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Simple History

Simple History visualizes the past, bringing history to life through animation. Witness how people lived throughout history: their culture, developments in technology, epic battles and events. Explore what it was like to be in the trenches of the First World War, a plundering pirate in the Caribbean, or a factory worker in the Industrial Revolution!

Young soldier in uniform salutes and smiles uncomfortably while people in uniform stand in the grass behind him. Text reads, "The Six-Year-Old Red Army Lieutenant of World War Two. Sergei "Seryozha" Aleshkov, Son of the Regiment. World War Two."
8 minutes 12 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Soldier in uniform turns toward a man who wears an army jacket and a worried expression. Other soldiers stand around a tank in the background. Text reads, "The Americans that Fought for Germany in World War Two."
8 minutes 38 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration of men wearing forest green uniforms standing guard as people peek over a cement wall behind them. Text reads, "The Berlin Wall. 1961 to 1989, The Cold War."
7 minutes 2 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration shows a person holding out a red book with Chinese characters on the cover. Text reads, “China’s Little Red Book: Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. 1964.”
3 minutes 51 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Title text reads, "Cold War Gadgets," against a background that shows a blurry briefcase.
3 minutes
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital map of the United States and Cuba labeled and highlighted in lime green with missiles extending from Cuba. Text reads, "The Cuban Missile Crisis. October 1962, The Cold War."
4 minutes 10 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
People wearing tunics and bonnets dance in the middle of straw-roofed village. Text reads, "The Plague That Made People Dance Until They Died."
7 minutes 26 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration shows an angry Stalin speaking at a podium with the red flag of the USSR behind him. Text reads, “De-Stalinization: The Secret Speech. February 25, 1956.”
4 minutes 3 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration shows a determined Army medic carrying a wounded soldier over his shoulders. Text reads, “Desmond Doss. The Medic Who Fought a War Without a Weapon.”
15 minutes 31 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration of a German officer holding a fist as the soldier beside him carries a gun. Text reads, “East German Berlin Wall Border Troops GDR - NPA Grenztruppen.”
7 minutes 52 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Soldiers in green uniforms stand guard on both sides of a tank full of soldiers with guns drawn toward the surrounding city. Text reads, "The Fall of Saigon, April 30th, 1975. The End of the Vietnam War."
11 minutes 23 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Billboard with smiling men and women at work stands above a field where thin men and women wearing tattered clothes take a rest. Text reads, "The Great Leap Forward, 1958 to 1962."
8 minutes 35 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration shows a snowy labor camp guarded by armed soldiers, uniformed prisoners congregate in the yard, looking at a prisoner lying in the snow. Text reads, “Gulags. USSR.”
2 minutes 22 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Military plane flies above warships in the water below. Text reads, "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, 1964. The Vietnam War."
3 minutes 11 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Digital illustration shows soldiers firing weapons alongside members of the Mafia in Italy. Text reads, “How the Mafia Collaborated with the U.S. Military in World War Two.”
10 minutes 3 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Cartoon crowd of protesters wears midcentury clothing and holds up Hungarian flags with holes in them. Text reads, "Hungarian Uprising. Budapest, 1956. The Cold War."
2 minutes 50 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Cartoon soldier with green smears on his face wears a military uniform and camouflage helmet as he holds up a rifle in one hand. Text reads, "Infantry Units: U.S. Marine, Vietnam War."
4 minutes 26 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Cartoon Ottoman soldier wears a blue coat and white headgear as he slings a musket over his shoulder and grips a sword with his opposite hand. Text reads, "Janissaries Elite Infantry Unit."
12 minutes 10 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Cartoon Joseph Stalin wears a gray military uniform as he smokes a pipe and glares at us. Text reads, "Joseph Stalin. Leader of the Soviet Union, 1878 to 1953."
5 minutes 52 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
Soldiers wearing olive green uniforms stand in rows with guns raised beneath the flag of North Korea. Soldiers wearing moss green uniforms stand with their hands up. Text reads, "The Korean War. June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953."
4 minutes 30 seconds
Grade Level: 6 - 12
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