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History / U.S. History

A holiday postcard from 1908.

Your Thanksgiving Turkey Is a Quintessentially American Bird: An Immigrant

The turkeys common on U.S. tables descended from a Mexican species and were originally bred for Maya rituals

Document Deep Dive

How NASA’s Flight Plan Described the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

A second-by-second guide to the historic mission

Get Reintroduced to Rosa Parks as a New Archive Reveals the Woman Behind the Boycott

The Rosa Parks collection adds depth to the story of the civil rights heroine

In 1856, a Nantucket sailor sketched the killing of his crew’s “100-barrel” prize.

How Nantucket Came to Be the Whaling Capital of the World

Ron Howard’s new film “In the Heart of the Sea” captures the greed and blood lust of the Massachusetts island

American Ingenuity Awards

Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Genius Behind “Hamilton,” Broadway’s Newest Hit

Composer, lyricist and performer, Miranda wows audiences and upends U.S. history with his dazzlingly fresh hip-hop musical

Document Deep Dive

When the Empire State Building Was Just an Architect’s Sketch

How one of the world’s most famous skyscrapers was built

A victorious commander rides in a chariot during a triumphal procession in ancient Rome.

What You Don’t Know About Ancient Rome Could Fill a Book. Mary Beard Wrote That Book

The British historian reveals some surprises about the ancient Roman people and their customs

Ribbons of light slash through the darkness that is New York City during the Giant power Failure November (th. The "ribbons" are formed by the lights of vehicles moving along a highway.

When New York City Lost Power in 1965, Radio Saved the Day

How the news was reported on the day of the famous blackout

Document Deep Dive

The Telegram That Broke News of the Civil War

After Confederate forces seized Fort Sumter, a U.S. Army officer dashed off this message to Washington

Jennie Grossinger gets a kiss from her celebrity friends Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher

The Woman Who Built the Waldorf of the Catskills

Despite her humble origins, Jennie Grossinger learned to play the role of hostess

Why Marquis de Lafayette Is Still America’s Best Friend

A conversation with Sarah Vowell about her new book, the American Revolution and what we can learn from the Founding Fathers

Boss Tweed and the Tammany Ring, caricatured by Thomas Nast, c. 1870

To Stop an Endless Cycle of Corruption, History Says Fix the System, Not the Politician

A turn-of-the-century muckraker named Lincoln Steffens understood the true problem with a “throw the bums out” strategy

James Monroe (L) and Alexander Hamilton (R) nearly dueled each other, but an unlikely political ally stepped in

That Time When Alexander Hamilton Almost Dueled James Monroe

And it was an unlikely ally who put a stop to their petty dispute

Secrets of American History

Thirty Years Later, We Still Don’t Truly Know Who Betrayed These Spies

Was there a fourth mole in the U.S. intelligence system that blew these secret agents’ covers?

A coffle of slaves being marched from Virginia west into Tennessee, c. 1850.

Secrets of American History

Retracing Slavery’s Trail of Tears

America’s forgotten migration – the journeys of a million African-Americans from the tobacco South to the cotton South

Secrets of American History

That Time When Custer Stole a Horse

The theft of a prize-winning stallion gave the famous general a glimpse of a future that could have been

The pivotal accuser at the trials, Tituba, would go down in history as a purveyor of satanic magic. An 1880s engraving depicts her in the act of terrifying children.

Secrets of American History

Unraveling the Many Mysteries of Tituba, the Star Witness of the Salem Witch Trials

No one really knows the true motives of the character central to one of America’s greatest secrets

A bowl done in a style first seen around A.D. 1100 has “acid blooms” on its interior—imperfections suggesting that someone used modern soaps to clean the bowl up, possibly to fetch a higher price on the black market.

An Exclusive Look at the Greatest Haul of Native American Artifacts, Ever

In a warehouse in Utah, federal agents are storing tens of thousands of looted objects recovered in a massive sting

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