September 15 feature
Darwin Reaches the Galápagos
The 1835 landfall that became central to an evolutionary story
History Iguana
Latest stories
Five events from September 15, each surrounded by five paths into the people, places, technology, and consequences.
Galápagos · 1835
Charles Darwin: The Naturalist Before the Theory
The collector and observer behind natural selection
Galápagos · 1835
HMS Beagle and the Voyage That Redrew a World
A surveying mission that became a journey through deep time
Galápagos · 1835
The Galápagos Islands: A Laboratory Made by Volcanoes
Isolation, volcanoes, and the geography of evolution
Galápagos · 1835
Robert FitzRoy: Captain, Surveyor, and Weather Pioneer
The demanding captain who commanded HMS Beagle
Galápagos · 1835
On the Origin of Species: How Darwin Built the Argument
The 1859 book that made natural selection public
September 15 feature
The First Tanks Go Into Battle at Flers-Courcelette
The uncertain debut of armored warfare on September 15, 1916
Western Front · 1916
The Battle of the Somme: Attrition on an Industrial Scale
The 1916 campaign surrounding the first tank attack
Western Front · 1916
Mark I Tank: Inside the Rhomboid Machine
How Britain’s first combat tank crossed trenches
Western Front · 1916
Little Willie: The Prototype Before the Tank
The tracked test vehicle that led toward the Mark I
Western Front · 1916
Trench Warfare: Why the Western Front Would Not Move
The defensive system tanks were designed to break
Western Front · 1916
Cambrai 1917: When Tanks Attacked in Mass
The concentrated tank assault that followed Flers
September 15 feature
Battle of Britain Day: The Raids of September 15, 1940
The major daylight attacks that became a symbol of the air campaign
Britain · 1940
The Battle of Britain: An Air-Defense System at War
How aircraft, radar, observers, and control rooms worked together
Britain · 1940
Hugh Dowding and the Architecture of Fighter Command
The commander who treated air defense as a connected network
Britain · 1940
Supermarine Spitfire: The Fighter That Became a Symbol
The fast, adaptable fighter identified with Britain’s air defense
Britain · 1940
Hawker Hurricane: The Workhorse of 1940
The numerous RAF fighter that carried much of the battle
Britain · 1940
The Blitz: When the Air War Moved Into the Night
The bombing campaign that followed the great daylight battles
September 15 feature
The Inchon Landing: A High-Risk Turn in the Korean War
The September 15 amphibious assault behind North Korean lines
Korea · 1950
The Korean War: From Invasion to Armistice
The conflict that divided a peninsula and drew in global powers
Korea · 1950
Douglas MacArthur: Command, Risk, and Dismissal
The commander identified with Inchon and the war’s expansion
Korea · 1950
The Pusan Perimeter: The Line That Held
The defensive stand that made the Inchon counterstroke possible
Korea · 1950
The Liberation and Destruction of Seoul in 1950
The hard urban fighting after the Inchon landing
Korea · 1950
United Nations Command in Korea: A Coalition at War
The multinational command created after the invasion of South Korea
September 15 feature
The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
The racist attack of September 15, 1963, and its long aftermath
Birmingham · 1963
16th Street Baptist Church: A Sanctuary and Organizing Center
The Birmingham congregation at the center of a national story
Birmingham · 1963
The Birmingham Campaign: Confronting Segregation in 1963
The direct-action campaign that exposed segregation to the world
Birmingham · 1963
Four Girls Remembered: Addie Mae, Denise, Carole, and Cynthia
The children killed in the Birmingham church bombing
Birmingham · 1963
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: What the Law Changed
The federal law shaped by years of organizing and national crisis
Birmingham · 1963
The Birmingham Bombing Investigation: Justice Across Decades
Why prosecutions took fourteen, thirty-eight, and thirty-nine years