American History

Saving the Last of the Great Carousels

The ornate, well made carousels of the past are in danger - degrading, being sold piecemeal and sometimes even for parts

Boston Children’s Hospital Once Relied on the Opera to Power X-Rays

In the 1880's the Children's Hospital in Boston didn't have electricity, so it couldn't use X-rays. But the nearby Opera House did

Photo courtesy of David Rumsey Map Collection. Interactive by Esri. Text by Natasha Geiling.

This Interactive Map Compares the New York City of 1836 to Today

Manhattan had a very different topography than the concrete jungle we know today

Photo courtesy of David Rumsey Map Collection. Interactive by Esri. Text by Natasha Geiling.

When the Lincoln Memorial Was Underwater

James Keily’s 1851 map of Washington shows a considerably smaller district, before the Potomac River was filled in to make way for monuments

The symbol for chemical weapons

The U.S. Knew Iraq Was Using Chemical Weapons, Helped Out Anyway

Recently declassified documents detail the CIA's knowledge of Iraq's chemical weapon program in the 1980s

Muriel Siebert, First Woman With a Seat on the Stock Exchange, Dies at Age 80

Siebert bought her seat in 1967, but she remained the only woman on the exchange for almost 10 years after that

Venus, a great place to take a few laps in orbit

The Lame Reason NASA Gave Up on Sending Astronauts to Venus in 1973

We had the technology, but not the will

The Last of the Watergate Tapes Show Just How Weasely Nixon Was

Nixon's public declarations and his private communications were a bundle of contradictions

From 1700 to 2000, the evolution of American anthromes

Watch How America’s Lands Changed From Forests to Fields

"Arthromes" are like biomes, but they acknowledge humanity's influence

Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza with President Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1962

The CIA Finally Admitted It Orchestrated the Iranian Coup of 1953

A newly-released 1970s internal CIA report admits the agency's involvement in the 1953 coup

Discoveries by European explorers that didn’t involve claiming land where people were already living.

These Are All the Places That Europeans Actually Discovered

Of all the places you think were discovered by Europeans, how many were actually discovered by Europeans?

Area 51, as seen on Google Maps

Area 51 is, Officially, a Real Place

Area 51 now officially exists, newly declassified documents say

Obama Is Actually the Third President to Install Solar Panels at the White House

Jimmy Carter's 1979 solar panels were stripped down by Ronald Reagan, while no one noticed when the Bush administration installed panels to heat the pool

How Typhoid Mary Stayed Healthy

Researchers think a potential therapy could be developed that blocks the bacteria's ability to divide and produce symptomatic typhoid

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These Carvings Are the Oldest Rock Art in America, by Thousands of Years

Native Americans created the carvings, which depict nature and geometrical motifs, though researchers still puzzle over their exact purpose and meaning

Ten Years Ago, 50 Million People Lost Power

Ten years later people are remembering, energy companies are trying to get better, but the grid is the same

America Bet 500 Million Tiny Copper Space Wires Would Help Beat the Soviets

During the Cold War, filling space with tiny copper bits didn't seem like such a bad idea

An ornamental copy of the Declaration of Independence

America’s Founders Were Scarily Young on July 4, 1776

How old were famous Revolutionary War figures on July 4, 1776?

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The Only Copy of Orson Welles’ First Professional Film Didn’t Burn in a Fire After All

The only copy of the Citizen Kane director's first professional movie was found in a warehouse

The panel at Food in the Garden’s August 1 event prepares to delve into the issues surrounding community garden and food education.

Can Gardening Change the World?

The American History Museum celebrates our country's lush food history—and explores its food future—with the Food in the Garden series

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