U.S. History

The dancers in the Rouge chorus line brought crowds to their feet with the "Tropi Can Can."

The Vegas Hotspot That Broke All the Rules

America’s first interracial casino helped end segregation on the Strip and proved that the only color that mattered was green

Company H of the 48th New York Regiment, stiffly posed for this 1863 formal portrait at Fort Pulaski, in Savannah, GA, seems oblivious to the more informal baseball game in progress behind them. The photo is one of the ealiest known photographs of a baseball game.

The Civil War

That Time More Than 150 Years Ago When Thousands of People Watched Baseball on Christmas Day

During the Civil War, two regiments faced off as spectators, possibly as many as 40,000, sat and watched

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: Emancipation Proclamation

When freeing the slaves 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln traded in his famous lyricism for a dry, legal tone. Harold Holzer explains why

The Inkwell used by Lincoln, the Proclamation draft and Lincoln's pen.

How the Emancipation Proclamation Came to Be Signed

The pen, inkwell and one copy of the document that freed the slaves are photographed together for the first time

The Smithsonian homepage in 1995

Fun Places on the Internet (in 1995)

What were you doing on the web back in the age of Netscape and Gopher?

Richard Paul Pavlick (at right) attempted to assassinate Kennedy outside the President-elect's church in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 1960. Shown here is Kennedy and his family outside that church in April 1963.

The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed

Richard Paul Pavlick’s plan wasn’t very complicated, but it took an eagle-eyed postal worker to prevent a tragedy

Anne Kelly Knowles uses geography and technology to trace history.

The Civil War

Looking at the Battle of Gettysburg Through Robert E. Lee’s Eyes

Anne Kelly Knowles, the winner of Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards, uses GIS technology to change our view of history

The Tucker on display at the National Museum of American History.

The Tucker Was the 1940s Car of the Future

Visionary inventor
 Preston Tucker risked everything when he saw his 1948 automobile as a vehicle for change

For a photo op, Rosa Parks sits in the front of a bus on December 21, 1956, the day that Montgomery's buses were officially integrated.

Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: Rosa Parks’ Arrest Records

Read between the lines of the police report drawn up when the seamstress refused to give up her seat in 1955

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Where Did Pabst Win that Blue Ribbon?

The origin of Pabst's iconic blue ribbon dates back to one of the most important gatherings in American history

Henry Wiencek's book "Master of the Mountain" has caused much debate amongst Jefferson scholars this month.

Henry Wiencek Responds to His Critics

The author of a new book about Thomas Jefferson makes his case and defends his scholarship

Electronic government of the future from the 1981 kids book, World of Tomorrow by Neil Ardley

Five Past Visions of Our Political Future

Some people thought that once women were allowed to vote, men would soon lose that privilege

PHOTOS: The History of Abraham Lincoln on Film

The 16th president has been a Hollywood star and box office attraction since the earliest days of Hollywood

The first page of Theodore Roosevelt's speech that was damaged when a bullet tore through it.

The Speech That Saved Teddy Roosevelt’s Life

Campaigning for president, Roosevelt was spared almost certain death when 50 pieces of paper slowed an assailant’s bullet headed for his chest

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"Confederates Try to Burn New York"

A new poem by George Green

A still from Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Mr. Lincoln Goes to Hollywood

Steven Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner talk about what it takes to wrestle an epic presidency into a feature film

Years before the infamous events of Salem, Easthampton, New York was riddled with allegations of witchcraft. Pictured is an old windmill next to a graveyard in the small town.

Before Salem, There Was the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Hamptons

Why was Goody Garlick, accused of witchcraft in 1658, spared the fate that would befall the women of Massachusetts decades later

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A Brief History of the Teleprompter

How a makeshift show business memory aid became the centerpiece of modern political campaigning

This photograph of a medium-range ballistic missile site in Cuba was captured by a U-2 spy plane on October 14, 1962.

Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: What Did Analysts Find in the Recon Photographs From the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Dino Brugioni explains how he and other CIA photo analysts located Soviet missiles just 90 miles away from the United States

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From the Editor

From the Editor

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