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History / U.S. History

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The CIA’s Most Highly-Trained Spies Weren’t Even Human

As a former trainer reveals, the U.S. government deployed nonhuman operatives—ravens, pigeons, even cats—to spy on cold war adversaries

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The Civil War

How the Flag Came to be Called Old Glory

New research may settle a family feud over the origins of an American icon

“There was one file on our man in the FBI,” the ex-KGB man says. “He was retired and living in Queens.” That man, he says, was the mole.

When the FBI Spent Decades Hunting for a Soviet Spy on Its Staff

A tip provided by a double-agent for the KGB set off one of the most self-destructive mole hunts in FBI history

One frame of the Zapruder film has long been considered too graphic for public view.

What Does the Zapruder Film Really Tell Us?

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris deconstructs the most famous 26 seconds in film history

It was his weekends as a Civil War re-enactor that urged Joseph McGill to campaign for the conservation of slave cabins.

One Man’s Epic Quest to Visit Every Former Slave Dwelling in the United States

Joseph McGill, a descendant of slaves, has devoted his life to ensuring the preservation of these historic sites

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The Civil War

Will the Real Abraham Lincoln Please Stand Up?

A former Disney animator makes a provocative discovery by studying photos taken during the Gettysburg Address

Image courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Document Deep Dive: Francis Crick Explains the ‘Secret of Life’

In a heartfelt letter to his son, the scientist who helped discover DNA explains his earth-shattering findings

“Another Voice for Cleveland,” September 1884

President Cleveland’s Problem Child

Not even a specific allegation of philandering, illicit pregnancy and coverup barred Grover Cleveland from the White House

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Interactive: Seeking Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Address

A series of photographs captured in November 1863 give us a sense of what happened when Lincoln delivered his famous speech

Shoes worn by Maria Cecilia Benavente on September 11, 2001

Remembering 9/11: Maria Cecilia Benavente’s Sandals

Maria Cecilia Benavente escaped Tower Two barefoot; in shock, she held onto her sandals

When the first hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center, the New York Fire Department immediately responded. Officers set up a command center in the lobby of the north tower and bravely rushed up the stairs to rescue the trapped occupants and put out the raging fires. When the towers collapsed, numerous trucks were crushed, and 343 members of the New York Fire Department were killed. This door is from a FDNY rescue pumper truck destroyed in the World Trade Center collapse. The truck belonged to Squad One of Brooklyn, part of FDNY’s Special Operations Command, an elite group of firefighters who respond to unique fire and emergency situations. Squad One lost 12 members on September 11. Caption from the National Museum of American History's Bearing Witness to History.

Remembering 9/11: Brooklyn Squad 1 Fire Truck Door

This door is from a FDNY rescue pumper truck destroyed in the World Trade Center collapse. Squad 1 lost 12 members on September 11

John Surratt after he was captured

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Family Plot to Kill Lincoln

Mary and John Surratt helped John Wilkes Booth assassinate Abraham Lincoln and then paid the ultimate penalty for their actions

Photo courtesy of David Rumsey Map Collection. Interactive by Esri. Text by Natasha Geiling.

American Cities: Before and After

When the Lincoln Memorial Was Underwater

James Keily’s 1851 map of Washington shows a considerably smaller district, before the Potomac River was filled in to make way for monuments

Photo courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection; Interactive by Esri; Text by Natasha Geiling.

American Cities: Before and After

Before There Could Be a Los Angeles, There Had to be Water

California’s first state engineer, along with a team of surveyors, created this hand drawn map in 1880 to explore Los Angeles’ water resources

Photo courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection; Interactive by Esri; Text by Natasha Geiling.

American Cities: Before and After

When Real Estate Plotters Planned Out Denver

Bankers and speculators in the Colorado capital used this 1879 map to explore the Mile High City’s real estate potential

Photo courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection; Interactive by Esri; Text by Natasha Geiling.

American Cities: Before and After

What Did San Francisco Look Like in the Mid-1800s?

A look at a sailing chart of San Francisco and its bay, made in 1859 by the fledgling US Coast Survey

Interactive map courtesy of Esri. Text by Natasha Geiling.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What Did Chicago Look Like Before the Great Fire?

This 1868 pocket map of Chicago shows the city in full-blown expansion, a mere 3 years before the infamous blaze

The original lineup for speakers at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington. (Text by Megan Gambino.)

Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: A Play-by-Play of the March on Washington

Fifty years after the historic event, take a look at the lineup of speakers who addressed the crowd of 250,000 at the Lincoln Memorial

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Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: Even Julia Child Used a Recipe

See the famous chef’s thought process as she wrote out precise measurements to bake one of her favorite breads

From “The Marlborough-Vanderbilt Wedding”

How American Rich Kids Bought Their Way Into the British Elite

The nouveau riche of the Gilded Age had buckets of money but little social standing—until they started marrying their daughters to British nobles

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