History Websites

History websites are at their best when they let you poke at the past yourself. Every site in this collection was picked by an editor, opened and checked live, and given a short review so you know where to start.

Old Bailey Online is a searchable archive of London's central criminal court from 1674 to 1913, told largely in the words of witnesses and defendants. The Ancient Earth globe shows continents drifting across 750 million years, and you can type in your town to see where it sat in the age of dinosaurs. Itiner-e maps the roads of the Roman Empire so you can plot a route like an ancient traveler. The Public Domain Review digs up odd prints, forgotten books and maps and gives them context in essays, while the David Rumsey Map Collection holds historical maps, atlases and globes in high resolution.

Among these history sites you'll also find Etymonline, which traces where words came from, and Musicmap, a family tree of pop music since the 1880s. New finds are added regularly, so the collection keeps growing.