The most dramatic and best-known story of railroading in the United States is the connecting of the Atlantic and the Pacific by railroad in 1869, tying of the oceans together by rail across the heart of the United States
american history
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.
On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 took off for the moon – a historic mission for Americans, and for people all around the globe. See vintage newspaper headlines from that day here!
On the inside of the pedestal of the world-famous New York landmark is the Statue of Liberty poem, written by Emma Lazarus to welcome immigrants and visitors to America.
How did the great Gold Rush of 1849 get started? Find out its history, how it made people rich and poor – and helped make California what it is today.
The Boston Tea Party resulted from at least four important historical factors, and was, in fact, the catalyst for the Revolutionary war for independence.
Many well-known serial killers don’t quite compare to the exploits of Herman Webster Mudgett, alias H H Holmes, perhaps one of the most fiendish mass murderers in American history.
Find out more about World War II’s important military offensive, the Battle of the Bulge, and see several pictures from the snowy scene.
The Titanic was one of the most luxurious, well-appointed cruise liners ever, with seemingly no expense spared… except when it came to passenger safety in the event of an emergency. Artists had a lot to say about safety and Titanic lifeboats.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress, and the United States formally declared war – The Great War, which became known as World War 1 – on April 6, 1917.
The alert Watergate TV addict should have spotted it by now: a catchy word here, a switchable phrase there. Here’s a look at the linguistic splendors of Watergate.
“Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors,” said President Washington’s Farewell Address.
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.
Electricity will cure all the ills of the world, predicts Thomas Edison, whose inventive genius is responsible for the widespread application of electricity.
At the start of the Watts Riots, rumors of police brutality during an arrest quickly spread, and a crowd began to form. It was the flashpoint for rioting and rebellion that had been simmering under the surface of Los Angeles that summer.
WAR DECLARED: See 31 consecutive front page headlines from DC from those tumultuous weeks leading to the outbreak of hostilities in WWI back in 1914.
The Declaration of Independence IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human
The Allies today sent their invading forces against Adolf Hitler’s occupied Europe. The long-awaited invasion was announced by General Dwight Eisenhower with the promise that the high command would accept nothing short of victory.
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.
Have you ever wondered about Mother’s Day — like how it got started? In the early years of the 20th century, Anna Jarvis started a movement that spread throughout the world: the custom of observing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
Did you ever think that every first or last name must originally have meant something? It originally meant something, and was intended to be applicable to the person who first bore it.
Free electricity for everyone? Here’s a look at some predictions from Nikola Tesla from a century ago – some we have seen, others… well, not yet.
Before the world heard the sentence that has since been etched into billions of memories — “That’s one small step for a man, one giant
Richard Nixon’s first Watergate speech was broadcast live from the White House’s Oval Office on April 30, 1973, starting at 9:01 pm Eastern. Below, see a video of his statements, followed by a transcript of the speech.
Abraham Lincoln: Republican candidate for President of the United States – 1860 Description from the US Library of Congress: “A print for a large campaign
The flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia marked the first time a vehicle would be flown into space, returned — and refurbished and used again.
Original Editor’s note from 1968: This article by the noted author James Baldwin… is an attempt to explain to whites the militant Negro’s reaction to ‘black power,’ as well as the Negro revolution now in progress. It is bitter, but not devoid of hope.
Remains of President Lincoln in Chicago Yesterday was a marked day in the history of Chicago — a day long to be remembered by the
Producing by far a larger amount of copper than any other country, the United States is extremely fortunate in being able to supply to a great extent the ever-increasing demand for this useful metal.
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
Back in 1912, President Taft signed the proclamation admitting Arizona into the union as the 48th state in the US. Here’s how it went, and what Arizona looked like around that time.
Amid the most dramatic scenes ever witnessed in Congress, the house early today passed the resolution which formally declared Germany as an enemy and launched the United States in the fight for the democracy of the world.
Allies drive 41 miles on D-Day: Offensive rolls into Normandy Beachheads in France are made secure in first rush By Wes Gallagher, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary
With more than half a billion people watching on television, Neil Armstrong climbs down the ladder and proclaims, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
On D-Day June 6, 1944, after the jump, my group of approximately 80 men met with Colonel Shanley’s group of about 120 men on the outskirts of the town of Picauville.
There’s no sign proclaiming the FW Woolworth lunch counter here as the birthplace, 10 years ago today, of the sit-in movement that brought a new way of community life to the dual service and segregated South of the 1960s.
Delmonico’s was a hugely-popular restaurant during the Victorian era, which expanded into ten different locations over the years. Not only was the eatery hugely popular,
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.
The secret past of drug addicts (1974) By Robert Kirsch — The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) November 8th, 1974 “Every generation assumes that
Below is part of a biography written by my grandfather, discussing some of the time he spent in Europe during WWII. Captain Chet Graham was
Women known to fame (1893) How Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton record history “If you want to know how mother and Susan B
