What-? by Who HQ

On October 29, 1929, life in the United States took a turn for the worst. The stock market – the system that controls money in America – plunged to a record low. But this event was only the beginning of many bad years to come. By the early 1930s, one out of three people was not working...

Can a person catch on fire without any reasonable explanation? Find out all we know about spontaneous human combustion in this exciting new book! A fire that burns without an obvious source of ignition isn't possible...right? In What Do We Know About Spontaneous Human Combustion?, curious young...

In the same style as the New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series, What Was? focuses on compelling historical events, great battles, protests, and discoveries. Learn about a pivotal time in American history and its momentous effects on civil rights in America in this enlightening title about...

On August 25th, 2005, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in history hit the Gulf of Mexico. High winds and rain pummeled coastal communities, including the City of New Orleans, which was left under 15 feet of water in some areas after the levees burst. Track this powerful storm...

Discover more about Juneteenth, the important holiday that celebrates the end of chattel slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, a group of enslaved men, women, and children in Texas gathered around a Union solder and listened as he read the most remarkable words they would ever hear...

At 800-feet long, the Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built--just slightly smaller than the Titanic! Also of a disastrous end, the zeppelin burst into flame as spectators watched it attempt to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. In under a minute, the Hindenburg was gone...

An eight-audiobook collection from the creators of the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series that details the most famous disasters in history, including the Titanic, Pompeii, and the Great Depression. Perfect for curious young listeners, these eight titles provide exciting details about...

In this addition to the What Was? series, kids will experience what it was like to be in San Francisco in 1906 when the ground buckled in a major, catastrophic earthquake. One early April morning in 1906, the people of San Francisco were jolted awake by a mammoth earthquake—one that registered...

"No Taxation without Representation!" The Boston Tea Party stands as an iconic event of the American Revolution—outraged by the tax on tea, American colonists chose to destroy the tea by dumping it into the water! Learn all about the famed colonialists who fought against the British Monarchy...

Grab your skis, ice skates, and snowboard and learn how the Winter Olympic Games became a worldwide phenomenal event watched by millions. Although fans the world over have been fascinated by the modern Summer Olympics since 1896, the Winter Olympics didn't officially begin until 1924. The event...

Step back in time to the birth of America and meet the real-life rebels who made this country free! On a hot summer day near Philadelphia in 1776, Thomas Jefferson sat at his desk and wrote furiously until early the next morning. He was drafting the Declaration of Independence, a document that...

With over 110 million viewers every year, the Super Bowl is one of the most watched television events in the United States. The final showdown between the two best football teams in the NFL attracts some of the biggest musicians to perform at the half-time show. But the Super Bowl is more than...

On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, DC, to demand equal rights for all races. It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, and it was this peaceful protest that spurred the momentous civil rights laws of the mid-1960s. The March...

Whether Congress is in session or not, here is an enthralling overview about the branch of our government closest to average Americans. Best-selling adult author and the first woman to become executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson is a self-confessed political junkie. Now she has...

The unbelievable true story of one of the strangest disasters in history—part of the New York Times bestselling What Was? series, featuring 16 pages of photos. On an unusually warm winter day in Boston, Massachusetts, a storage tank in the city's North End burst, flooding the neighborhood with...

In this addition to the New York Times bestselling series, learn how incredible activists made the public aware of AIDS and spurred medical breakthroughs. In the early 1980s, the first cases of a devastating and fatal new disease appeared, a disease that at first struck only gay men and was...

Relive the moments when African Americans fought for equal rights, and made history. Even though slavery had ended in the 1860s, African Americans were still suffering under the weight of segregation a hundred years later. They couldn't go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, or...

The story of Girl Power! Learn about the remarkable women who changed US history. From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton, women throughout US history have fought for equality. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women were demanding...

In 1876, France decided to give the United States a very big and very special present--the Statue of Liberty. The gift was to commemorate the 100th birthday of the United States, and just packing it was no small feat--350 pieces in 214 crates shipped across the ocean. The story of how the...

The panic-filled summer of 1916, when multiple deadly shark attacks shocked the nation, is chronicled in this gripping addition to the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series. On July 1, 1916, witnesses watched in horror as twenty-eight-year-old Charles Vansant was attacked and killed by a...