American History

James and Dolley Madison portraits, painted by Gilbert Stuar

The Surprising Raucous Home Life of the Madisons

One of America’s founding families kept their true selves for the friends and family

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home

Thomas Jefferson Conducted Early Smallpox Vaccine Trials

When an English doctor discovered a safer kind of immunity, someone had to spread the word to America

"Young people run down a snowy hill with enthusiasm, ca. 1940" in Chicago

Visit 1940s Chicago With a Film Discovered at a Garage Sale

The film, produced in around 1945, offers a thorough, fact-filled tour of the city

David Douglas Duncan, American. Marine Capt. Ike Fenton, Naktong River Permieter, No-Name Ridge, South Korea.

Getting up Close and Personal with American Soldiers

A new photography exhibit takes a multi-decade look

Graphophone, recorded in October 1881. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy. I am a graphophone and my mother was a phonograph." Voice of Alexander Graham Bell's father.

Until Now, There Was No Play Button for the Recordings Bell and Edison Made in their Lab

An exhibition on sound kicks off the American History Museum's Year of Innovation, enabling visitors to hear some of the earliest recordings

How to Mind Your Manners at Silent Movies

Vintage slides give an etiquette lesson to obnoxious silent movie audiences

George Washington by Charles Willson Peale

The First State of the Union Address: Way Shorter, Way Less Clapping

In his First Annual Message to Congress, George Washington outlined the country’s most pressing issues and kicked off a flexible annual tradition

Cyrus Gates House, in Broome County, New York, was once an important stop along the Underground Railroad.

The Little-Known History of the Underground Railroad in New York

Pultizer-Prize winning historian Eric Foner uncovers the hidden story behind this passage to freedom

Read Through Early Drafts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Speeches

One website gives you a peek into the mind of one of America’s most powerful orators

Captain Loebl of the US Coast Guard, Sector New York cuts the birthday cake for Alexander Hamilton at the Museum of American Finance

Crashing Alexander Hamilton's Birthday Weekend

Each year, admirers of the oft-neglected Founding Father gather for a multi-day birthday celebration ranging across Manhattan.

United States Internal Revenue Service "bottle stamp"

Museums Are Now Able to Digitize Thousands of Artifacts in Just Hours

At the American History Museum, a collection of rarely seen historic currency proofs are being made ready for a public debut

The Montanas arrested under the state's sedition law.

The Year Montana Rounded Up Citizens for Shooting Off Their Mouths

During World War I, the powers that ran Montana sought any excuse to silence dissent

Cattle graze on the open range in this shot from ca. 1920-1930.

The 1887 Blizzard That Changed the American Frontier Forever

A blizzard hit the western open range, causing the “Great Die Up” and transforming America’s agricultural history

European immigrants arrive in America.

Ellis Island Isn’t to Blame for Your Family’s Name Change

A long-standing myth obscures the truth behind the Americanization of some European names

A newspaper was the first item found upon opening the capsule.

What Was Found Inside the Oldest American Time Capsule

Historians in Boston have just cracked open a brass box originally buried in 1795 by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams

Marilyn Monroe playing on the beach

Model Your New Year’s Resolutions After Marilyn Monroe’s in 1955

The actress wrote that she wanted to "keep looking around me — only much more so"

Stony Ground by Edwin Austin Abbey

The Second Divorce in Colonial America Happened Today in 1643

The Massachusetts Bay Colony Puritans weren’t as conservative as you may have thought

Sculptures in St. Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Has a Huge Collection of Relics

St. Anthony’s Chapel contains the largest number of relics outside of the Vatican

The Library for Magicians Is Taking Appointments

The Conjuring Arts Research Center in New York City houses some of the world's rarest books on the art of deception

Enthusiasts examining the patch for NROL-35 think the trident, fire and breeze through the character’s hair might represent the elements—water, fire and wind. “What that has to do with the actual payload, however, is anyone’s guess,” says space historian Robert Pearlman.

The Creepy, Kitschy and Geeky Patches of US Spy Satellite Launches

There may be method to the madness behind the outlandish designs of the National Reconnaissance Office mission patches

Page 129 of 186