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Use a year, country, person, event, calendar date or place as your starting point.
Example: 1066 or ChurchillSearchable historical archive
Explore history through people, places, dates and events.
Search structured historical records across world history. Move from a broad subject to a person, event, location or exact date, then follow connected chronology and specialist collections.
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Quick start
Find the right search in three steps
Start with what you already know, choose the most focused search view, then add filters only when you need to narrow the results.
Choose a focused tool
Biography works best for people, Events for named events, and Place for locations.
Use Database when unsureCombine filters carefully
Additional filters narrow the result set, helping you move from a broad topic to a precise record.
Country + year + eventSearch tools
Choose the best way to explore
Use a specialist view when you know what kind of answer you want, or open the full database for the widest range of filters.
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Database
Search year, country, category, person, event, place and description across the widest set of fields.
Broad research↗ ↕Chronology
Display matching records in chronological order to follow sequences, developments and timelines.
Timelines↗ ✦Events
Search event-centred records and compare a named event across years, countries, categories and people.
Events and milestones↗ ♙Biography
Research historical figures through countries, names, categories, roles and connected events.
People↗ ◷Date Search
Find records for a year, month, day or exact date, with optional country and category filters.
Dates↗ ⌖Place Search
Move from a country or place to the people, years, subjects and events connected with that location.
Locations↗ ▤Events Fact Sheet
Build a concise event fact sheet from connected archive records and focused dropdown selections.
Focused summaries↗ ◎Biography Facts
Create a concise person-focused fact sheet using country, surname and given-name selections.
Biography summaries↗ ◫Year Facts
Select a country and year to build a compact view of connected historical events and records.
Year summaries↗Explore dedicated collections
Move directly into some of the archive's major specialist subjects, then follow people and events back into the wider database.
French RevolutionRevolutionary politics, people and events
Russian Revolution1917, Bolsheviks, Soviets and Petrograd
Falklands War1982 conflict, diplomacy and military operations
RMS TitanicVoyage, people, sinking and aftermath
Terra NovaScott, Antarctica and the South Pole expedition
BrunelVictorian engineering, ships, bridges and railways
World War I BattlesMarne, Verdun, Somme, Gallipoli, Jutland and 1914–1918 commanders
World War II BattlesBattle of Britain, Stalingrad, Midway, Berlin and global campaigns
D-Day & NormandyOperation Overlord, beach landings and the Normandy campaign
Major event
D-Day and the Normandy landings
On 6 June 1944 Allied airborne and amphibious forces opened a major Western Front in Normandy. Explore Operation Overlord, the beach landings, Caen, Cherbourg, Operation Cobra and the Falaise fighting.
Explore D-Day records →History in pictures
Major events in world history
Use these visual starting points to move from a major event into the people, dates, places and chronology held across the World History Database.
14 July 1789
Storming of the Bastille
The seizure of the Bastille in Paris became one of the defining opening events of the French Revolution and a powerful symbol of the collapse of royal authority.
Explore the French Revolution → Jean-Pierre Houël, 1789 · image source
10–15 April 1912
RMS Titanic
Titanic left Southampton on her maiden voyage on 10 April 1912. Five days later the liner sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg.
Explore Titanic history → Historical photograph source
6 June 1944
D-Day: Normandy landings
Operation Overlord began with airborne assaults and amphibious landings across five Normandy beaches, creating the Allied bridgehead for the campaign in north-west Europe.
Explore D-Day and Normandy → U.S. Coast Guard photograph source
20–21 July 1969
Apollo 11 Moon landing
Apollo 11 carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin became the first people to walk on another world.
Explore astronomy and space history → NASA photograph sourceFeatured subjects
Moments that shaped history
Military, political, scientific, technological and exploration subjects from across the archive.
First World WarBattles, commanders and 1914–1918 chronology
Second World WarBattles, campaigns, commanders and global events
Cuban Missile CrisisKennedy, Khrushchev, Cuba and Cold War diplomacy
John F. KennedyAssassination, investigation and related events
WatergateNixon, investigation, hearings and political crisis
Weimar RepublicGermany, politics, economy and the inter-war period
AstronomyDiscoveries, astronomers, planets, stars and missions
CinemaFilm, performers, directors, studios and screen history
Research across periods and subjects
A structured search tool for world history
The World History Database is designed for cross-referencing people, dates, places and events. Use the same archive through database, timeline, event, biography, date, place and fact-sheet views.
Wars, battles and military history
- First World War battles and Second World War battles
- Falklands War and Cuban Missile Crisis
- Military leadership, campaigns and peace settlements
Leaders, governments and revolutions
- Presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and political figures
- French Revolution and Russian Revolution
- Watergate, elections and constitutional change
Science, exploration and culture
- Astronomy, discoveries, science and technology
- Terra Nova and Antarctic exploration
- Brunel, Titanic and cinema history