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History / U.S. History

Vacant casemates became open-air cells for more than 500 inmates serving time for desertion, mutiny, murder and other offenses.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

How Samuel Mudd Went From Lincoln Conspirator to Medical Savior

Banished to an island prison in the Gulf of Mexico, the doctor who set Booth’s broken leg saved dozens of lives in a yellow fever outbreak

Soldiers on the Union side look solemn as they carry a large flag.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

What the Final, Major 150th Anniversary Civil War Reenactment Looked Like

What war—and surrender—looked like on the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War

The top hat, with a silk mourning band for his son Willie, was worn last to Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

A Host of Relics from Lincoln’s Last Days All Came to Reside at the Smithsonian

The Lincoln collection at the American History Museum marks the horrific tragedy and the poignancies of a nation in mourning

The Innovative Spirit

What is the Nine Millionth Patent?

The landmark announcement is part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s celebration of the 225th anniversary of the Patent Act

"One more stain on the old banner," Booth yelled, conjuring the Confederate flag as he prepared to face his pursuers

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Final Hours of John Wilkes Booth

“I have too great a soul to die like a criminal,” Booth once wrote

Currier and Ives illustration of Lincoln assassination

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Night Abraham Lincoln Was Assassinated

What happened on that fateful Good Friday evening

Jackie Robinson, is shown in post-swing position in front of the stands

Canada

The Year of Jackie Robinson’s Mutual Love Affair With Montreal

Before he became a major leaguer, Robinson spent a formative year in the more hospitable environs of Canada

The two commanders sat across from each other; Lee in a tall caned armchair and Grant in a swivel chair with a padded leather back next to a small oval side table. They made some small talk before Lee asked on what terms Grant would “receive the surrender of my army.”

The Civil War

The Gentleman’s Agreement That Ended the Civil War

When Generals Grant and Lee sat down at Appomattox Court House, they brought an end to the struggle that had consumed the nation for five long years

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Document Deep Dive

This Chart From 1790 Lays Out the Many Dangers of Alcoholism

Founding father Benjamin Rush was greatly concerned with the amount of booze imbibed in post-Revolution America

The Brief History of “Americanitis”

More than a century ago, the experts thought that Americans worked too hard, putting their collective health at risk

The carriage that transported President Abraham Lincoln, Mary Lincoln, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris to Ford's Theatre is on view at the American History Museum through May 25, 2015.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

This is the Carriage That Took Lincoln on his Fateful Trip to Ford’s Theatre

As the April anniversary of Lincoln’s last ride approaches, an historian recounts the president’s other horse and buggie moments

The Civil War

The Underappreciated and Forgotten Sites of the Civil War

To commemorate the end of the war 150 years ago, here are fascinating locales that remind us of the conflict’s sprawling impact

The Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama

Who Was Edmund Pettus?

The march to freedom started on a bridge that honors a man bent on preserving slavery and segregation

United States Marines pose on top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima with the American flag on February 23, 1945.

Photos From the Battle of Iwo Jima to Mark Its 70th Anniversary

The battle for the Pacific island in the late winter of 1945 positioned the United States to invade mainland Japan, but at a cost

During the Civil War, a canal ran along what we now know of as the Mall

Meet the Madam on the Mall

Mary Ann Hall ran a successful brothel in D.C. for years, but it took a 1997 dig to tell the whole story

Xerox founder Joe Wilson with the 914, which could make copies up to 9 by 14 inches.

How the Photocopier Changed the Way We Worked—and Played

Decades before 3-D printers brought manufacturing closer to home, copiers transformed offices, politics and art

The weapon that shot Abraham Lincoln

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Blood Relics From the Lincoln Assassination

Even now, 150 years later, objects from the murder of the president provide a powerful link to the event

“The Booths had an inherited strain of darkness in them,” an acquaintance of Asia’s wrote in the foreword to her memoir.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Closest Source We Have to Really Knowing John Wilkes Booth Is His Sister

In a post-assassination memoir, Asia Booth Clarke recalled her brother’s passion, his patriotism and his last words to her

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