| Origins

A Congolese man, Nsala, looking at the severed hand and foot of his five-year-old daughter who was killed, cooked, and cannibalized by members of the Force Publique in 1904.

1885: A European Colonial Dream and an African Nightmare

The U.S. Capitol building lit up at night in front of a one hundred U.S. dollar bill.

Deeper Than the “Deep State”: Follow the Money

women with hands raised in air holding a sign protesting the Bhopal Chemical disaster

The Bhopal Chemical Gas Disaster

On the night of 2-3 December 1984, a Union Carbide chemical facility at Bhopal leaked over 27 tons of the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate, poisoning tens of thousands of people in the middle of the night, most of whom were sleeping in their homes.

Magna Carta document and British Flag

The Legacy of the Magna Carta

June 15, 1215, witnessed the signing of the landmark Magna Carta, the medieval English historic legal document that is seen as the origin of many modern-day legal rights and constitutional principles.

Flag of Israel with landscape of Israel in the background

Leaving Zion: Jewish Emigration from Palestine and Israel after World War II

Portrait photograph of woman, boy and two dogs, ca. 1890s.

Features

How Dogs Became Our Faithful Family Companions

Juan and Evita Perón standing in a car waving, a soldier on horseback is beside the car

Origins on Video

The Birth of Peronism

US Marines fight rebellious Boxers outside Beijing Legation Quarter, 1900 – copy of painting by Sergeant John Clymer

The Boxer Rebellion

Pope Leo XIV in the popemobile at his inauguration, 2025.

Connecting History

Faith, History, and the City of God in the 21st Century

A Brief History of Alcoholics Anonymous

The University of Algiers, ca. 1920.

The University of Algiers Library Bombing

More from Origins

A Well-Informed People

A Well-Informed People

AWIP is your one-stop shop for the historical context needed to be an informed voter. Check out our site for the history of today's important issues!

Mothers and Children marching for the right to an education

Picturing Black History

Picturing Black History, a collaboration with Getty Images, uncovers untold stories and rarely seen images of the Black experience.

From our Instagram

Pope Alexander VI

woman kneeling on ground with arms outreached near body of slain student while other students look on

a bird flying over the Grand Canyon

U.S. flag and the word Wheat below it