American History

Enthusiasts examining the patch for NROL-35 think the trident, fire and breeze through the character’s hair might represent the elements—water, fire and wind. “What that has to do with the actual payload, however, is anyone’s guess,” says space historian Robert Pearlman.

The Creepy, Kitschy and Geeky Patches of US Spy Satellite Launches

There may be method to the madness behind the outlandish designs of the National Reconnaissance Office mission patches

Fred Savage (right) and Josh Saviano (left) of "The Wonder Years" reunited at the American History Museum on December 2, 2014 to donate items, including the New York Jets jacket shown here in a publicity photo from around 1988.

Fred Savage and “The Wonder Years” Cast Reflect on Why Their Show Still Matters

The cast and crew of “The Wonder Years” reunited at the American History Museum today to donate costumes and other artifacts

Hollywood Asked for Freeway Noise Barriers First

It only makes sense that the problem of road noise cropped up in Los Angeles

New Amsterdam, Now New York, on the Island of Manhattan by Johannes Vinckeboons

New Amsterdam's First Laws: Drink Less, Fight Less

New Amsterdam was controlled by the Dutch from 1624 to 1664

A Civil War historical re-enactment at Tunnel Hill, Georgia

A Nurse Describes the Smell of the Civil War

The overpowering stink of blood and decaying flesh can surprise even trained soldiers

Who is this random guy? It's John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States.

Soon Enough No One Will Remember Bill Clinton

People mostly remember first and recent US presidents, forgetting almost all the ones that came between

Two turkeys spent last night in the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, DC.

Pardoned Turkeys Spend a Night in a Hotel First

After an evening in a $350 hotel room, today President Obama will spare the birds from the butcher's block

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John Smith Coined the Term New England on This 1616 Map

After Jamestown, Smith pushed the English to settle the northeast, identifying Plymouth as a suitable harbor four years before the Pilgrims landed there

Vice President Al Gore, with President George Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney

How the Office of the Vice Presidency Evolved from Nothing to Something

Vice President John Adams once said "In this I am nothing, But I may be everything." A new book tells how the office has moved from irrelevance to power

Some of Mrs. Jerry Davis' students saved letters from their Vietnam War pen pals, which they donated to the American History Museum on November 14.

Vietnam War Vets Reconnect With Their 1960s Pen Pals For a Museum Donation

Decades after they sat in Mrs. Davis’ fourth grade class, former students donated Vietnam War materials to the American History Museum

A Lost John Steinbeck Short Story Was Rediscovered, Published

The short story deals with the racial politics of the mid-20th century

19th Century Concern Trolling: Chess Is “a Mere Amusement of a Very Inferior Character”

The writers of Scientific American had some not nice things to say about chess

George Washington's only complete set of dentures, made out of lead, human teeth, cow teeth and elephant ivory.  

George Washington Didn’t Have Wooden Teeth—They Were Ivory

Washington's teeth were made of a lot of things, but not wood

How the Word “OK” Was Invented 175 Years Ago

OK is an editorial joke run wild

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Someone Just Bought an Entire Connecticut Ghost Town for $1.2 Million

Johnsonville was once a 62-acre mill village

Did this piece of debris come from Amelia Earhart's plane? Some think so; others disagree.

Aircraft Hunters Think They’ve Found a Scrap of Amelia Earhart’s Plane

This isn't the first time a seemingly game-changing piece of evidence about Earhart's disappearance has arisen, however

A yellow fever epidemic may have planted the seeds of inspiration for Washington Irving's iconic tale of the a headless horseman.

What “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Tells Us About Contagion, Fear and Epidemics

Washington Irving fled New York because of a yellow fever epidemic. Twenty-two years later, his classic story spoke to the chaos of his youth

The German U-576 off the coast of France, around 1940 or 1941. It sunk near North Carolina in 1942.

Wreckage of a Nazi U-Boat Was Found Off the Coast of North Carolina

A freighter lost in that skirmish was also discovered in the "graveyard of the Atlantic"

Coming to Terms With One of America’s Greatest Natural Disasters

Documentary filmmaker Bill Morrison plunges us into the Great Flood of 1927

A corridor leading to the infectious disease ward at Ellis Island's defunct hospital.

Ellis Island Is Opening an Abandoned Hospital to the Public for the First Time in 60 Years

There are 29 abandoned buildings in all, several of which visitors can explore

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