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Libya's Century as a Target for Air Power

by Brett Holman

Libya now holds an unfortunate record. It is the country which has the longest experience of aerial bombardment. Libya was first bombed in 1911, by Italy; now, in 2011, it is being bombed by its own air force. That makes it just under a century from the first bomb to the latest. It helps that Libya was the very first country to experience aerial bombardment from aeroplanes and from airships. I'm using the word 'country' here in a loose sense, as it was then part of the Ottoman

Remembering the Triangle Fire

by David Lee McMullen

March 25, 2011 marks the one hundredth anniversary of what is perhaps the most infamous industrial disaster in the history of the United States—the fire at

A "No Fly" in the Ointment in Libya

by Daniel Martin Varisco

For days we have been watching the ebb and flow of frustration protests in Libya, echoing but not matching the overthrow of long-time despots in Tunis and Egypt, but seemingly less capable of driving the longest terminator of all into an exilic tent (though probably outside one of Berlusconi’s mansions rather than above a madrasa in Saudi Arabia). A week ago it looked like “rebel” forces might march on Tripoli; such was the rhetoric of liberation on the lips of those who took

Unions Could Turn Wisconsin into a Big Victory

by Julius G. Getman

The union movement faces a crisis. It has failed to organize effectively in the private sector, and public-sector unions, which contain the majority of union members, are under attack across the country.  Wisconsin has led the

Lincoln Catches up with the War

by Steven Bernstein

Author's Note:  The following article is in response to some controversy generated by the ending of my book The Confederacy's Last Northern Offensive: Jubal Early, the Army of the Va

The Challenges of Biography: A Quick Q & A with Joseph Esherick

by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom

The good people at the excellent Browser.com website recently asked me to contribute a

Lincoln and Colonization: Navigating the Evidence

by Phillip W. Magness and Sebastian N. Page

None of Abraham Lincoln’s policies have proven more enigmatic for historians than African American colonization.  He spoke up for it at length from the early 1850s right up to his Second Annual Message

Highlights from the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians in Houston, Texas

by David Austin Walsh

Index Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4 VideosRelated Links HNN Coverage: Past AHA & OAH Conferences VideosEmilio Zamora: History Wars: The Texas Textbook Controversy

How Japan Learned About "Nuclear Safety"

by Lawrence S. Wittner

Although people can be educated in a variety of ways, experience is a particularly effective teacher.  Consider the Japanese, who today are certainl

The Atomic Age After Fukushima—Time for an Epilogue?

by Frank Uekoetter

It is a common sport today to label recent events as historic turning points.  Rarely did we see this impulse as speedily at work as during the last weekend.

The Mythic Lure of the “No-Fly Zone”

by Ira Chernus

As Libyan rebels continue their struggle against the Qaddafi regime, the drumbeat here in the U.S. grows louder every day—not for war, or at least not for a good old-fashioned ground war, but for its modern-day equ

A Brief Recent History of Japanese Nuclear Power

by Andrew DeWit and Iida Tetsunari

On December 10, 2010, near the close of the “Conference of the Parties,&rdquo meeting in Cancun, (1) Mexico, the international press reported that twenty national leaders, including those of the UK and Mexico, were lined up to call Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto. (2)  They sought to persuade Kan and his government not to abandon the 2008 to 2012 Kyoto Protocol approach to securing carbon reductions via explicit and compulsory targets.  Their concern was well grounde

Topical Sessions at the 2011 OAH Annual Meeting

Below is a list of topical sessions at this year’s OAH meeting in Houston, Texas. HNN will provide full coverage of the conference starting March 18.In addition to the general sessions, this list includes each of this year’s State of the Field sessions, which serve as excellent primers for the latest research.The room numbers for each session will be provided on site. For more information, consult the O

Anti-Union Measures About Power, Not Money

by Melvyn Dubofsky

The battle that is currently being waged in four Midwestern states—Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan—by Republicans against public employees, their unions, and their Democratic supporters is not about state bud

America's Oldest Standing Black School House Found in Williamsburg

by Priscilla Hart

In a series of discoveries unfolding over seven years, a professor of English at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia has uncovered evidence for what may have be the country’s oldest standing school house for African Americans.  Professor Terry Meyers had a longstanding interest in the forgotten history of Virginia’s colonial capital when he began investigating the founding of the Bray School for the education of blacks, enslaved and free.  Cl

Rethinking Reagan: SDI and the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

by Jason Saltoun-Ebin

Twenty-eight years ago this month, President Reagan introduced the world to the Strategic Defense Initiati

Channelling George Washington: The Irish in the American Revolution

by Thomas Fleming

“Did you ever hear of Michael Joseph O’Brien?”“He sounds formidable.  Who is he?” “He wr

U.S. National Library of Medicine Celebrates 175 Years

by Jeffrey S. Reznick

2011 marks the 175th anniversary of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) which traces its origins to 1836 and the commitment of the second U.S. Army Surgeon General, Thomas Lawson (1789-1861), to purchase books and journals for active-duty medical officers. Today part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, NLM is the world’s largest medical library with a collection of over 12 million b

Back to the Shores of Tripoli?

by Daniel Pipes

The official hymn of the U.S. Marine Corps famously begins with"From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we fight our country's battles on the land as on the sea." The reference to Tripoli alludes to the Battle of Derna of 1805, the first overseas land combat fought by U.S. troops and a decisive American victory.

Channelling George Washington: The Renewed Importance of Robert E. Lee

by Thomas Fleming

“They still don’t get it.”At first I didn’t recognize the voice. Then I realized it was dense with emotion. “What’s troubling you, Mr. President?”