Special Report

Untold Stories of American History

Explore the lives of little-known changemakers who left their mark on the country

Illustration by Meilan Solly / Photos via Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The American Yawp Vol. II: Since 1877, Getty Images

On September 18, 1873, an investment bank owned by Jay Cooke, who financed the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway, went bankrupt, sparking a multiyear financial crisis.

How One Robber Baron's Gamble on Railroads Brought Down His Bank and Plunged the U.S. Into the First Great Depression

Seventy-eight years after the end of World War II, hospital trains are an oft-forgotten chapter in U.S. military history.

What Happened on the Trains That Brought Wounded World War II Soldiers Home?

On May 25, 1977, a fire at the Everard Baths in New York City killed 9 people and injured 12 more.

Before It Burned Down, This Bathhouse Served as a Haven for New York City's Gay Community

More Stories

The crew of the USS Kearsarge, photographed shortly after battle with the CSS Alabama

Was This Civil War Hero the First Medal of Honor Recipient Born in Africa?

James Hagengruber

Adopting the last name of his former enslaver, Harry spent the rest of his life pursuing the ideal for which the name Washington has long been revered in American history: fighting for freedom.

Enslaved by George Washington, This Man Escaped to Freedom—and Joined the British Army

Francine Uenuma

No known photographs of Swann survive. This 1903 postcard depicts two Black actors, one of whom is dressed in drag, performing a cakewalk in Paris.

The First Self-Proclaimed Drag Queen Was a Formerly Enslaved Man

Participants in a YWCA camp for girls in Highland Beach, Maryland, in 1930

When Private Beaches Served as a Refuge for the Chesapeake Bay's Black Elite

Costin may have been the child of Martha Washington’s son from her first marriage, John “Jacky” Parke Custis, and an enslaved woman.

Did Martha Washington Have a Black Grandson?

When 72-year-old Boucher gave his age as 48 to an army doctor, the man smiled and said, “And then some, like myself.”

The 72-Year-Old Who Lied About His Age to Fight in World War I

Representative Robert F. Broussard believed hippos imported from Africa would rid Louisiana and Florida of the water hyacinths smothering their waterways.

How the U.S. Almost Became a Nation of Hippo Ranchers

To allay any suspicions, an English colonist took a drink from one container, then surreptitiously offered another filled with poisoned wine to the Powhatans.

Was the 1623 Poisoning of 200 Native Americans One of the Continent's First War Crimes?

Peter C. Mancall