American History

An illustration from "Bessie, Queen of the Sky," a forthcoming children's book about Bessie Coleman.

The 'Queen of the Sky' Is Finally Getting Her Due

On her birthday, we're remembering Bessie Coleman's incredible achievements

Anti-immigrant cartoon showing two men labeled "Irish Wiskey" and "Lager Bier," carrying a ballot box.

How the 19th-Century Know Nothing Party Reshaped American Politics

From xenophobia to conspiracy theories, the Know Nothing party launched a nativist movement whose effects are still felt today

The legendary Mary Tyler Moore

Remembering Mary Tyler Moore and Her Groundbreaking Sitcom That Almost Wasn't

The iconic entertainer died today. She was 80 years old

A portrait of Dan Rice circa 1840.

This Famous American Clown Was (Probably) a Model for Uncle Sam

Dan Rice was the John Oliver of the mid-nineteenth century

The final title card for Guiding Light.

TV's Longest-Running Soap Opera Was First Broadcast 80 Years Ago

Guiding Light had over 15,700 episodes between radio and television

This Map Shows Over a Century of Documented Lynchings in the United States

Mapping the history of racial terror

An undated box that originally held Eskimo Fudge Pies.

The Weird, Brief History of the Eskimo Pie Corporation

It was America’s first chocolate-covered ice cream bar, patented on this day in 1922

Woodrow Wilson

What Did President Wilson Mean When He Called for “Peace Without Victory” 100 Years Ago?

The iconic speech revealed the possibilities and the inherent problems with Wilsonian idealism

Paul Robeson, photographed by Alfredo Valente in 1940.

Remembering Paul Robeson, Actor, Sportsman and Leader

Among other things, Robeson transformed one of history’s most famous showtunes into a protest song

The head of the suffragist parade in Washington, 1913.

The Original Women's March on Washington and the Suffragists Who Paved the Way

They fought for the right to vote, but also advanced the causes for birth control, civil rights and economic equality

What Happens to President Obama's Papers and Artifacts Once He Leaves Office?

From Cuban cigars to a 7,000-page torture report

Edgar Allan Poe as imagined in an 1895 image by Swiss/French printmaker Félix Valloton.

Who Was the Poe Toaster? We Still Have No Idea

In Baltimore, they’re keeping the tradition of visiting Edgar Allan Poe’s grave for his birthday—but without the mystery

A mug shot of Iva Toguri D'Aquino, taken in prison in 1946.

Iva d'Aquino Toguri Remains the Only U.S. Citizen Convicted of Treason Who Has Ever Been Pardoned

She was an American DJ who served six years in prison for her wartime radio broadcasts from Japan

Detail of a surfer in "A View of Karakakooa, in Owyhee," an etching made by an artist accompanying the Cook expedition.

What the First European to Visit Hawaii Thought About Surfers

The Europeans were fascinated by Pacific Islanders' comfort in the water

Samuel Zemurray was sometimes called "The Banana Man."

Where We Got the Term “Banana Republic”

Hint: it’s not a great moment in American history

The rainbow at the top right in the window of the Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington (detail) was an 18th century symbol of God's blessings.

Why America Has a “President” Instead of an “Exalted Highness”

The title just used to mean someone who presided over a meeting

Carl Laemmle in 1918

This Hollywood Titan Foresaw the Horrors of Nazi Germany

Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, wrote hundreds of affidavits to help refugees escape Europe

Anti-war demonstrators raise their hands toward the White House as they protest the shootings at Kent State University and the U.S. incursion into Cambodia, on May 9, 1970.

Eleven Times When Americans Have Marched in Protest on Washington

Revisiting some of the country’s most memorable uses of the right to assemble

Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the 2009 design of the hundred dollar bill.

Benjamin Franklin Was a Middle-Aged Widow Named Silence Dogood (And a Few Other Women)

The founding father wrote letters in the voice of female pseudonyms throughout his life

An early B-52.

In 1957, The U.S. Flew a Jet Around the World to Prove it Could Drop a Nuclear Bomb Anywhere

The B-52 bomber that made the flight was part of a new bomber class that was still proving its worth

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