History Commons
Corporate brand
UnclaimedHistory Commons is a collaborative, source-based history and public-oversight website built around detailed, searchable timelines of socially and politically significant events.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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History
History Commons developed from the Center for Cooperative Research, an organization established in 2001 by Derek Mitchell. The initial project sought to organize documentary research about significant political and social events, but a conventional static website quickly became inadequate as the volume of material grew. Mitchell worked with software developer Michael Bevin to create a database-driven application that could store dated event summaries and connect them to entities such as people, governments, agencies, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. Paul Thompson joined the project in June 2002 and brought extensive research concerning the September 11 attacks. His work became the foundation for the site's influential 9/11 material and was later adapted into The Terror Timeline, published in 2004. Thompson's research also contributed to his appearance at a 2005 congressional hearing concerning shortcomings in the 9/11 Commission report. During the early and middle 2000s, the project expanded its coverage and became known under the CooperativeResearch.org name. The organization changed substantially in 2007, when the Center for Grassroots Oversight assumed responsibility for operating the website and the project adopted the History Commons name. The new identity emphasized the site's broader purpose: enabling civil-society participants to research powerful institutions, preserve documentary evidence, and develop alternative or supplementary historical narratives through collaborative work. History Commons relied on registered contributors rather than unrestricted anonymous editing. Submitted material was expected to include at least one source and passed through substantive review, source verification, copyediting, and timeline-manager approval. This process was intended to distinguish the project from an unmoderated message board while retaining a participatory model. Contributors wrote and maintained entries, while the organization provided the database, editorial framework, style guidance, and search tools. The website's main interface consisted of projects and timelines. A project could address a broad subject while containing subsidiary timelines and cross-referenced entries. Users could create context-sensitive views around a particular event, search by date or entity, and follow tags or references to reconstruct relationships among events. The system was designed to make long-running stories easier to investigate than through isolated news reports. By June 2012, the site was described as having roughly 32 published projects, more than 19,700 event records, and more than 18,000 associated entities. Its subjects included the September 11 attacks, Watergate, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, US prisoner abuse and torture, civil liberties, domestic propaganda, global warming, health care, electoral politics, the global financial crisis, and Kosovo-related political developments. Writers and journalists including Glenn Greenwald, Philip Shenon, Craig Unger, Peter Lance, James Ridgeway, and others publicly described the timelines as useful research aids, although such praise reflected individual commentary rather than an institutional accreditation. Technically, the application used Java, Apache Tomcat, MySQL, Java Data Objects, and JavaServer Pages with a Bricks templating system. The planned XML export capability was reported to be nonfunctional by April 2008. On November 11, 2022, the original website was reported to be offline indefinitely, with a rebuild said to require both funding and expertise. No reliable source in the supplied material establishes whether the service was subsequently restored, so its present status remains uncertain.
- 2022
Original site reported offline
[1]The original website was reported unavailable indefinitely, with a rebuild dependent on funding and technical expertise.
- 2012
Large timeline library documented
[1]Reference material described approximately 32 published projects, over 19,700 events, and more than 18,000 entities.
- 2007
Renamed History Commons
[1]The Center for Grassroots Oversight took over operation and the Center for Cooperative Research identity was replaced by History Commons.
- 2005
Research cited in congressional testimony
[1]Paul Thompson testified at a congressional hearing concerning perceived flaws in the 9/11 Commission report.
- 2004
The Terror Timeline published
[1]Paul Thompson used research developed through the predecessor site in his book The Terror Timeline.
- 2002
Paul Thompson joins the project
[1]Paul Thompson contributed extensive September 11 research, helping establish the project's best-known research area.
- 2001
Center for Cooperative Research founded
[1]Derek Mitchell founded the predecessor organization that later developed into History Commons.
Products and positioning
People-powered, source-based civic research and participatory journalism focused on making complex historical and political events searchable, chronologically connected, and open to public scrutiny.
Digital research platform
Dynamic research timelines
Chronological collections of sourced event summaries organized into broad projects and subsidiary timelines. Entries can be connected to people, institutions, organizations, and other entities, allowing users to study long-running subjects in context rather than as isolated incidents.
Search and visualization tools
Context timelines and entity profiles
Interactive views generated from event titles, tags, references, dates, or entity searches. These tools were intended to let readers adjust the scope of surrounding events and investigate relationships among actors and episodes.
Historical research project
The Complete 9/11 Timeline
A major research collection concerning the September 11 attacks, including preceding warnings, the attacks themselves, official responses, investigations, and related political developments. It became the project's most prominent and frequently cited body of work.
Marketing campaigns
- September 11 research timeline
Global online audience
A large documentary project assembling dated events and source references concerning the September 11 attacks and their political context.
Outcome. Became one of the site's best-known resources and supplied research later used in books and public commentary.
- Watergate project
United States · Global online audience
A richly documented timeline project covering the Watergate affair and related political events.
Outcome. Received favorable public commentary as a useful chronological research resource.
- Civil-society oversight timeline program
Global online audience
An umbrella approach covering government conduct, corporate power, civil liberties, wars, propaganda, climate issues, health care, elections, and other subjects of public significance.
Outcome. Produced a broad library of collaborative projects, though the site's later technical availability became uncertain.
Brand decisions
2022
Site rebuild identified as necessaryStrategyBackground
The original web service became unavailable and was reported offline indefinitely.
Action taken
A rebuild was identified as requiring additional funding and technical expertise.
Aftermath
The current availability and operating status of the platform could not be established from the supplied references.
2007
Adopted the History Commons identityStrategyBackground
The predecessor Center for Cooperative Research had developed a broad collection of collaborative research timelines and needed an identity reflecting its public-oversight mission.
Action taken
The Center for Grassroots Oversight assumed operational responsibility and the website was renamed History Commons.
Aftermath
The project continued as a nonprofit-oriented, participatory research platform with expanded subject coverage.
Sources1 sources
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