Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History / U.S. History

The Inkwell used by Lincoln, the Proclamation draft and Lincoln's pen.

How the Emancipation Proclamation Came to Be Signed

The pen, inkwell and one copy of the document that freed the slaves are photographed together for the first time

The Smithsonian homepage in 1995

Fun Places on the Internet (in 1995)

What were you doing on the web back in the age of Netscape and Gopher?

Richard Paul Pavlick (at right) attempted to assassinate Kennedy outside the President-elect's church in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 1960. Shown here is Kennedy and his family outside that church in April 1963.

The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed

Richard Paul Pavlick’s plan wasn’t very complicated, but it took an eagle-eyed postal worker to prevent a tragedy

Anne Kelly Knowles uses geography and technology to trace history.

The Civil War

Looking at the Battle of Gettysburg Through Robert E. Lee’s Eyes

Anne Kelly Knowles, the winner of Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards, uses GIS technology to change our view of history

The Tucker on display at the National Museum of American History.

The Tucker Was the 1940s Car of the Future

Visionary inventor
 Preston Tucker risked everything when he saw his 1948 automobile as a vehicle for change

For a photo op, Rosa Parks sits in the front of a bus on December 21, 1956, the day that Montgomery's buses were officially integrated.

Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: Rosa Parks’ Arrest Records

Read between the lines of the police report drawn up when the seamstress refused to give up her seat in 1955

Cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer

Where Did Pabst Win That Blue Ribbon?

The origin of Pabst’s iconic blue ribbon dates back to one of the most important gatherings in American history

Henry Wiencek's book "Master of the Mountain" has caused much debate amongst Jefferson scholars this month.

Henry Wiencek Responds to His Critics

The author of a new book about Thomas Jefferson makes his case and defends his scholarship

Electronic government of the future from the 1981 kids book, World of Tomorrow by Neil Ardley

Five Past Visions of Our Political Future

Some people thought that once women were allowed to vote, men would soon lose that privilege

PHOTOS: The History of Abraham Lincoln on Film

The 16th president has been a Hollywood star and box office attraction since the earliest days of Hollywood

The first page of Theodore Roosevelt's speech that was damaged when a bullet tore through it.

The Speech That Saved Teddy Roosevelt’s Life

Campaigning for president, Roosevelt was spared almost certain death when 50 pieces of paper slowed an assailant’s bullet headed for his chest

None

“Confederates Try to Burn New York”

A new poem by George Green

A still from Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Mr. Lincoln Goes to Hollywood

Steven Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner talk about what it takes to wrestle an epic presidency into a feature film

Years before the infamous events of Salem, Easthampton, New York was riddled with allegations of witchcraft. Pictured is an old windmill next to a graveyard in the small town.

Before Salem, There Was the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Hamptons

Why was Goody Garlick, accused of witchcraft in 1658, spared the fate that would befall the women of Massachusetts decades later

None

A Brief History of the Teleprompter

How a makeshift show business memory aid became the centerpiece of modern political campaigning

This photograph of a medium-range ballistic missile site in Cuba was captured by a U-2 spy plane on October 14, 1962.

Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: What Did Analysts Find in the Recon Photographs From the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Dino Brugioni explains how he and other CIA photo analysts located Soviet missiles just 90 miles away from the United States

None

From the Editor

From the Editor

"It's possible my natural level is in the Senate," John F. Kennedy said—but then he won the 1960 election. As president, he and his wife hosted Ben and Tony Bradlee (left and third from left) at the White House.

Kennedy After Dark: A Dinner Party About Politics and Power

In this exclusive transcript from the JFK library, hear what he had to say just days after announcing his candidacy for the presidency

Low-altitude images, previously unpublished, reveal gaps in U.S. intelligence. Analysts failed to detect tactical nuclear warheads at a bunker near Managua.

The Photographs That Prevented World War III

While researching a book on the Cuban missile crisis, the writer unearthed new spy images that could have changed history

“I’d come back from an op and couldn’t wait for what happens next,” says Douglas Groat (shown in a reenactment with tools of the trade).

The CIA Burglar Who Went Rogue

Douglas Groat thought he understood the risks of his job—until he took on his own employer

Page 134 of 171