As an alternative to paintings, drawings and sculptures, antique bust silhouettes like these – hand-cut from paper – were a relatively affordable way to remember loved ones.
1700s
Did a lie and nine blank cartridges win independence for America? The war ended at Yorktown. It was there, on October 19, 1781, that Cornwallis surrendered to Washington. Find out more of the story here!
Here are some fun ideas and recipes to give your July 4th holiday a truly retro vibe, plus a look back at the history of Independence Day!
There’s so much *story* packed into the history of the American flag & how its design adapted over nearly 200 years — in step with the evolution of our union.
During George Washington’s presidency, he considered the government to have been created for the good of all the people – and to be used for the good of all.
It is said that superior men have superior mothers, and no matter the views of John Quincy Adams as a politician, he was considered a man of high morals. This insightful letter was written by his mother, First Lady Abigail Adams, from a volume published in the mid-1800s.
While Benjamin Franklin may be known for ‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,’ that wasn’t his only insight on the subject of sleep. In the summer of 1786, he wrote this, summing up his advice for better sleep.
Two big questions that have emerged over the years: Did George Washington have wooden false teeth? Did George Washington’s dentures include actual human teeth that came from slaves? Find out here!
Before photography, you could keep memories of loved ones close by getting portrait miniatures painted. Now they’re highly-collectible antiques! Here’s a look at some of this classic artwork.
When Founding Father Benjamin Franklin died in 1790, newspapers published an account of Franklin’s last illness and death, his obituary, and even the epitaph he wrote for himself.
Edward Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination – including the smallpox vaccine – and one of the greatest benefactors of the human race, performed his first test experiment in 1796.
Bartholomew Roberts, also known as Black Bart, was a notorious pirate who raided ships. Here are some of the harsh – and sometimes unexpected – rules that governed the crews on his ships: The Pirate Code.
Here is one theory about how the Liberty Bell was cracked, according to an old man who confessed to breaking the famous bell when he was just a boy.
These vintage tips to identify antique silver come from the 1940s – and include diagrams, descriptions and photos of lots of vintage silverwork.
While books and articles on America’s slave trade can offer important historical insight, seeing ads for slave auctions casually placed in newspapers of the era really brings the brutality home.
Pirate Jean Lafitte, The Terror of the Gulf of Mexico, made prizes of several men, and eventually became wealthy and powerful enough to found a colony. But why was he so feared?
Nikola Tesla filed a US Patent for his improvements on Ben Franklin’s almost 200-year-old lightning rod design.
April Fools’ Day is an old, old holiday – and was even pretty ancient when this history was written back in the 1800s. Find out more about this day of fools here!
Thanksgiving, now held each year on the fourth Thursday in November, has long been a controversial holiday, Here, look back at Thanksgiving history as it played out over more than three centuries.
I am at loss for the proper word to use to describe what television has done with Haley’s book Roots. “Enhance” will not do, nor is “heightened” sufficient. There is no word that is adequate.
Son the crooks and turnings and devious wanderings of Old Boston landmarks and byways would be nothing more than a memory of the past.
The Boston Tea Party resulted from at least four important historical factors, and was, in fact, the catalyst for the Revolutionary war for independence.
How did America get its name? The man from whom the continents got their names was an especially fascinating character of the late 15th century.
On June 28, 1776, when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress. The document stated the principles for which the Revolutionary War was being fought, and which remain fundamental to the nation.
Here are images showing New York City’s growth from a frontier settlement known as New Amsterdam to the metropolis of the western world –through the Colonial times, and in the early days of US independence.
How was Independence Day celebrated in the past? It varied a lot over the decades, but early on, there was cannon fire, great communal feasts in the village green, and all kinds of noisemakers and thundering sounds.
Drafted in secret by delegates to the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787, this four-page document, signed on September 17, 1787, established the government
