute ("It took me half an hour to get my arm up, inch by inch"). Beradt recorded this dream and many others so they "might one day serve as evidence." This is an English translation of her work, "The Third Reich of Dreams."

European leaders pursued appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s

In the 1930s, Britain sought to maintain peace by ceding territory to Nazi Germany, most notably via the 1938 Munich Agreement allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland. These concessions, seen as pragmatic amid anti‑war sentiment, ultimately failed to curb Hitler’s aggression and directly contributed to the outbreak of World War II.

In the 1980s, excerpts from fake diaries of Adolf Hitler were published in a prominent German magazine

Excerpts from the diaries were published in other publications around the world, like The Sunday Times, despite uncertainty about their authenticity. After forensic analysis, the diaries were proven to be fake. The diaries were produced by Konrad Kujau, a petty criminal who frequently produced counterfeits.

Rewrite 1930s Germany with this alternative history game of politics

You are at the head of the Social Democratic Party in Germany in 1928 and must use parliamentary politics, the media, and more to oppose the ascendant National Socialists. This text-based, narrative simulation becomes a lesson in the complexities of political history.

Hitler's 1941 invasion of the USSR doomed Nazi Germany

Hitler unleashed Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, underestimating Soviet resilience, Russian winter, and logistics. His overconfidence—rooted in early victories like France—turned this campaign into a strategic catastrophe, shifting the war’s momentum irreversibly—often cited as his greatest blunder.

Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 launched World War II

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany launched a surprise invasion of Poland using blitzkrieg—coordinated air bombardments and armored assaults—to overwhelm Polish defenses within weeks. This lightning-strike strategy shocked the world and signaled both the start of World War II and a revolutionary shift in modern military tactics.

Some senior Nazis fled to South America and lived for decades

Using so-called "ratlines" through Spain, Italy, and into South American countries like Argentina, many of Adolf Hitler's closest associates evaded capture after the fall of Berlin in 1945. This video details the fate of eight, including infamous doctor Josef Mengele and logistics expert Adolf Eichmann.

Adolf Hitler deeply admired Henry Ford, citing him as an inspiration for "Mein Kampf"

Hitler frequently praised Ford's anti-semitic viewpoints, both before and during the Holocaust. While Ford denied being sympathetic to the Nazi regime, Hitler kept a portrait of Ford on his desk, and Ford accepted the highest military award available to a foreign citizen from the Nazi government.

Exploring Kristallnacht

Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, saw Nazi members break into Jewish stores and homes across Germany in retaliation for the assassination of a German diplomat by a Polish Jew. The event—called "Kristallnacht," meaning "night of the broken glass"—was tacitly condoned by the German authorities at the time. This richly produced interactive explores the events of Kristallnacht guided by one of its survivors, Charlotte Knobloch.

German expressionism produced some of horror’s earliest classics

After World War I, German filmmakers turned from reality to the surreal, fusing experimental art with the nascent world of film. Some of the movement’s most notable films, like FW Murnau’s “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” and Robert Wiene’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” were intent on frightening their audiences.

Hear from people who experienced Germany's unification in 1990

What was it like to see Germany's fractured halves reunite in 1990? Explore eyewitness accounts of the reunification of Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall in this collection of artist and resident interviews. The Berlin Wall sundered the city...

German Nazi war crimes suspect, 96, who went on the run goes on trial

A 96-year-old German woman who was caught shortly after going on the run ahead of a court hearing last month on charges of committing war crimes during World War Two appeared before a judge on Tuesday in the northern town of Itzehoe.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1937 court-packing plan sought to expand the Supreme Court—and failed

Frustrated by Supreme Court rulings against the New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed expanding the court in 1937. The failed plan triggered fierce backlash and is regarded as the last serious presidential attempt to alter the court's size for ideological ends.

The impact of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the final Bauhaus director

The legendary modernist architect—known for maxims like "less is more" and "God is in the details"—had not yet designed some of his most famous buildings when he took over as director for the Bauhaus and steered the school to Berlin when the Nazis effectively closed its Dessau location. This Dezeen profile considers the artist's tenure at the school, which would shape his later work.

A short history of space exploration

Let us to take you back through the timeline of space exploration and its rich, fascinating history, starting in 1946, with a rudimentary German military rocket.

Get the inside story of the duck hunt that birthed the Federal Reserve

Pseudo-duck hunters, private train cars in Hoboken, and a thrilling work week over Thanksgiving 1910—all and more are featured in the wild story of how a group of fed-up bankers and lawmakers tried to create an enduring central bank for the US. Records of the meeting managed to remain hidden for decades.

The origin story of the Paralympic movement and its founder, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann

Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, the founder of the Paralympic movement, revolutionized the treatment of spinal injuries. His belief in the power of sports for rehabilitation led to the creation of the Paralympic Games, now celebrated every Olympic year. This in-depth article from The History Press details the life and achievements of Dr. Guttmann, and includes historical photos and videos of the veterans-turned-athletes whose lives he changed.

Martin Luther is often cited as the first to decorate the Christmas tree—though the practice began decades earlier

Luther lore claims he may have been the first to link tree decorations to Jesus, as he used candles to symbolize the Nativity star. However, German bakers had adorned evergreens with apples and sweets as early as 1419 for Christmas Eve displays.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Donald Trump was impeached a second time for incitement of insurrection after Jan. 6

Following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, the House impeached Trump for inciting violence against the US government. The Senate acquitted him on Feb. 13, 2021. He is the only president who has been impeached twice.

The lost history of Fredegund and Brunhild

In the Middle Ages, there were many powerful queens who ruled their kingdoms with strength and determination, two of the most notable examples of which were Fredegund of Neustria and Brunhild of Austrasia. Unafraid to use murder and intrigue to maintain their power, they played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of their time—but have largely been lost to history.

France invaded Mexico to install a puppet monarchy and recover debt

Napoleon III used Mexico's default on foreign loans as cover for a larger imperial ambition: overthrowing President Benito Juárez's government and installing a French-backed monarchy. The Mexican army's surprise victory at Puebla helped delay those plans by nearly a year.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

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.

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.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

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

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

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

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

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

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

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 US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

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.'

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

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.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

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

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.