National Geographic History

See how National Geographic History magazine inflames and quenches the curiosity of history buffs and informs and entertains anyone who appreciates that the truth indeed is stranger than fiction with a digital subscription today. And that history is not just about our forebears. It’s about us. It’s about you.

FROM THE EDITOR

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National Geographic History

New Clues in a 100-Year-Old Mount Everest Mystery • The discovery of explorer Sandy Irvine’s boot brings researchers a step nearer to clarifying the last moments of his doomed 1924 ascent.

MYSTERIOUS VANISHING

OBJECTS THAT TELL A CHILLING STORY

The Hello Girls: Unsung Heroines of World War I • Often working within artillery range, uniformed American women operated the phones and helped clinch victory for the Allies in 1918. Only now is their role being fully recognized.

AMAZING GRACE

CHANGING ROLES

FROM FLAGS TO PHONES

Atatürk, Father of the Turkish Nation • Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became Turkey’s first president, enacting radical, controversial, Western-inspired reforms.

New Era, New Alphabet

FATHER OF THE TURKS

Liberia: Colony of Liberty With a Dark History • After free Black Americans settled in Liberia in 1822, it became the world’s second Black republic. But the West African colony was blighted by the legacy of racism in the United State

THE BATTLE OF MEGIDDO • THUTMOSE III CONQUERS THE EAST

AMENEMHEB, THE MODEL OFFICER

THE MASTER OF NORTH AND SOUTH

THE SHADOW OF MITANNI

ALEXANDER AND PHILIP • Alexander the Great’s clashes with his father were chronicled in vivid detail, yet in spite of the tensions, Philip saw Alexander as his heir, and raised him to rule.

OLYMPIAS, “PERFIDIOUS” OR MALIGNED?

ALEXANDER, VICTORIOUS AT CHAERONEA

THE BANQUET THAT SET FATHER AGAINST SON

THE MURKY DEATH OF PHILIP OF MACEDONIA

ALEXANDER’S LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP

CELTIC TREASURES • From the fifth century b.c., the Celts fashioned iron, bronze, silver, and gold into weapons for their warriors, breastplates for their horses, and exquisite tableware for their banquets. Many of these treasures were then deposited in their tombs.

THE CELTIC ART OF WARFARE

THE HORSE IN THE CELTIC WORLD

JEWELRY IN LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE

WHO’S WHO IN THE PECKING ORDER

DRUIDS, GODS, AND SEVERED HEADS

SAMURAI THE DECLINE OF A WARRIOR CASTE • For the samurai, the stability and centralization of the Tokugawa shogunate eventually led to the loss of their role. With no masters to serve, the samurai became poets, monks, swordsmen, and gangsters.

BASHŌ, FROM SAMURAI TO POET

HAGAKURE

THE ROTARY REVOLUTION • Although Leonardo da Vinci sketched a flying machine lifted by a rotating screw in the 1400s, it wasn’t until the 19th century that pioneers created rotary-wing models that left the ground. First called a helicopter in 1861 (from the Greek words for “spiral” and “wing”), the race was on to create an aircraft capable of crewed, vertical takeoff. The helicopter rapidly developed, transforming 20th-century transport and warfare.

Jade-Suited Royalty of the Rock Tombs of Mancheng • In 1968 soldiers digging an air-raid shelter south of Beijing discovered two palatial cave tombs containing lavish, jewel-encrusted burial suits.

Royal Grave Goods