US Government

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington, D.C, on June 29, 2022. The EPA announced the launch of an office for advancing environmental justice and civil rights on Saturday. 

EPA Creates National Office for Environmental Justice and Civil Rights

It will distribute $3 billion in climate and environmental justice grants to underserved communities

The U.S. State Department ran two pilot programs to test the online renewal option.

Online Passport Renewal Is Almost Here

In early 2023, qualifying American travelers will be able to skip the lines

Many of the children who survived Hurricane Katrina are still healing from the trauma of their experiences.

The Black Children of Hurricane Katrina Finally Tell Their Stories

A new documentary, 'Katrina Babies,' spotlights the disaster's youngest survivors

The bill aims to help the nation slash its greenhouse gas emissions.

What the Inflation Reduction Act Hopes to Do About Climate Change

The spending bill aims to spur investment in renewable energy and slash greenhouse gas emissions

 Online inflation calculators are only as good as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). “They’re as accurate as we can make them,” says economist Joe Mahon.

What Online Inflation Calculators Can—and Can't—Tell Us About the Past

Most of these tools are based on the Consumer Price Index, a measure of changing prices in the U.S. over time

In their dissent, the court's three liberal judges wrote that their fellow justices had stripped the EPA of “the power to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.”

History of Now

How the Clean Air Act Came to Be

A new Supreme Court ruling curbs the EPA's ability to regulate carbon pollution under the 1970 legislation

Light bulbs sold in the U.S. must have a minimum efficiency of 45 lumens per watt by July 2023.

Good News

The United States Will Phase Out Incandescent Light Bulbs

Officials estimate this will cut carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons over 30 years and will save Americans $3 million per year on utility bills

A Long Island family sits in a "Kidde Kokoon" underground bomb shelter in 1955.

Digging Up the History of the Nuclear Fallout Shelter

For 75 years, images of bunker life have reflected the shifting optimism, anxieties and cynicism of the Atomic Age

Archaeologists and members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe worked together on the project, which revealed the longstanding genetic roots of the region's Native peoples. 

Innovation for Good

This Native American Tribe Wants Federal Recognition. A New DNA Analysis Could Bolster Its Case

The new findings could help Mukwema Ohlone prove they never went "extinct"

One reader wonders how birds stay balanced on tree branches while they’re asleep.   

Ask Smithsonian

How Do Birds Stay Upright When They Are Sleeping?

You've got questions. We've got experts

One mountain, named with a racist slur and slated for renaming, is located in Routt County in northern Colorado near the state's border with Utah. 

History of Now

U.S. Will Rename 660 Mountains, Rivers and More to Remove Racist Word

A task force is identifying new names for sites on federal land that bear a derogatory term referring to Indigenous women

The rare document is one of only two surviving first printings of the Constitution held by private collectors.

Rare First Printing of the U.S. Constitution Is the Most Expensive Text Ever Sold at Auction

A collective of cryptocurrency owners attempted to buy the document but was outbid by Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin, who shelled out $43.2 million

In the televised speech, the president outlined a six-part plan to fight the ongoing pandemic.

Trending Today

Biden Administration Announces Vaccine Mandate That Will Affect More Than 80 Million American Workers

The strict policies have been implemented to combat the resurging Covid-19 pandemic

The free silver movement—which fought to allow for unfettered silver coinage alongside the gold standard—reflected the divides of 1890s America.

The U.S. Government's Failed Attempt to Forge Unity Through Currency

In the late 1890s, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving tried to bridge the divide between silver and gold with a series of educational paper certificates

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti leave jail at Dedham, Mass., en route to the courthouse where they are to be sentenced by Judge Webster Thayer to die in the electric chair.

Sacco and Vanzetti's Trial of the Century Exposed Injustice in 1920s America

The pair's path to becoming media sensations began 100 years ago. To this day the two remain emblems of prejudice in the American justice system

The 74-foot-tall slab will be installed at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The Newseum's Iconic First Amendment Tablet Is Headed to Philadelphia

Weighing in at 50 tons, the marble slab previously adorned the facade of the now-shuttered journalism museum in D.C.

The Peace Memorial stands in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 15, 2021, nine days after the storming of Congress.

The Tragic Irony of the U.S. Capitol's Peace Monument

An unfinished Civil War memorial became an allegory for peace—and a scene of insurrection

A framed display of locks of George and Martha Washington's hair is estimated to sell for upward of $75,000.

Trove of Presidential Memorabilia, From Washington's Hair to JFK's Sweater, Is Up for Sale

RR Auction is offering a collection of nearly 300 artifacts, including a signed photo of Abraham Lincoln and a pen used by FDR

Artist Simon Berger created the portrait by strategically hammering cracks into a pane of glass.

Kamala Harris Portrait Draws Inspiration From the Glass Ceiling She Shattered

Artist Simon Berger created the unconventional likeness of the vice president in just one day

This Project Blue Book chart shows the frequency of unidentified flying object (UFO) reports during the months of June through September 1952.

You Can Now Explore the CIA's 'Entire' Collection of UFO Documents Online

Thousands of pages of declassified records are available for anyone to peruse

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