American History
Why Basketball Is The Perfect Sport for Virtual Reality
James Naismith invented basketball on this day in 1891. He couldn’t have seen VR coming
75 Years Ago, the Secretary of the Navy Falsely Blamed Japanese-Americans for Pearl Harbor
The baseless accusation sparked the road to the infamous internment camps
John Glenn and the Sexism of the Early Space Program
Fan mail sent to the astronaut reveals the rigidity of gender roles in the 1960s
One of the First Female Rock Critics Battled Sexism and Obscurity To Document the 1970s
Willis was The New Yorker’s first pop music critic, but to her, everything was open for criticism
The Intergalactic Battle of Ancient Rome
Hundreds of years before audiences fell in love with Star Wars, one writer dreamt of battles in space
The Oldest Structure on the National Mall Is on the Move
But don't worry, it's only going about 30 feet away
People Have Spent Years Trying to Diagnose Mary Todd Lincoln From Beyond the Grave
Abraham Lincoln's wife has been called a "wildcat," "menstrual" and "bipolar" among other things
Silicon Valley Owes Its Success To This Tech Genius You’ve Never Heard Of
Robert Noyce was one of the founders of Silicon Valley
The Library of Congress Is Putting Its Map Collection on the Map
A new partnership with the Digital Public Library of America will put three major LOC map collections online
The World’s First Motel Was a Luxury Establishment, Not a Dive
The first motel was supposed to turn into a chain, but it was quickly overtaken by cheaper competitors.
What Does It Take to Win a Nobel Prize? Four Winners, in Their Own Words
Some answers: Messiness, ignorance and puzzles
U.S. Life Expectancy Drops for the First Time in 23 Years
While it only decreased by 0.1 percent overall, eight of the top ten causes of death all saw increases in 2015
Another Weird Facet of America’s Strangest National Park: The Conscience Pile
People mail stolen rocks back to Petrified Forest National Park, but they can't be returned to their original sites
Leaded Gas Was a Known Poison the Day It Was Invented
For most of the mid-twentieth century, lead gasoline was considered normal. But lead is a poison, and burning it has had dire consequences
The Sole American Killed in the 1814 Burning of D.C. Was Related to George Washington
John Lewis was the grandnephew of the first President of the United States
Thirty-four Years Ago, the First Person Died by Lethal Injection. It Was Controversial Then, Too
It was seen as more humane and relatively painless, but that's not certain
The Electoral College Has Been Divisive Since Day One
It has always had the potential for chaos—one that hasn’t been tapped...yet
The Washington Monument Looks Like an Obelisk Because of Egyptomania
In the 1800s, America was desperate to look like it had been around for a while, so it was adopting old styles. Really old
A New Oral History Project Seeks the Stories of World War II Before It’s Too Late
Every member of the greatest generation has a tale to tell, no matter what they did during the war
This Suffrage-Supporting Scientist Defined the Greenhouse Effect But Didn’t Get the Credit, Because Sexism
Eunice Foote’s career highlights the subtle forms of discrimination that have kept women on the sidelines of science
Page 106 of 179