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History

The Tocsin of liberty: rung by the state house bell, (Independence Hall;) Philadelphia, July 4th, 1776

After Nearly 500 Years in Business, the Company that Cast the Liberty Bell Is Ceasing All Operations

London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry will fall silent soon, but will forever be tied to an icon of American history

The Drobitsky Yar menorah commemorates the genocide that happened in Kharkov, and across Ukraine.

The WWII Massacres at Drobitsky Yar Were the Result of Years of Scapegoating Jews

Silence obscured the truth in Ukraine for decades, but 75 years later the details of the genocide have emerged

John Glenn stands in the NASA mailroom surrounded by thousands of letters sent to him.

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

Lucian's space travelers witness a battle between the forces of the Sun and the Moon, which includes outlandish creatures like three-headed vultures and space spiders.

History of Now

The Intergalactic Battle of Ancient Rome

Hundreds of years before audiences fell in love with Star Wars, one writer dreamt of battles in space

Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler

History of Now

How Journalists Covered the Rise of Mussolini and Hitler

Reports on the rise of fascism in Europe were not the American media’s finest hour

The Oldest Structure on the National Mall Is on the Move

But don’t worry, it’s only going about 30 feet away

Rudolf Hess and Adolf Hitler during the Reichstag session at which Hitler gave his last warning to the British Empire.

History of Now

The First Moments of Hitler’s Final Solution

When Hitler solidified his plan to exterminate Jews – and why it matters 75 years later

John Glenn (1921-2016) by Henry C. Casselli, Jr., 1998

A Smithsonian Curator Remembers Astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn

The American hero died at the age of 95

How Trump Tower Takes the Skyscraper Debate to New Heights

The future of urban development takes on a new twist when the president lives among the clouds

Capture and Burning of Washington by the British, in 1814, wood engraving, 1876

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

New York City’s Holiday Vintage Subway Trains Are Back

Go back in time, underground

The electoral map in 2016, that is, assuming there are no faithless electors

The Electoral College Has Been Divisive Since Day One

It has always had the potential for chaos—one that hasn’t been tapped…yet

President Coolidge conducts the first official transatlantic phone call with the king of Spain in 1927

History of Now

From the Telegram to Twitter, How Presidents Make Contact With Foreign Leaders

Does faster communication cause more problems than it solves?

The Sikiorsky JRS-1 "was right in the middle of it,” Robinson says. “She went out along with other airplanes from the (Navy) Utility Squadron One searching for the Japanese fleet.”

At Pearl Harbor, This Aircraft Risked It All to Find the Japanese Fleet

The Sikorsky JRS-1 flew right through the middle of it on December 7, 1941

After the 2016 election, several hundred students at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, walked out of the classrooms in protest.

Finding Lessons for Today’s Protests in the History of Political Activism

A whirlwind of action, both organized and organic, supported by legal defense teams brought historic change

Noble is interviewed by students participating in StoryQuest, an oral history project based at the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experence at Washington College.

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

The proliferation of fake news sites this election year has led to many readers believing complete falsehoods.

The Remedy for the Spread of Fake News? History Teachers

Historical literacy, and the healthy skepticism that comes with it, provides the framework for being able to discern truth from fiction

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