U.S. History

Overview of the former village of New Philadelphia, Illinois

Ahead of Its Time?

Founded by a freed slave, an Illinois town was a rare example of biracial cooperation before the Civil War

American POWs in North Vietnam lining up for release on March 27, 1973

Coming Home

To a war-weary nation, a U.S. POW's return from captivity in Vietnam in 1973 looked like the happiest of reunions

Excavating a 17th-century well.

Rethinking Jamestown

America's first permanent colonists have been considered incompetent. But new evidence suggests that it was a drought—not indolence—that almost did them in

Artifact of bondage: This 19th-century tobacco barn (on its original site, a Kentucky alfalfa pasture, in 1998) contains an interior hut fitted with manacles. The entire structure—a slave jail—was dismantled and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where it forms the centerpiece of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which opened in August.

Free at Last

A new museum celebrates the Underground Railroad, the secret network of people who bravely led slaves to liberty before the Civil War

The traditional Thanksgiving turkey is delicious, but is it paleo?

How 260 Tons of Thanksgiving Leftovers Gave Birth to an Industry

The birth of the TV dinner started with a mistake

In the 1800 election, Thomas Jefferson, left, and Aaron Burr each received 73 electoral votes, but public opinion sided with Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and the Election of 1800

For seven days, as the two presidential candidates maneuvered and schemed, the fate of the young republic hung in the ballots

The Price of Freedom: Americans at War

Americans at War

A new exhibition explores the personal dimensions of war: valor and resolve—but also sacrifice and loss

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Turrets and Towers

The fanciful design of the Smithsonian Castle—150 years old in December—bucked the neo-classical trend of Washington's other monuments and buildings

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New Digs

Introducing a new department and the editor who runs it

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Four Fateful Elections

What if Lincoln had lost, or if Theodore Roosevelt had won? How did Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan emerge to lead a dispirited nation?

Promotional photo of Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar from Your Show of Shows

Comedy Central

"Your Show of Shows," starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, pioneered madcap TV humor in the 1950s

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Natural Harmony

The new National Museum of the American Indian is a proud expression of Native American beliefs

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Off to the Races

Before the American Revolution, no Thoroughbred did more for racing's growing popularity than a plucky mare named Selima

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Great Finds

Celebrating a magazine's good fortune—and a nation's

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The Rocky Road to Revolution

While most members of Congress sought a negotiated settlement with England, independence advocates bided their time

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Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?

A Rockefeller's rules for raising responsible children

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Off the Beaten Track

During a civil rights march in 1965, photographer Bruce Davidson left the highway to focus on a single Alabama sharecropper and her nine children

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The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872

How a Kentucky grifter and his partner pulled off one of the era's most spectacular scams -- until a dedicated man of science exposed their scheme

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Westward Ho!

The corps begins its epic journey

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May Anniversaries

Momentous or merely memorable

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