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History / U.S. History

A scene from 1964's Dr. Strangelove

There Never Was Such a Thing as a Red Phone in the White House

Fifty years ago, still spooked by the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. and Soviet Union built a hotline. But it wasn’t a phone

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The Incredible Disappearing Evangelist

Aimee Semple McPherson was an American phenomenon even before she went missing for five weeks in 1926.

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March on Washington Artifacts from the Smithsonian Collections

A trove of documents, buttons and other memorable tokens carry the memory of the most historic day in the civil rights movement

When designing a Denny’s on the hip, young Freemont Street in Las Vegas, Wines decided to include a chapel, which has been a big hit with the mayor and the community. Denny’s Flagship Diner, Neonopolis, Las Vegas, NV, 2012. Architecture: SITE (James Wines, Matthew Gindlesberger, Sara Stracey, Denise MC Lee). Fabrication: A. Zahner.

Architect James Wines Talks Putting a Chapel in a Denny’s and Making Art from Garbage

The outsider architect-artist has finally wooed the establishment, winning the Copper-Hewitt’s Lifetime Achievement Award, but he’s still mixing things up

Despite a recent slump from the economic crisis, Harlem brownstones prices are on the rise again.

How Harlem Put Itself Back on the Map

Historian John Reddick looks at the people behind the neighborhood’s recent reemergence as a thriving destination in the public eye

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The Design Future of New York as Seen by Urbanist Michael Sorkin

A theorist who can’t stop planning has big ideas for his hometown on sustainability, equity and the right to the city

Galaxy M106 as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

How Edwin Hubble Became the 20th Century’s Greatest Astronomer

The young scientist demolished the old guard’s ideas on the nature and size of the universe

Landscape designer Margie Ruddick’s “Urban Green Room,” the first permanent living indoor installation, helped her win a National Design Award last week.

Landscape Designer Margie Ruddick Brings a New Meaning to Green Design

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winner Margie Ruddick talks about blending ecology, architecture in first-ever permanent living indoor installation

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The Best of Design, Cooper-Hewitt Announces 2013 Award Winners

From a Las Vegas Denny’s with a wedding chapel to rock ‘n’ roll posters, this year’s design award winners have a good time with great design

On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland and nearly 1,200 lives were lost.

World War I: 100 Years Later

8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania

For one reason or another, these lucky souls never boarded the doomed ship whose sinking launched America’s involvement in WWI

Detail of cut marks found on the girl’s jaw, or lower mandible in a stereo-microscopic photo.

Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism

New archaeological evidence and forensic analysis reveals that a 14-year-old girl was cannibalized in desperation

This wax-and-cardboard disc from 1885 contains a recording of Bell’s voice.

We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now

Smithsonian researchers used optical technology to play back the unplayable records

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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