History.com
If you follow the channel on TV, then you will easily fall in love with History.com. The site is not only about upcoming TV schedules. It is filled with videos that take you into the background of the full-fledged shows. Then there is the superbly compiled range of topics on history supported by videos and audios. All that learning sometimes calls for a break – so head for the Games section which are based on historical trivia. My favorite section of the site is This Day In History because in one quick read it takes me on a discovery of something new and helps connect our today with what happened today in the past.
Filmstory
Filmstory.org is one of those little gems tucked amidst biggies like IMdB and Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, it’s a film site primarily. But more importantly, it is a website that marries the entertainment of films with history. As we all know, half the world probably understood what the Titanic tragedy was through the epic film by James Cameron. Filmstory is an interactive resource that explores the relationship between film and history through an interactive medium. Explore history and films by era, region, subject, and film type. Each film sometimes covers a lot of themes, and if you are studying history through films, it could be useful to understand history through these themes.
British Pathe
British Pathé is one of the oldest media companies in the world. And that itself results in a large archival wealth of newsreels captured over time (that’s from 1902). You can bet that the newsreels now digitized and available from the site cover every major event of the past century when most of us weren’t born. Their About page says that their collection of newsreels total up to 3500 hours of filmed history comprised of over 90,000 individual items. Here all professional usages require a license fee but the site offers free “preview” facilities which anyone can take advantage of for learning about history as it happened in the 20th Century.
Time Search History
Time Search History takes you through a trek of history with the help of timelines. It is basically a search engine for history seekers. The site (and the timeline) has indexed over 10,000 events so far. You can use it like a traditional search engine which uses keywords, or go on a search of historical events by areas where they occurred and the approximate time. Each item that is uncovered with the timeline search is also linked to other sites like History.com and even Google. The search results are also linked to Google Image search results. So, which one would you pick for a history lesson? All four? Alternatively, you may have your own suggestions to offer. Fire away in the comments.
