American History

Velcro was originally available only in black, but even when it started coming in multiple colors, 1960s fashionistas wanted nothing to do with it.

Before Velcro’s Patent Expired, It Was a Niche Product Most People Hadn’t Heard Of

The hook-and-loop tape's moment in the sun came after others were free to copy it

The Sayler Park tornado which struck the Cincinnati area as part of the "Super Outbreak" was a category F5 storm on the Fujita scale, the highest possible rating on the scale.

How 148 Tornadoes in One Day in 1974 Changed Emergency Preparedness

The “super outbreak” flattened towns and killed and injured thousands, all with little warning and in the space of 24 hours

Marilyn Leistner, who was the last mayor of Times Beach, stands next to a caution sign erected in front of the town in 1991, not long before the town was bulldozed and buried.

How Agent Orange Turned This American Small Town Into a Toxic Waste-Ridden Deathtrap

“Walking into the houses, many of them were like people had just simply stood up, walked out and never come back”

Sourdough starters can be used to make all kinds of things: –pancakes, waffles, even cake–but the staple is sourdough bread.

Gold Miners Kept Their Sourdough Starters Alive By Cuddling Them

San Francisco-area miners used sourdough starters as a replacement for commercial leavening agents

Was sticking an eraser on the back of a pencil common sense, or a new invention?

Happy Birthday to the Modern Pencil

The patent for this supremely convenient invention didn't last long

Begging has a long, complicated history in England and the U.S. and professional beggars were often seen as people not deserving of aid.

The Myth of Professional Beggars Spawned Today's Enduring Stereotypes

In England and the United States, the fear of beggars gave rise to a number of justifications for why they shouldn't be helped

April 25, 2017, marks the centennial birthday of Ella Fitzgerald (above, in a triple-exposure undated photograph).

Never Mind Her Stellar Jazz Career, Young Ella Fitzgerald Just Wanted to Dance

The preeminent vocalist didn't actually start out as a singer

Flying toward Denali as a snow storm approached the mountain range.

There Are Two Versions of the Story of How the U.S. Purchased Alaska From Russia

The tale of "Seward's Folly" must also be seen through the eyes of Alaska's native populations

A vintage ad for Coca Cola from around the late 19th or early 20th century.

Coca-Cola’s Creator Said the Drink Would Make You Smarter

Like the wine and cocaine drink that preceded it, Coca-Cola was first marketed as a brain tonic

Corbin Fleming plays with President Obama's desk phone in 2012.

Before 1929, Nobody Thought the President Needed a Telephone in his Office

Herbert Hoover got a phone in the Oval Office over fifty years after the White House first got a switchboard

A woman marks a bombardier enclosure for a B-24 Liberator bomber at the Ford Willow Run plant.

How Detroit Went from Motor City to the Arsenal of Democracy

Detroit already had car manufacturing capability: that turned into war production capability in the early 1940s

British sailors board a Man of War to recapture the British Hermione in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, two years after the crew had mutinied. Painting by John Augustus Atkinson; Fry & Sutherland; Edward Orme.

How the Bloodiest Mutiny in British Naval History Helped Create American Political Asylum

Outrage over the revolt spurred the U.S. to deliver on a promise of the Revolution

George Francis Train, somewhere around 1855-1865.

This Eccentric 19th-Century Transportation Magnate May Have Inspired Jules Verne

George Francis Train traveled around the world three times in his increasingly weird life

Welles helped FDR with his famous voice—and served as a behind-the-scenes speechwriter, too.

FDR Had a Famous Ghostwriter: Orson Welles

The legendary actor stumped and even wrote speeches for the 32nd president

Despite their many differences, Jackson and Warren both have a deep populist streak.

Is Elizabeth Warren the Real Jacksonian on Capitol Hill?

Warren has progressive values, but her populism is just like Andrew Jackson’s

This, the first passenger elevator, was installed in a New York department store in 1857. The elevator is not round, though the first passenger elevator shaft, installed a mile north of this store, was.

This Innovator Thought Elevators Should Be Round

Peter Cooper thought that round would be the most efficient shape for elevators, and requested an elevator shaft designed accordingly

Emmy Noether, mathematical genius

Mathematician Emmy Noether Should Be Your Hero

She revolutionized mathematics, and then was forgotten because she was a woman

Watch Declassified Nuclear Bomb Tests Online

Weapons physicist Greg Sprigg has spent five years declassifying, digitizing and reanalyzing film of the U.S.'s 210 open air nuclear detonations

Marcel Marceau in 1955

The Mime Who Saved Kids From the Holocaust

Marcel Marceau is history’s most famous mime, but before that, he was a member of the French Resistance

A quarter of the U.S. population (including a girl in Moline, Illinois) turned out for the Liberty Bell.

How the Liberty Bell Won the Great War

As it entered World War I, the United States was politically torn and financially challenged. An American icon came to the rescue

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