American History

JFK, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnston, First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy and others watching the 1961 flight of astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

A Year Before His Presidential Debate, JFK Foresaw How TV Would Change Politics

Television's first iconic president was remarkably prescient on the subject of TV

Yarr! Actor Robert Newton, whose portrayal of Long John Silver became famous, also played Blackbeard in a 1952 film.

This Film Version of 'Treasure Island' Gave Us Our Image of Pirates

Avast, you lubbers!

Robin Hood in a modern production of a play.

Students Allied Themselves With Robin Hood During This Anti-McCarthyism Movement

The students of the Green Feather Movement caused an on-campus controversy at Indiana University

The live cinema event traverses time periods, New York City boroughs, to present portrait of urban life

Archivist Captures New York’s Bygone Past Through Home Movies, Historical Footage

Rick Prelinger seeks to capture ephemeral portraits of city life

The made-for-TV movie An Early Frost went beyond entertainment and provided actual medical information to families of those living with HIV/AIDS.

In the Early Years of the AIDS Epidemic, Families Got Help From an Unlikely Source

'An Early Frost' was a made-for-TV movie with a purpose beyond entertainment

A demonstration at the Red Cross Emergency Ambulance Station in Washington, D.C., during the influenza pandemic of 1918

Why Did the 1918 Flu Kill So Many Otherwise Healthy Young Adults?

Uncovering a World War I veteran's story provided a genealogist and pharmacologist with some clues

An artist's rendering of "the great rebel prison-pen at Andersonville, Georgia" that was included in a newspaper during Wirz's trial.

How the Trial and Death of Henry Wirz Shaped Post-Civil War America

A monument to Wirz still stands not far from the Confederate prison camp he commanded

Queen Liliuokalani

Five Things To Know About Liliʻuokalani, the Last Queen of Hawaiʻi

The queen, who was deposed by a coup led by American sugar planters, died more than 100 years ago, but is by no means forgotten

The exhibition "Sports: Leveling the Playing Field" highlights the achievements of African American athletes on both national and international stages.

Lonnie Bunch Looks Back on the Making of the Smithsonian's Newest Museum

The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture reflects on what it took to make a dream reality

A 1939 photo of German Jewish refugees aboard the German liner Saint Louis.

The Forgotten Women Scientists Who Fled the Holocaust for the United States

A new project from Northeastern University traces the journeys of 80 women who attempted to escape Europe and find new lives in America during World War II

An Eagle Brand Condensed Milk ad from 1891.

Like Condensed Milk? Try the ‘Meat Biscuit’

The meat biscuit was a practical idea but Gail Borden, also the inventor of condensed milk, never made it work

Benjamin Banneker as portrayed on a stamp released in 1980 as part of a Black Heritage series.

Three Things to Know About Benjamin Banneker's Pioneering Career

Banneker was a successful almanac-maker and self-taught student of mathematics and astronomy

This illustration from the November 30 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the two Confederate commissioners being brought aboard the San Jacinto after being removed from the RMS Trent.

A Union Captain Nearly Dragged the British Into the Civil War In 1861

As if the country didn't have enough to worry about

Ships involved in the American slave trade before the Civil War.

When Enslaved People Commandeered a Ship and Hightailed it to Freedom in the Bahamas

It's been called the most successful slave rebellion in U.S. history

This cartoon was published on November 7, 1874, in 'Harper's Weekly.'

The Third-Term Controversy That Gave the Republican Party Its Symbol

The elephant and the donkey as symbols for America's biggest political parties date back to the 1800s and this controversy

Marie and Pierre Curie in the laboratory.

Three Quirky Facts About Marie Curie

In honor of her 150th birthday, let's review a few lesser-known pieces of her personal history

Watch: Experts Discuss "The Next Pandemic: Are We Prepared?"

Thought leaders gathered at the National Museum of Natural History on November 13 to discuss the past, present and future of the flu

Sousa around 1915, about a decade after he first decried "mechanical music."

John Philip Sousa Feared ‘The Menace of Mechanical Music’

Wonder what he’d say about Spotify

The History of Five Uniquely American Sandwiches

From tuna fish to the lesser-known woodcock, food experts peer under the bread and find the story of a nation

"Black Bart" robbed at least 28 stagecoaches in his lifetime. He left poems at two of them.

The Poetic Tale of Literary Outlaw Black Bart

Stagecoach robber Charles Bole took the inspiration for his pseudonym from pulp fiction

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