Articles about History

Microsoft’s startup story: How the company became a tech giant, and what we can learn from it today

For this second chapter in our Microsoft @ 50 series, GeekWire spent the past month revisiting Microsoft’s early years, from its founding in 1975 to its IPO in 1986, looking for a new understanding and enduring lessons from its startup story.… Read More

Titanic bow with missing section of railing

RMS Titanic says ‘bittersweet’ dive reveals shipwreck’s decay — and a new treasure

RMS Titanic, the company holding the salvage rights to the wreck of the Titanic, says its latest robotic survey of… Read More

80 years after D-Day, Microsoft uses AI to enhance archival materials and keep memories alive

Microsoft is using artificial intelligence to help preserve the history of D-Day, 80 years after allied forces landed on the… Read More

Researchers find 87% of U.S. classic video games are out of print and ‘critically endangered’

A new study found that the vast majority of video games with a physical release in the U.S. are out… Read More

Amazon installs historic Elephant Car Wash sign on Seattle HQ campus, blocks from original home

One of Seattle’s beloved neon pink elephants is back up and smiling. Amazon installed the smaller Elephant Car Wash sign… Read More

As Mariners end historic drought, a look back at how much has changed in Seattle in 21 years

Take a breath, Seattle. The Mariners are back in the postseason for the first time in 21 years, ending the… Read More

OceanGate’s high-def 8K video of Titanic wreck reveals previously unseen details

Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate Expeditions set a new standard this year for documenting the condition of the 110-year-old wreck of the… Read More

OceanGate brings its deep-sea submersible back to homeport — and gets set for its next Titanic trips

After making a series of successful dives to the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic this summer, OceanGate’s… Read More

The disappearing bathtub and OceanGate’s other tales of the Titanic’s rapid decay

For evidence that the wreck of the Titanic is rapidly deteriorating, you need look no further than Captain Edward Smith’s… Read More

NASA’s Boeing-built moon rovers are granted Washington state landmark status

Three hot rods on the moon are now official Washington state historic landmarks, thanks to a unanimous vote by a… Read More

OceanGate gets set for dives to Titanic while overcoming the complications of COVID-19

Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate is getting ready to send explorers down to survey the wreck of the Titanic in its own… Read More

Judge clears the way for salvagers to open up the Titanic and retrieve Marconi radio

A federal judge says RMS Titanic Inc. can go forward with its plan to cut into the Titanic shipwreck and… Read More

How a VR project documenting Seattle’s music history revealed the risk of a new digital divide

Yolanda Barton loves Seattle’s music history — the history that starts decades before Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden came screaming… Read More

Researchers watch Titanic wreck crumble, one year before OceanGate’s planned dives

Scientists and enthusiasts are due to visit the wreck of the Titanic next summer in a submersible built by Everett,… Read More

Archaeological dig in Jerusalem unearths evidence of biblical Babylonian conquest

One month after offering up archaeological evidence to back up a contested claim about the First Crusade, researchers say they’ve… Read More

Paul Allen’s Petrel project wins spotlight in TV show about Pacific War shipwrecks

The voyages of the R/V Petrel, funded by the late Seattle billionaire Paul Allen, are the focus of a National… Read More

Exclusive: Archaeologists confirm contested tale of the Crusades, 920 years after battle

GeekWire aerospace and science editor Alan Boyle reports on a significant archaeological find during his Middle East science tour. JERUSALEM… Read More

Microsoft teams up with UNESCO and kids to revive lost monuments with Minecraft

Can a video game reclaim centuries’ worth of lost cultural heritage in the Middle East? Microsoft’s Minecraft Education Edition is… Read More

Lost in 1943, the USS Strong is found again by Paul Allen’s Petrel research vessel

The USS Strong put in less than a year of service at sea, but the destroyer and its crew nevertheless… Read More

Paul Allen’s deepest legacy: Expedition surveys wreck of Japanese battleship Hiei

A wide-ranging shipwreck survey funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is continuing after his death, and the latest discovery focuses… Read More

Beating Wikipedia by 2 years, Seattle’s HistoryLink remains an innovative online encyclopedia

Wikipedia was a groundbreaking initiative when it went live on Jan. 15, 2001. But a Seattle-based project called HistoryLink actually launched… Read More

Good night, viaduct: Watch our final voyage over Seattle’s favorite elevated freeway

It was just after 9 p.m. and there we were in Tukwila, having just finished a soccer match. Should we… Read More

Eww! Experts open black sarcophagus to reveal skeletons lying in a soggy mess

Egyptian archaeologists say they’ve opened up a mysterious black sarcophagus found during excavations in Alexandria, and although they didn’t uncover… Read More

Paul Allen marks Memorial Day with a look back at deep-sea gravesites he helped find

It’s traditional to revisit the gravesites of America’s fallen warriors on Memorial Day, but billionaire philanthropist Paul Allen is adding… Read More

Paul Allen’s shipwreck sleuths help Aussies document World War I submarine’s remains

Score another undersea revelation for the crew of the Petrel, a research vessel backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. This… Read More

Paul Allen’s hunt for historic shipwrecks scores another WWII find: the USS Helena

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s seagoing sleuths are reporting one more find in their quest to locate sunken military vessels from… Read More

OceanGate’s Titan sub passes initial tests, gets set for Bahamas – then the Titanic

OceanGate has finished putting its Titan submersible through its first round of shallow-water tests in Puget Sound, and is packing it… Read More

Expert reviews bone measurements and says they’re likely Amelia Earhart’s remains

A newly published study lends support to the view that famed aviator Amelia Earhart died on the remote Pacific island… Read More

The most notorious hacks in history, and what they mean for the future of cybersecurity

Where has the time gone? February is almost over, and already we’ve seen several major vulnerabilities and hacks this year!… Read More

Technology, a president and Russia: Lessons from Ronald Reagan’s Moscow microchip speech

As an American historian, University of Washington history professor Margaret O’Mara says she’s particularly interested in understanding “how did we get… Read More