American History

A Lost John Steinbeck Short Story Was Rediscovered, Published

The short story deals with the racial politics of the mid-20th century

19th Century Concern Trolling: Chess Is “a Mere Amusement of a Very Inferior Character”

The writers of Scientific American had some not nice things to say about chess

George Washington's only complete set of dentures, made out of lead, human teeth, cow teeth and elephant ivory.  

George Washington Didn’t Have Wooden Teeth—They Were Ivory

Washington's teeth were made of a lot of things, but not wood

How the Word “OK” Was Invented 175 Years Ago

OK is an editorial joke run wild

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Someone Just Bought an Entire Connecticut Ghost Town for $1.2 Million

Johnsonville was once a 62-acre mill village

Did this piece of debris come from Amelia Earhart's plane? Some think so; others disagree.

Aircraft Hunters Think They’ve Found a Scrap of Amelia Earhart’s Plane

This isn't the first time a seemingly game-changing piece of evidence about Earhart's disappearance has arisen, however

A yellow fever epidemic may have planted the seeds of inspiration for Washington Irving's iconic tale of the a headless horseman.

What “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Tells Us About Contagion, Fear and Epidemics

Washington Irving fled New York because of a yellow fever epidemic. Twenty-two years later, his classic story spoke to the chaos of his youth

The German U-576 off the coast of France, around 1940 or 1941. It sunk near North Carolina in 1942.

Wreckage of a Nazi U-Boat Was Found Off the Coast of North Carolina

A freighter lost in that skirmish was also discovered in the "graveyard of the Atlantic"

Coming to Terms With One of America’s Greatest Natural Disasters

Documentary filmmaker Bill Morrison plunges us into the Great Flood of 1927

A corridor leading to the infectious disease ward at Ellis Island's defunct hospital.

Ellis Island Is Opening an Abandoned Hospital to the Public for the First Time in 60 Years

There are 29 abandoned buildings in all, several of which visitors can explore

One of the approximately 14,000 year old coprolites found at Paisley Caves

Paisley Caves Added to National Register Of Historic Places

One of the earliest sites of evidence for human occupation of North America

Replicas of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria sail Past Cape Canaveral in 1992

Shipwreck Probably Not Santa Maria

Shipwreck found off the coast of Haiti is probably not Santa Maria

The Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, P.A. is celebrating its city in a long-term exhibition, "Pittsburgh a Tradition of Innovation."

Celebrating Pittsburgh, the City Behind Pro Football, Big Macs and the Polio Vaccine

The Pennsylvanian city had more lives than a cat and thrives as a hub of innovation

The Debate Over Net Neutrality Has Its Roots in the Fight Over Radio Freedom

Today's epic battle has been fought before, when radio took to the air a century ago

Inside the Intense Rivalry Between Eliot Ness and J. Edgar Hoover

Newly released files shed fresh light on the difficult relationship shared by the “Untouchable” Prohibition Bureau agent and the powerful FBI director

From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the nuclear "Football."

The Real Story of the "Football" That Follows the President Everywhere

Take a peek at the mysterious black briefcase that has accompanied every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy

Abel Buell's map was the first in the country submitted for copyright, in March of 1784.

Even in 1784 America, It Was Impossible to Make a Map Without Infuriating Someone

Abel Buell’s map was the first in the country submitted for a copyright

The remains of S.S. Frank H. Buck peek above the surface during low tide off San Francisco's Lands End.

The Waters Around San Francisco Conceal a Graveyard of Historic Ships

Hundreds of wrecks, potentially, await discovery and exploration

Dale William Nichols. American, 1904-1995. McCormick Reaper, circa 1945. Oil on canvas.

Impressionism Into Modernism: Crafting America's Unique Style of Art

After the Civil War, Americans became more interested in European art—and creating a kind of art completely their own

Eleanor Roosevelt leans forward from the back seat of the Roosevelt car to catch a comment from her husband, Franklin, as they campaign for his fourth term as president.

Ken Burns' New Series, Based on Newly Discovered Letters, Reveals a New Side of FDR

In "The Roosevelts", Burns examines the towering but flawed figures who really understood how character defined leadership

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