Current Events that Relate to History
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Comment
CIA Agents Successfully Executed a Plan For Regime Change in Iran in 1953
A covert US campaign in the mid-20th century helped steer Iran toward the intense anti-American sentiment that has distinguished its government policy.The Conversation -
OverviewThe End of Limits on a President’s Wars
Past conflicts eroded Congress’s ability to decide when to go to war. Donald Trump’s attack on Iran destroyed it.The New Yorker -
Book ReviewA Healthy, Vigorous National Life
George Templeton Strong’s Civil War diaries are a sobering object lesson for today’s reader.The Baffler -
ProfileJames Madison
Process over perfection.In Pursuit -
idea
2026 Iran war
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RetrievalWhen Some Americans First Lost Their Constitution
Parliament's 1774 revocation of Massachusetts's charter and the representative government it enshrined was the last straw for many colonists in Worcester.Journal of the American Revolution -
exhibitImperial Ambitions
Five hundred years of empire building in North America and beyond its borders.
From the HNN Archive
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How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
The long history of promising an “efficient” federal government. -
If the Slipper Doesn’t Fit
A scorched shoe is a crucial part of Zelda Fitzgerald’s modern mythology. But there’s no proof it existed. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
Elevating the Few
What JD Vance excludes from the history of the Civil War and immigration. -
Whose Side Are College Administrators On?
There’s a long history of politicians targeting student protesters — and of campus leaders abetting those efforts. -
Solve for AI
What the history of the pocket calculator reveals about the future of AI in classrooms. -
“At Any Future Time”
In 1880, the daughter of a Welsh politician turned to fiction to expose perspectives missing from the official record, upending histories for generations to come. -
Slamming America’s Door Behind Him
How a son of European immigrants fought to keep Indian immigrants out of America. -
Governing by Police
The Metropolitan Police Department in DC has been an essential component of Washington politics since its founding. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial.