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American History

The memorial features a 125-foot bas-relief created by sculptor Emily Bedard that moves chronologically from the buildup of the operation to the conflict and liberation.

See the Sweeping Dune Walls and 125-Foot Bas-Relief Sculpture at the National Mall’s Newest Memorial, Dedicated to Veterans of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm

The Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial is an oasis-like place for honoring the Americans who served and lost their lives in combat to liberate Kuwait in the early 1990s

The Milwaukee Brewers are playing the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2026 World Series.

Art Museums in Milwaukee and Tampa Bay Are Betting That Their Hometown Baseball Teams Will Win the World Series. The Wager? Monet Paintings

As the Brewers take on the Rays in the Fall Classic, two art museums are engaged in a friendly bit of sports betting: The winning city (temporarily) gets a Monet from the other city’s collection

The caskets of fallen American service members are loaded onto the S.S. Joseph V. Connolly in Antwerp, Belgium, in September 1947.

Untold Stories of American History

Two Years After World War II Ended, This Ship Brought the Bodies of 6,251 Fallen Service Members Back Home to America

The S.S. “Joseph V. Connolly” arrived in New York City on October 26, 1947. The caskets stored in its holds contained the remains of privates and three-star generals alike

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan with a map showing the route of their final flight

Researchers Claimed a Blurry Object on Apple Maps Was ‘Very Likely’ Amelia Earhart’s Missing Plane. It Turned Out to Be a ‘Collection of Large Trees’

A 17-person crew traveled to a remote atoll in the South Pacific to investigate the so-called Taraia Object. After surveying the site, the team announced that the anomaly was not a fragment of the long-lost Lockheed Electra aircraft

Ron Wallace set the world record for the heaviest pumpkin.

A Rhode Island Man Grew the First Pumpkin to Surpass 3,000 Pounds. The Gargantuan Gourd Is the Largest Fruit Ever

On October 10, Ron Wallace took the pumpkin king crown with a 3,156-pounder. The previous record—a respectable, nearly 2,857-pound pumpkin—was set just a week earlier by British grower Ian Paton

The North Dakota governor's residence in Bismarck was constructed between 2016 and 2018.

Cool Finds

Construction Work on the North Dakota Governor’s Residence Accidentally Unearthed Seven Coffins Dating Back to the State’s Early Settlement

The cemetery site was established in 1872, when the state capital Bismarck was a small frontier community called Edwinton. Most, but not all, of its gravesites were exhumed five years later to make way for a railroad

Masten, from the Buffalo, New York Documentary Survey Project, David Seman, gelatin silver print, 1979

In the 1970s, the U.S. Commissioned Photographers to Document the Country’s People and Places. You Can Now See More Than 200 of the Powerful Images

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a “national portrait” reveals what the United States looked like during its bicentennial period

The canoe is submerged 15 feet deep in Wisconsin’s Pewaukee Lake.

Cool Finds

A Diver Volunteered to Clean Up Trash From a Wisconsin Lake. He Discovered a 1,000-Year-Old Dugout Canoe at the Bottom Instead

Indigenous communities near present-day Milwaukee likely hand-carved the white-oak vessel before shaping it with fire between roughly 992 and 1049 C.E.

Officials unveiled the memorial for the Revolutionary War soldiers at the Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery on September 23.

These Soldiers Were Buried in an Unmarked Grave During the Revolutionary War. Now, Historians Finally Know Their Names

At a recent memorial ceremony, officials honored 28 Continental soldiers and at least 38 British soldiers who were buried in Wilmington, Delaware, nearly 250 years ago

The life-size statue depicted Benjamin Harrison, the nation’s 23rd president.

An Arson Investigation Is Underway After a Suspected ‘Senseless Act of Vandalism’ Destroys a Newly Installed Benjamin Harrison Statue

The 3D-printed piece was created by students and faculty at Indiana University Indianapolis and had been installed on September 16

A close-up view of a 1798 Gilbert Stuart portrait of Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles

The Marquis de Lafayette’s Brother-in-Law Participated in Three Revolutionary Wars, Supporting American Independence but Brutally Suppressing an Uprising by Enslaved Africans in Haiti

Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles, served during the American, French and Haitian Revolutions. “He fights wherever France fights, because he’s a soldier and he believes in France,” a historian says

An 1857 storage jar signed by David Drake

The Milwaukee Art Museum Just Returned Two Ceramics Made by Enslaved Potter David Drake to His Descendants

The two vessels, one of them a signed 1855 jar, are the latest to be reinstituted to Drake’s family, who are on a mission to acquire the works of their ancestor

Jason Graziadei, editor in chief of the Nantucket Current, snapped this photo after getting a tip from a reader.

In 1884, Gale-Force Winds Ran a Ship Aground Near Cape Cod. Now, the Nor’easter Lashing the East Coast May Have Uncovered Part of It

The wreckage could belong to the “Warren Sawyer,” a three-masted cargo schooner that foundered more than 140 years ago

An illustration of Lancaster in the early 1800s. The Pennsylvania city served as the nation's capital on September 27, 1777.

America's 250th Anniversary

During the American Revolution, the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Served as the United States’ Capital for Just One Day

The nascent nation’s leaders fled to the inland city as the British advanced on Philadelphia in September 1777. They held one meeting at the local courthouse before moving on to York

A 1939 photo of Georgia Tann, head of the Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society

This Social Worker Was Supposed to Help Orphans Find Homes. Instead, She Abducted Children Who Already Had Families and Sold Them for Profit

Between 1924 and 1950, Georgia Tann placed more than 5,000 children—many of them seized from their parents without permission—with wealthy families across the U.S

The exterior of the National Museum of African American History and Culture during its opening ceremony in 2016

For Years, the Smithsonian Strove to Bring the African American History and Culture Museum to the National Mall. Now, It Celebrates a Decade as a Beacon of Understanding, Community and Resilience

The museum lovingly called the “Blacksonian” chronicles the past and present and envisions the future to tell the stories of Black life in America

The New York Times building, with its newspaper logo sign above the entrance, seen in New York City on August 6, 2026

The Founders of the ‘New York Times’ Pledged to Cover ‘Every Subject of Public Importance.’ 175 Years Later, the Paper Continues to Publish ‘All the News That’s Fit to Print’

Much has changed since the publication debuted on September 18, 1851. What hasn’t changed, staff members say, is the paper’s mission

“If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground” is on view now through December 19.

What If Emmett Till Had Lived? A New Exhibition Imagines an Alternate Future for the Murdered Black Teenager

Featuring photographs by more than 110 artists, the show honors Till’s memory by inviting viewers to contemplate the person he might have become had he made it to adulthood

A man in New York City reads a copy of the September 19, 2001, issue of the Daily News, featuring Milton Glaser's updated "I ♥ NY More Than Ever" logo.

In the Aftermath of 9/11, Milton Glaser, Creator of the ‘I Love NY’ Logo, Declared That He Loved New York City ‘More Than Ever’

The graphic designer revamped his world-famous emblem in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The updated design underscored the city’s resilience in the face of tragedy

For the first time in more than a century of cookie sales, Girl Scouts of the USA has launched a dedicated dog treat.

Girl Scouts of America Announces a First for Its Iconic Cookie Lineup—One Created Exclusively for Dogs

For the first time in its 109-year history of cookie sales, the organization offers a custom-made sweet treat for four-legged friends

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