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History / U.S. History

John Trumball's The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17 June, 1775.

The True Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill

Nathaniel Philbrick takes on one of the Revolutionary War’s most famous and least understood battles

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The History of the Short-Lived Independent Republic of Florida

For a brief period in 1810, Florida was truly a country of its own

Before the blows began to rain: Walter Reuther (hand in pocket) and Richard Frankensteen (to Reuther’s left).

How the Ford Motor Company Won a Battle and Lost Ground

Corporate violence against union organizers might have gone unrecorded—if it not for an enterprising news photographer

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Sequestration to Cause Closures, Secretary Clough Testifies

Gallery closings, fewer exhibitions and reduced educational offerings are some of the impacts he listed before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie (front row, center) financially supported the Tuskegee Institute and its faculty members, pictured here. Carnegie lauded the efforts of Booker T. Washington, who opened the school in 1881, shown here with his wife Margaret next to the businessman.

Educating Americans for the 21st Century

The Business of American Business Is Education

From corporate donations to workplace restrictions, what’s taught in the classroom has always been influenced by American industry

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Educating Americans for the 21st Century

Document Deep Dive: What Was on the First SAT?

Explore the exam that has been stressing out college-bound high school students since 1926

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Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: The Heartfelt Friendship Between Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey

Baseball brought the two men together, but even when Rickey left the Brooklyn Dodgers, their relationship off the field would last for years

Holographic home computer game of the future from the 1981 book Tomorrow’s Home by Neil Ardley

Disney Kills LucasArts, My Childhood

When LucasArts was first starting out in the 1980s, the future of video games included holograms, virtual reality headsets and worldwide networking

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When New York City Tamed the Feared Gunslinger Bat Masterson

The lawman had a reputation to protect—but that reputation shifted after he moved East

An artist's depiction of the tarring and feathering of loyalist John Malcom in Boston.

The Worst Parade to Ever Hit the Streets of Boston

On the eve of the Revolutionary War, loyalist John Malcom was tarred, feathered and dragged through the streets, just for arguing with a young boy

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Has Gettysburg Kicked Its Kitsch Factor?

Historian Tony Horwitz travels to the Civil War battlefield and finds that even where time is frozen, it’s undergone welcome changes

A toy Statue of Liberty was one of thousands sold to raise funds to build the real statue's pedestal.

America’s Got a Case of Souvenir Mania

A new book from a Smithsonian curator looks at the culture and business of memorabilia

Great Camp Sagamore in Raquette Lake, New York, was once a retreat for the Vanderbilt family.

Where Was the Birthplace of the American Vacation?

First in rustic tents and later in elaborate resorts, city dwellers took to the Adirondacks to explore the joys of the wilderness

In late 1938, the revolutionary DC-3 plane departed Newark Airport for Glendale, California.

How the DC-3 Revolutionized Air Travel

Before the legendary aircraft took flight, it took 25 hours to fly from New York to Los Angeles

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Who Really Invented the Smiley Face?

It’s supposedly the 50th anniversary of the original design of the iconic image, but its history since then is surprisingly complex with millions of dollars at stake

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The Most Audacious Australian Prison Break of 1876

An American whaling ship brought together an oddball crew with a dangerous mission: freeing six Irishmen from a jail in western Australia

Ben Franklin, inventor of all things sky related

Did Benjamin Franklin Invent Daylight Saving Time?

The creation of DST is usually credited to George Vernon Hudson, but 100 years earlier, Benjamin Franklin pondered a similar question

An illustration of Moby Dick attacking a whaling ship.

The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick’

The whaler Essex was indeed sunk by a whale—and that’s only the beginning

The ”peaceful” Pilgrims massacred the Pequots and destroyed their fort near Stonington, Connecticut, in 1637. A 19th-century wood engraving (above) depicts the slaughter.

The Shocking Savagery of America’s Early History

Bernard Bailyn, one of our greatest historians, shines his light on the nation’s Dark Ages

George crawls into a pneumatic tube which will transport him to Mr. Spacely’s office (1963)

George Jetson Navigates a Series of Tubes

Travel by pneumatic tubes? The idea was seriously considered in the 1960s

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