Modern History looks at the fast changing world from the late nineteenth century to the present day. In this section you can explore the big events, inventions and ideas that shaped today’s politics, culture and everyday life. We cover the World Wars, decolonisation, the Cold War, civil rights movements, social change, new nations, and the rapid spread of technology and global communication.
Our articles focus on the human side of these events. You will find stories about soldiers, workers, campaigners, leaders, artists and ordinary people living through revolutions, crises and moments of hope. We also look at how media, propaganda and popular culture helped to shape public opinion, and how memories of modern conflicts and movements still influence debates now.
Whether you are curious about life in the trenches, the fall of empires, the space race, the birth of the internet or everyday life in the 1960s, 80s or 90s, this category offers clear, engaging pieces that are easy to read and share. Modern History on MuseumFacts helps you make sense of how the recent past became the world we recognise today.
Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1453 to 1922. Subsequently, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, it would be renamed Istanbul about 30 years later. The below pictures were produced using the Photochrom process; which applies…
Kendrick Johnson was a 17-year-old high school student. On January 11, 2013, he was tragically found dead rolled up in a gym mat. Even though the circumstances of his death were suspicious, it was ruled as an ‘accident’. His parents…
As the name suggests human zoos were essentially exhibitions where the main attraction was human beings. In the early 19th and 20th centuries, the western world was obsessed with ‘primitive natives’. Consequently, this obsession fueled a market for human zoos…
Marvin Heemeyer was an American welder who is best known for rampaging a town with his ‘killdozer’. His killdozer was essentially a modified bulldozer that wreaked havoc in Granby, Colorado on June 4, 2004. Let us take a look at…
Weapons are essentially devices that can be used with the intent to inflict harm or damage. Additionally, weapons can be used for self-defence, law enforcement, hunting, crime and warfare. We have compiled a list of forgotten weapons you need to…
Darryl Stingley was an American professional football player, whose career ended after a tragic hit on-field. Considered one of the worst hits in National Football League(NFL) history, Stingley sustained a major spinal cord injury. He went from being a young…
During the 19th century, London became a global city. It gained immense importance and consequently witnessed a boom in its population. The below pictures of Victorian London are taken by photographer John Thomson and journalist Adolphe Smith. They compiled them…
George Washington is celebrated as the first president of the United States. Despite being the ‘father of the country’, George Washington did not have any biological children. He instead raised his stepchildren and step-grandchildren from his marriage to Martha Custis.…
Often called one of the marvels of engineering, the Hoover Dam is a sight to behold. This massive concrete dam is located in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River and was constructed between 1931 and 1936. The construction of…
Portrait painting is a genre where the main focus of the painting is a human subject. We have compiled a list of famous portrait paintings in art history that enthral the spectator and showcase the inner essence of the subject.…
A Sedan chair is essentially a covered cabin that is carried on poles by two people. It was used in the past for transporting a passenger through the streets of the city. It was especially popular in England during the…
Art history is filled with paintings that visit dark and scary themes such as death and horror. These famous scary paintings were often centred around religious themes, mythology and the artist’s morbid imagination. We have compiled a list of such…
Nazi Germany or the German Reich was the German state between 1933-45 when it was controlled by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Also called the Third Reich, it was a totalitarian state. It subsequently ended when the Allies defeated…
Charles Saatchi is an Iraqi-British businessman(born June 9, 1943) who collects contemporary art. Over his lifetime he has collected artworks by artists such as Tracey Emin, the Chapman brothers and Chris Ofili. Additionally, the world celebrates him for his support…
Someone once said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” and the following famous controversial art pieces justify this. The artists featured in this list repeatedly broke the boundaries of art and were heavily criticised. However, today most…
The 1960s brought in a variety of fashion trends, and the high school teens embodied these. Hence, during the 1960s, high school fashion was the one to look out for. It was indeed the decade which broke all traditional fashion…
The Battle of Cowpens is one of the battles which occurred during the American Revolutionary War. It took place on January 17, 1781. It was fought between the Continental Army under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and the British forces under…
The United States dropped the Atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ on August 6, 1945, upon the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb killed around 90,000- 146,000 people. Additionally, its effects were felt for months after the impact. The below pictures show…
Katy Jurado is best known for her role in the movie ‘High Noon’. She was a Mexican actress who was renowned for playing a variety of roles. She was born on January 16, 1924, and died on July 5, 2002.…
Did you know that the toilet has thousands of years of history attached to it? Surely with so much history, we all must have wondered at some point of the other, who invented the flush toilet? Read below to find…
