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History / U.S. History

Dr. Lewis Fielding’s File Cabinet.

The World’s Most Famous Filing Cabinet

After Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, the notorious Plumbers broke into his psychiatrist’s office, looking for a way to discredit him

At the gravesite of Mercy Lena Brown, right, sightseers leave offerings such as plastic vampire teeth and jewelry.

The Great New England Vampire Panic

Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, farmers became convinced that their relatives were returning from the grave to feed on the living

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Play the Great American History Puzzle

Jeopardy! Champion Ken Jennings takes you on a challenging adventure through the secrets of American history. Will you be our grand prize winner?

Lunch Atop a Skyscraper Photograph: The Story Behind the Famous Shot

For 80 years, the 11 ironworkers in the iconic photo have remained unknown, and now, thanks to new research, two of them have been identified

At home and abroad, vampire scares usually began when a person died and others in the vicinity began dying, too, usually of the same sickness.

Halloween

Meet the Real-Life Vampires of New England and Abroad

The legend of the blood suckers, and the violence heaped upon their corpses, came out of ignorance of contagious disease

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How a New Yorker Article Launched the First Shot in the War Against Poverty

When a powerful 1963 piece laid out the stark poverty in America, the White House took action

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From the Editor

From the Editor

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World War I: 100 Years Later

Document Deep Dive: What Did the Zimmermann Telegram Say?

See how British cryptologists cracked the coded message that propelled the United States into World War I

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How Would You Rank the Greatest Presidents?

In a new book, political junkie Robert W. Merry shares his three-part test

In 1916, a great white shark attacked five people near the Jersey Shore.

The Shark Attacks That Were the Inspiration for Jaws

One rogue shark. Five victims. A mysterious threat. And the era of the killer great white was born

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How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad

A schoolgirl and a former traveling Bible salesman helped turn deodorants and antiperspirants from niche toiletries into an $18 billion industry

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Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: A Peek at the 1948 Games in London

Records at the National Archives in London show how organizers cobbled together the 1948 “Austerity” Games

Michael Pupa is the only living person featured in an exhibit at the National Archives that tells the stories of the men, women and children who struggled to both enter and exit the U.S. from 1880 to the 1950s.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Document Deep Dive: A Holocaust Survivor Finds Hope in America

Michael Pupa’s story, from orphan of Nazi Europe to American citizen, is a testament to the freedoms America offers

The vice-presidential learning center features a sweatshirt worn by the young Dan Quayle.

The Vice Presidents That History Forgot

The U.S. vice presidency has been filled by a rogues gallery of mediocrities, criminals and even corpses

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Torch Song

Ode to an ancient summer rite, excesses and all

How Well Do You Know Your Vice Presidents?

Test yourself on our quiz of the famous, infamous and not-so-famous least powerful men in the country

Frank Deford of Real Sports for HBO.

Frank Deford on Bloggers, the Olympics and 51 years of Sportswriting

The legendary writer for Sports Illustrated dishes on, among other things, the changing relationship between athletes and the journalists who cover them

The B.A.A. team in the stadium in Athens.

The Men Behind the First Olympic Team

Mocked by their peers and kicked out of Harvard, the pioneering athletes were ahead of their time… and their competition in Athens

The Theme Building at the Los Angeles International Airport, built in 1961

Googie: Architecture of the Space Age

The futurist design movement that divided critics and and swept the nation with space age coffee shops

Some historians and curators suspect that the empire-style gown, which Dolley Madison owned until her death in 1849, may have been made from the curtains she salvaged from the White House in 1814.

The Legend of Dolley Madison’s Red Velvet Dress

Before the burning of the White House, the First Lady saved some red draperies. Could she have made a dress from them?

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