U.S. History

Members of the 3rd Calvary arrive in D.C. to quash the racial unrest

One Hundred Years Ago, a Four-Day Race Riot Engulfed Washington, D.C.

Rumors ran wild as white mobs assaulted black residents who in turn fought back, refusing to be intimidated

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin works at the deployed Passive Seismic Experiment Package on July 20, 1969. To the left of the United States flag in the background is the lunar surface television camera.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

The Best Books About the Apollo Program and Landing on the Moon

From astronaut autobiographies to definitive accounts from leading historians, these are the must reads about the landmark mission

A Saturn V rocket being rolled out to the launch pad for Apollo 10.

Future of Space Exploration

Apollo Engineers Discuss What It Took to Land on the Moon

The people who bent metal and built spaceships recall the culture and leadership that made it possible to send humans to the lunar surface

Reverend Ralph Abernathy, flanked by associates, stand on steps of a mockup of the lunar module displaying a protest sign while demonstrating at the Apollo 11 launch.

While NASA Was Landing on the Moon, Many African Americans Sought Economic Justice Instead

For those living in poverty, the billions spent on the Apollo program, no matter how inspiring the mission, laid bare the nation's priorities

A child picks out jury candidates before a courtroom audience.

When 6-Year-Olds Chose Jury Candidates

Before computers randomly issued jury summons, some state laws required that children do the picking

To deflect from concerns around sexual undertones, Milton Bradley packaged the game as inoffensively as possible.

When Twister Was Too Risqué for America

The hugely successful game, patented 50 years ago this week, had its critics at first

The character of Smokey Bear first appeared in 1944.

A Brief History of Smokey Bear, the Forest Service's Legendary Mascot

How the beloved figure has become a lightning rod in a heated environmental debate

The author likes to think the lunar rover's design was informed in part by his father's experience retooling the family station wagon.

From the Family Station Wagon to the Apollo Lunar Rover, My Dad's Engineering Talent Had No Limits

Stricken with polio as an adult, he retired from the military and joined NASA's ingenious design team

Mary Ann Brown Patten, photographed by an unidentified artist, 1857

Women Who Shaped History

How the Camera Introduced Americans to Their Heroines

A new show at the National Portrait Gallery spotlights figures including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucretia Mott and Margaret Fuller

Several years after traveling through the South with fellow writer Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes wrote an essay about an encounter with a young man escaping chain gang labor.

A Lost Work by Langston Hughes Examines the Harsh Life on the Chain Gang

In 1933, the Harlem Renaissance star wrote a powerful essay about race. It has never been published in English—until now

Although the saying, "it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk," has been a common expression for over a century, it likely has never actually been hot enough to cook an egg on pavement.

Attempting to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk Has Been a Summer Pastime for Over 100 Years

The Fourth of July is also National Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk Day, and no amount of scientific logic can crack this tradition

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's annual fireworks report, there were about 5,600 fireworks-related injuries between June 22 and July 22 of last year.

Seven Inventions for a Safer Fourth of July

From fireworks shields to seat belts, these inventions throughout history have made summer fun less risky

Ann Montgomery, lead crew systems engineer during the Apollo program, on the swing arm of the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center with other NASA employees, circa 1970.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

At 21, Ann Montgomery Became a Lead Engineer at NASA, Managing the Cameras and Other Crucial Gear Used on the Moon

Montgomery worked closely with the Apollo astronauts to train them to use handheld tools and equipment on the moon

An 1897 poster critiquing the McKinley administration set during the Fourth of July shows the inherent danger of do-it-yourself fireworks.

The 1900s Movement to Make the Fourth of July Boring (but Safe)

One activist thought celebrating the founding of the nation would be better spent as a "a quiet day under the trees"

L. Prang & Co. print of the painting Hancock at Gettysburg by Thure de Thulstrup, showing Pickett's Charge.

The Diaries Left Behind by Confederate Soldiers Reveal the True Role of Enslaved Labor at Gettysburg

Even as some enslaved men escaped North, the retreat by the Army of Northern Virginia would have been disastrous without the support of its camp servants

This brain is just one of many making up the Indiana Medical History Museum's extensive collection.

The Future of Mental Health

How One Museum Is Giving a Voice to Former Mental Health Patients

The Indiana Medical History Museum is telling the human stories behind its collection of brains, tumors and other biological remains

This Man Became the First Openly Gay Bishop in America

Commuters ride up escalators at the Dupont Circle Metro Station in Washington, D.C.

How the Escalator Forever Changed Our Sense of Space

Sure, the 19th-century invention transformed shopping. But it also revolutionized how we think about the built environment

As women entered through the “Ladies” side of a turnstile, Lenna Winslow’s “Voting Machine” concealed ballot items on which they could not vote.

The Voting Machine That Displayed Different Ballots Based on Your Sex

In an era of partial suffrage, these inventions helped women cast their votes

Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, July 24, 1969

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

How Neil, Buzz and Mike Got Their Workouts in on Their Way to the Moon and Back

To counter the effects of weightlessness, NASA equipped Apollo 11 with an Exer-Genie for isometric exercises

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