Michelle Obama Born: Redefining the First Lady
Her high school counselor told her she wasn't Princeton material. She went to Princeton, then Harvard Law. Michelle Robinson met Barack Obama when the firm assigned her to mentor him as a summer associate. She was skeptical; he kept asking her out. At the White House she planted an organic garden on the South Lawn, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt's wartime victory garden. Her memoir, Becoming, sold ten million copies in its first year — the best-selling memoir in American publishing history.
January 17, 1964
62 years ago
What Else Happened on January 17
Political theater with a brutal twist. Octavian dumps Scribonia literally moments after she gives birth to their daughter, walking out of the delivery room to i…
Octavian's marriage to Livia Drusilla solidified political alliances and strengthened his position in Rome, ultimately influencing the future of the imperial dy…
A dying emperor's last breath split an entire civilization in two. Theodosius I — the last ruler to command a unified Roman Empire — collapsed in Milan, leaving…
The Balearic Islands never saw him coming. Alfonso III's fleet—60 ships strong—swept across Mediterranean waters with a ruthless precision that would make medie…
A biblical-scale disaster struck without warning. Massive storm surges crushed coastal towns in Holland and Friesland, drowning entire communities in what would…
The Pope was done with French wine and French politics. After seven decades of papal exile in Avignon, Gregory XI packed up the entire Catholic bureaucracy and …
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.