Historic Events
Wars, important political and economic occasions, catastrophes and social movements of the pastTumult and Transition in "Little America"
Americans created Liberia as a homeland for freed slaves. But a quarter century of civil war over festering ethnic animosities has renewed questions about the U.S. role in the African nation
November 2003 |
By Alan Huffman
Two Weeks at Camp David
There was no love lost between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin. But at the very brink of failure, they found a way to reach agreement
September 2003 |
By Bob Cullen
September 11 From a Brooklyn Rooftop
Photographer Alex Webb captured a moment that showed, he says, the "continuity of life in the face of disaster"
September 2003 |
By Paul Maliszewski
Uncle Sam's Dolphins
In the Iraq war, highly trained cetaceans helped U.S. forces clear mines in Umm Qasr's harbor
September 2003 |
By William Gasperini
Benjamin Franklin Joins the Revolution
Returning to Philadelphia from England in 1775, the "wisest American" kept his political leanings to himself. But not for long
August 01, 2003 |
By Walter Isaacson
Making Sense of Robert E. Lee
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."
— Robert E. Lee, at Fredericksburg.
July 2003 |
By Roy Blount, Jr.
Heroes of the Underground Railroad
A groundbreaking chronicle sheds new light on one of the most dramatic chapters in American history
July 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Into the Breach
David Douglas Duncan's Life photographs captured the courage and anguish of marines in Korea, bringing home the gravity of war
May 2003 |
By Terence Monmaney
Daniel Libeskind: Architect at Ground Zero
From his Jewish Museum in Berlin to his proposal for the World Trade Center site, Daniel Libeskind designs buildings that reach out to history and humanity
March 2003 |
By Stanley Meisler
Henry Kissinger on Vietnam
Henry Kissinger's new book revisits America's troubled extrication from Indochina
March 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Marching on History
When a "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans converged on Washington in 1932 to demand a promised payment, MacArthur, Eisenhower and Patton were there to meet them
February 2003 |
By Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen
Cast in Bondage
Copper neck tags evoke the experience of American slaves hired out as part-time laborers
February 2003 |
By Victoria Dawson
Dividing the Spoils
In a new book, historian Michael Beschloss re-creates the 1945 Potsdam Conference at which Harry Truman found his presidential voice and determined the shape of postwar Europe
December 2002 |
By Michael Beschloss
Pieces of History
Raised from the deep, the Monitor's turret reveals a bounty of new details about the ship's violent end
November 2002 |
By Wendy Mitman Clarke
Monumental Achievement
Our 2002 profile of architect Maya Lin that marked the 20th year of the Vietnam Memorial
November 01, 2002 |
By Robert F. Howe
Founding Fathers and Slaveholders
To what degree do the attitudes of Washington and Jefferson toward slavery diminish their achievements?
November 2002 |
By Stephen E. Ambrose
Learning from the Missile Crisis
What Really Happened on Those Thirteen Fateful Days in October
October 2002 |
By Max Frankel
Covert Force
Hundreds of women fought in the civil war disguised as men
October 2002 |
By Robert F. Howe
Uncommon Valor
When two Naval officers entered the inferno of the Pentagon's west flank to search for survivors, they put their own lives on the line
September 2002 |
By Ken Ringle
Odd DUKW
On land and in the water, World War II's amphibian workhorse showed the skeptics a thing or two now it shows tourists the sights
August 2002 |
By Thomas B. Allen
