American History

The signpost of hometowns for each of the characters in the sitcom "M*A*S*H" is now held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, where it will go on view December 9.

Fifty Years and TV's 'M*A*S*H' Still Draws Audiences

Fans are making plans to visit the Smithsonian this December when the show's signature signpost goes on view in the new exhibition "Entertainment Nation"

None

The Noble Fury of Samuel Adams

How America’s “first politician” galvanized a colony—and helped set a revolution in motion

Paula, Sam and Sol Messinger aboard the M.S. St. Louis in May 1939. The U.S. denied the ship entry, forcing its 937 passengers to return to Europe. More than a quarter of these refugees were later killed in the Holocaust.

Why Was America So Reluctant to Take Action on the Holocaust?

A new Ken Burns documentary examines the U.S.' complex, often shameful response to the rise of Nazism and the plight of Jewish refugees

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, Whose Database Identified Thousands of Enslaved Laborers, Has Died at 93

Searching through forgotten records, she collected data on more than 100,000 individuals

Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest, where Swastika Mountain is located

Oregon's Swastika Mountain Gets a New Name

The mountain was originally named before the swastika became a symbol of hate

Sixty unnamed schools are piloting an A.P. African American studies class, which covers 400 years of history.

A.P. African American Studies Is Coming to U.S. High Schools

The course covers everything from slavery to civil rights to pop culture

An inmate firefighter monitors flames as a house burns in the Napa wine region of California on October 9, 2017.

The History of California's Inmate Firefighter Program

The initiative, which finds prisoners working as first responders and rescuers, dates back to the 1940s

A monument of civil rights pioneer Elizabeth Freeman in Sheffield, Massachusetts

How an Enslaved Woman Took Her Freedom to Court

A new statue honors Elizabeth Freeman, who argued against slavery in a Massachusetts legal case

Few arguments showcase the fraught politics of state foods than the debate over red and green chiles in New Mexico.

The Contentious History of Official State Foods

How a bill about muffins, chili, or plums becomes law—or doesn't

The so-called frogmen swam into enemy beaches unarmed, wearing only swim trunks, dive masks and fins.

The Stealth Swimmers Whose WWII Scouting Laid the Groundwork for the Navy SEALs

The Underwater Demolition Teams cleared coastal defenses and surveyed enemy beaches ahead of Allied landings

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees bats during a game against Baltimore at Yankee Stadium in 1960.

Rare Mickey Mantle Baseball Card Could Sell for $10 Million

The mint-condition copy could become one of the most expensive baseball cards ever sold at auction

The Capitol Stones piled in Rock Creek Park

Is This the End of D.C.'s Most-Beloved Hidden Landmark?

The fate of the stones that were once a part of the U.S. Capitol has locals despondent

In the aftermath of the disaster and for decades to follow, numerous theories emerged. The men had been captured by the Japanese. They had been murdered by a stowaway. They had killed each other in a fight over a woman. They had simply fallen out of the blimp.

The 80-Year Mystery of the U.S. Navy's 'Ghost Blimp'

The L-8 returned from patrolling the California coast for Japanese subs in August 1942, but its two-man crew was nowhere to be found

 Online inflation calculators are only as good as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). “They’re as accurate as we can make them,” says economist Joe Mahon.

What Online Inflation Calculators Can—and Can't—Tell Us About the Past

Most of these tools are based on the Consumer Price Index, a measure of changing prices in the U.S. over time

City officials took down the plaque on August 8.

Denver Removes Plaque Inaccurately Describing Anti-Chinese Riot of 1880

The historical marker contained a number of falsehoods about the Mile High City's first race riot

Archaeologists Wade Catts and Dana Linck with historian Jennifer Janofsky at the excavation site

Archaeologists Uncover Remains of 13 Hessian Soldiers at Revolutionary War Battlefield

The discovery came as a surprise to the team at New Jersey’s Red Bank Battlefield Park

The Salem Witch Memorial in Salem, Massachusetts

Last Convicted Salem 'Witch' Is Finally Cleared

Elizabeth Johnson Jr. has been officially exonerated—thanks to a dogged band of middle schoolers

A boy riding his bike while delivering newspapers with his dog in tow, 1970s

What Ever Happened to the Neighborhood Paperboy?

To mark the premiere of Amazon's "Paper Girls," we delved into the surprisingly murky history of bicycle-riding newspaper carriers

Don McLean’s 1971 hit “American Pie” is the subject of a new documentary.

Unraveling the Secrets of Don McLean's 'American Pie'

A new documentary explores the meaning of the catchy, enigmatic tune

Only about a dozen first printings of the Constitution are known to exist.

After Selling for $43 Million, Rare Copy of the Constitution Goes on Display

The new exhibition explores diverse interpretations of the document's founding values

Page 19 of 179