Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?
The Harlem Renaissance author spent her last years writing about the ancient king. Six decades after her death, her unfinished novel has finally been published for the first time
When a Deadly Winter Storm Trapped a Luxury Passenger Train Near the Donner Pass for Three Days
Snowdrifts stranded the vehicle in the Sierra Nevada in January 1952, imprisoning 226 people traveling from Chicago to California
Why Faneuil Hall Is the Perfect Metaphor for the American Revolution’s Complicated Definition of Liberty
How a lively market on Boston Harbor became part of many defining moments of the Colonial and Revolutionary eras
The Dramatic Rescue of the Citizen Sailors Who Patrolled the Atlantic Coast Looking for Nazi U-Boats
During World War II, the crew of the Zaida were among the everyday Americans who risked their lives watching out for enemy submarines
The Roots of U.S. Work Culture—and Why the American Dream Is So Difficult to Achieve Today
A new book examines the evolution of the American workplace, interrogating the idea that hard work is enough to ensure success
The Remarkable Life of One of Boston’s Most Fervent and Daring Abolitionists
Harriet Bell Hayden is believed to have helped hundreds of people fleeing slavery from her Beacon Hill residence
Did Colonial Americans Wear Wristwatches? And More Questions From Our Readers
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts
Discover Why Thomas Jefferson Meticulously Monitored the Weather Wherever He Went
The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans’ daily lives as farmers and enslavers
Inside the Struggle to Preserve Georgia’s Butler Island, Home to a Notorious Plantation
Descendants of people enslaved at the site are grappling with its complicated history while also honoring the region’s rich culture
Martin Van Buren Created America’s Partisan Political System. We’re Still Recovering
The eighth president of the United States, the so-called little magician, saw political parties as the key to achieving power
The Lasting Legacy of Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100
Smithsonian curators remember and honor the 39th president’s uncompromising idealism
After Failing Math Twice, a Young Benjamin Franklin Turned to This Popular 17th-Century Textbook
A 19th-century scholar claimed that “Cocker’s Arithmetick” had “probably made as much stir and noise in the English world as any [book]—next to the Bible”
Kids Send Thousands of Letters to Santa Each Year. Here’s What Really Happens to Them
The United States Postal Service and volunteers have responded to North Pole holiday correspondence over the past century
These Black Soldiers Fought for the British During the American Revolution in Exchange for Freedom From Slavery
The Carolina Corps achieved emancipation through military service, paving the way for future fighters in the British Empire to do the same
The Real Story Behind Netflix’s ‘The Six Triple Eight,’ a New Tyler Perry Film About the Women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
The Black, female unit sorted through a massive backlog of undelivered mail, raising American soldiers’ morale during World War II
When 170 Wild Monkeys Escaped From a ‘Jungle Camp’ and Terrorized New York
In 1935, dozens of rhesus macaques absconded from Frank Buck’s Long Island menagerie. Nearly a century later, 43 members of the same species broke out of a South Carolina research facility
The Ten Best History Books of 2024
Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and examine how the United States ended up where it is today
What Food Was Served at the First Thanksgiving in 1621?
Turkey may have been part of the holiday meal, along with venison, shellfish and corn, but pies and potatoes were decidedly not on the menu
Can Insects See Color? And More Questions From Our Readers
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts
During World War II, This Farmer Risked Everything to Help His Japanese American Neighbors
When the U.S. government sent the Tsukamoto family to an incarceration camp in 1942, one neighbor stepped up to save the farms they left behind, giving them something to come home to
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