American History
The Time the U.S. Nearly Nuked North Korea Over a Highjacked Spy Ship
The Pueblo incident ended peacefully, but newly unclassified documents detail President Johnson's contingency plans
Look Closely at This Picture of John Glenn
The reflected faces of NASA staff appear in John Glenn's spacesuit
What Reviewers Said About the First Mac When It Debuted
They nitpicked the hardware, but reviewers appreciated the groundbreaking features that would redefine the personal computer
The History of How We Came to Revere Abraham Lincoln
The slain president’s two personal secretaries battled mudslingers for a quarter-century to shape his image
The Last Days of Blackbeard
An exclusive account of the final raid and political maneuvers of history’s most notorious pirate
It’s Ben Franklin’s Birthday—Want to Rummage Through His Papers?
4,522 documents, letters and notes that Franklin wrote or received
20 Years Ago Today, the Northridge Earthquake Rocked L.A.
Sixty people died and thousands were left homeless in one of the most deadly earthquakes in American history
There is No Shortage of History When it Comes to Velveeta
In the event of a full-blown Velveeta shortage, here's a little history to ease your pain
Forty Years Ago, Women Had a Hard Time Getting Credit Cards
Despite the law, a report from 2012 found that women still pay more for credit cards
Copyright Law Kept These Famous Works From Entering the Public Domain This Year
Here is a list of books, movies, music & scientific research that would have entered the public domain today had the 1978 copyright law not been passed
Meet the People Who Stole From the FBI—After 43 Years, They’ve Decided To Come Forward
In 1971 eight activists stole documents that unveiled a secret FBI campaign to squash dissidents
Long Before Paula Deen's Fried Butter Balls, Cooks Were Trying to Roast Butter on a Stick
Paula Deen may in fact come from a long culinary tradition of skipping the bread and simply eating the butter
The JFK Christmas Card That Was Never Sent
A rare White House card from 1963 evokes one of the nation’s darkest holiday seasons
Play Through the History of Video Games (Frogger! Asteroids! Q-bert!) All on One Site
From Frogger to Asteroids to Turtles!, play through the early days of video gaming
In 1949, a Physicist Proposed Using Skyscapers And a Roof to Control NYC’s Climate
No scorching summers, no freezing winters...just a nice pleasant time, all year round
Coconut Crabs Eat Everything from Kittens to, Maybe, Amelia Earhart
According to one theory, Earhart did not drown in the Pacific but instead crashed on the remote Nikumaroro atoll, where she was eaten by coconut crabs
The United States Army Used Camels Until After the Civil War
When the first American settlers started moving west, their horses and mules weren't cut out for the long, dry treks
Victorians Made Jewelry Out of Human Hair
Hair work went out of fashion around 1925, but it was popular for hundreds of years before that
We've Done So Well by Chesapeake Oysters, We Can Start Eating Them Again
Perhaps this time we can keep ourselves from eating them to oblivion
How the North American Aerospace Defense Command Got Into the Business of Tracking Santa
It all began in 1955 with Sears, a wrong number and a very confused Colonel
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