American History

Only about a dozen first printings of the Constitution are known to exist.

After Selling for $43 Million, Rare Copy of the Constitution Goes on Display

The new exhibition explores diverse interpretations of the document's founding values

In 1964, when a journalist asked Howard crew coach Stuart Law about the team’s last-place finishes, he just smiled and said, “We’re getting better all the time.”

The Barrier-Breaking Rowers of America's First All-Black Crew Team

At the height of the civil rights movement, Howard University's oarsmen held their own against rivals from established, largely white programs

By March 1862, Judith Henry's Virginia home had been reduced to rubble.

The Civil War's First Civilian Casualty Was an Elderly Widow From Virginia

Union gunfire killed 85-year-old Judith Carter Henry on July 21, 1861—the day of the First Battle of Bull Run

Jim Thorpe in 1912

Jim Thorpe's 1912 Olympic Gold Medals Are Finally Reinstated

Officials removed the Native American athlete's victories from Olympic records in 1913

Drawing of a woman being dragged to a ducking stool at a river in Ipswich, Suffolk, around 1600

When Authorities Dunked Outspoken Women in Water

In early modern England, women accused of being "common scolds" were immersed in rivers and lakes while strapped to contraptions known as ducking stools

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's flag hangs on the door of a hijacked TWA Boeing 707 at Dawson's Field in Libya in September 1970.

A Brief History of Airplane Hijackings, From the Cold War to D.B. Cooper

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, hijackings occurred, on average, once every five days globally

The memes place their subjects in situations ranging from historically significant to hilariously obscure, including the Battle of Lexington, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and more.

Why American Girl Dolls Are Starring in Viral History Memes

The popular posts call for characters who witnessed the Salem Witch Trials, JFK's assassination and other historical events

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Untold Stories of American History

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

Donald Duck title card art, circa 1942

How Disney Propaganda Shaped Life on the Home Front During WWII

A traveling exhibition traces how the animation studio mobilized to support the Allied war effort

Diane Nash, pictured in 2011, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday, July 7.

Meet Diane Nash, the Civil Rights Icon Awarded the U.S.' Highest Civilian Honor

The 84-year-old activist received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her leadership during the 1960s fight against segregation

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Mary Sears' Pioneering Ocean Research Saved Countless Lives in WWII

Allied victory in the Pacific depended on strategy, bravery and military might. It also depended on a brilliant marine scientist from Massachusetts

Members of the Ponca delegation pose with the repatriated pipe tomahawk.

Harvard Returns Chief Standing Bear's Pipe Tomahawk to the Ponca Tribe

The Native American leader gifted the artifact to his lawyer in a landmark 1879 civil rights case

A rider hangs tough during a rodeo at Madison Square Garden in New York, 1957. 

A Brief History of the Rodeo

The humble origins and complex future of cowboy competition

Bradford Freeman died on Sunday, July 3, at age 97.

Bradford Freeman, Last Surviving Member of WWII 'Band of Brothers,' Dies at 97

The Easy Company veteran parachuted into France on D-Day and fought in major European campaigns during the last year of the war

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When Coal First Arrived, Americans Said 'No Thanks'

Back in the 19th century, coal was the nation's newfangled fuel source—and it faced the same resistance as wind and solar today

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The Southbound Underground Railroad Brought Thousands of Enslaved Americans to Mexico

Rather than head north, many of those in bondage made a different treacherous journey in a bold quest for freedom that historians are now unearthing

Riders on the Pine Apples float in the 1898 parade

The Oldest Footage of New Orleans Has Been Found

Previously only rumored to exist, the two-minute film depicts a Mardi Gras parade from 1898

The men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops created elaborate illusions featuring inflatable tanks, jeeps and artillery.

How the Ghost Army of WWII Used Art to Deceive the Nazis

Unsung for decades, the U.S. Army's 23rd Headquarters Special Troops drew on visual, sonic and radio deception to misdirect the Germans

Attorney Gloria Allred (left) and Norma McCorvey (right), the anonymous plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, during a pro-choice rally in Burbank, California, on July 4, 1989

Who Was Norma McCorvey, the Woman Behind Roe v. Wade?

Dubbed "Jane Roe," McCorvey sought an abortion after becoming pregnant in 1969 but was thwarted by Texas' restrictive reproductive laws

As of June 15, the World Health Organization had recorded a total of 2,103 confirmed monkeypox cases in 42 countries. Pictured: a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox virus particles (green) cultivated and purified from cell culture

What You Need to Know About the History of Monkeypox

Mired in misconception, the poxvirus is endemic in certain African countries but was rarely reported in Europe and the U.S. until recently

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