Back in 1871, The Great Chicago Fire killed an estimated 200 to 300 people, destroyed more than three square miles of the city, and left 100,000 people homeless.
Labor Day is unlike many other patriotic holidays, as it glorifies no armed conflicts or battles of man’s prowess over man. Here’s a look back at the history of Labor Day.
Here is a collection of tips from the past, for researching your past – namely, how to start a genealogical record for your family. Get ideas for tracking down your ancestry here!
These vintage tips to identify antique silver come from the 1940s – and include diagrams, descriptions and photos of lots of vintage silverwork.
Inventor Thomas Edison’s mansion home in New Jersey housed both new inventions and priceless antiques – and was where his children were born, and where he died.
Juneteenth is a celebration of Black freedom. The celebration fell out of favor for decades, and has made a couple of comebacks. Find out more here!
How did the Chicken of the Sea tuna get such a strange name? Get the story from the ’70s right here.
Even today, there are ships buried under downtown San Francisco that you might walk over, on land reclaimed from the Bay thanks to the Gold Rush.
The insights and inventions of Dr George Washington Carver – which he gave freely to the world – revolutionized the South, and helped millions out of poverty.
Look back at these D-Day pictures and remember that a German nation with super-race delusions once actually planned to conquer the world.
While books and articles on America’s slave trade can offer important historical insight, seeing the ads placed in the newspapers of the era really brings the brutality home.
Nikola Tesla’s life story is notable, as he saw the world of the covered wagon turn into today’s world of electricity & electronics – and he was a big part of how that happened.
Albert Einstein was a man whose life, philosophies, discoveries and theories changed the way we looked at the world, and at life itself. Find out about him here.
A doctor smashed his way into a locked bedroom, and found Marilyn Monroe dead in bed. Here’s what else he found, and how the first news stories broke.
Take a look back at how America – and the world – celebrated Victory in Europe Day, meaning World War II was nearly over.
War Department, Washington, April 20, 1865 $100,000 Reward! The Murderer of our Late Beloved President, Abraham Lincoln is still at large $50,000 Reward Will be paid
See lots of fab & frilly vintage canopy beds from the 1970s, during their great revival period, centuries after they first became popular in England and France.
Here are some front pages of newspapers around the country, showing very first reports of the Titanic disaster. There was very little information available at the time, and some news reports were, sadly, completely inaccurate.
Here’s the true story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, as reported at the time of his murder at the hand of actor John Wilkes Booth.
In 1883, the volcano of Krakatoa erupted in cataclysmic fashion. Considered the single largest natural explosion in recorded history, the eruption killed upwards of 36,000 people.
When the newspapers first reported on the 1929 stock market crash, nobody knew what was coming. See these Great Depression newspaper headlines for how it began.
Try your hand at these traditional patterns for Americana quilts – the pride of America’s past, and adaptable for many uses today.
Find out how X-rays were discovered, see the earliest X-rays, learn where the name came from, and meet Wilhelm Röntgen – the man behind the innovation.
It took years to complete the construction of the Statue of Liberty. Look behind the scenes into how it was done, plus close-up shots from renovations.
In June 1919, a peace treaty with Germany was signed in France, and formally brought an end to the Great War, which we now call World War I.
The invention of the dishwasher was a kitchen game-changer, and cleanly earned its inventor, Josephine Garis Cochrane, a spot-free finish in history.
Even after reports of her demise, the owners of the Titanic issued statements assuring the public that the whole idea of the ship sinking was just fake news.
The great loss of the Titanic: It is now practically certain that 1,492 human beings went to their death in the sinking of the giant ship on the ice banks of Newfoundland.
When President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas in 1963, grief was felt all around the globe, and the question of motive has never been definitively answered.
Note that these stories are presented as they were written in 1968. Some of the wording, such as the use of the term “Negro,” reflects
Valentine’s Day sweets say Hug Me. Love Bug. Doll Face. But where did those candy hearts with sayings on them come from originally? Look back at the conversation hearts, or sweethearts, here!
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war.
Rock ‘n’ roll singers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & Big Bopper all died in a plane crash in 1959. Here’s a look at some of the news stories, and photos of the aircraft.
Richard Nixon’s final presidential crisis truly began with the ruling that he could no longer withhold 64 disputed White House tapes from the Watergate prosecutors. Here is the story of the last days before Nixon’s resignation.
Find out about the double murder Lizzie Borden may have committed – starting with the first news reports, through the court case, then summaries of the dramatic tale that riveted the nation.
Through observation, experimentation and genius, scientist Louis Pasteur was able to create the first rabies vaccine – even though he didn’t exactly know what caused the disease.
The history of Levi’s jeans shows that the power of a really good idea – like super-durable clothing that people like to wear – can make for a business that stays strong for more than 160 years.
When King Tut’s tomb was discovered – and then opened – people all over the globe were riveted by the mysterious Tutankhamun and his golden treasures. Here’s what they found.
Find out what set in motion the deadly chain of events that led to General Custer’s troops being overwhelmed by Sitting Bull’s force of 8,000 Lakota & Cheyenne during The Battle of Little Bighorn.
Although penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, real research and production started in earnest in mid-1941, thanks to World War II.
It’s the personal computer revolution, as those ingenious devices that put men on the moon, revolutionized science and perplexed millions are finding their way into the home.
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.
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
The ghosts and goblins, witches and spirits that are so much a part of every October now, have their roots in superstitions from many centuries ago. Here’s a look at the strange history of Halloween!
The airship Hindenburg left Germany on May 3, 1937 with 97 people on board, The ship flew thousands of miles, only to explode as they were landing in New Jersey three days later. Only 62 would survive the tragedy, and many of them were seriously injured.
Actor James Dean, a young Hollywood idol, was killed on September 30, 1955, in a head-on car crash. Here’s how the story was reported, and then a look back from a year later.
The dance music of the Edison Phonograph is irresistible. It offers the most fascinating waltzes and spirited two-steps of the world’s, great composers as well as the popular dance music of the hour.
The Titanic sinks: Views from the lifeboats Those in the boats that had drawn off from the ship could see that the end was at
Charlotte Collyer lived through the tragic disaster the world remembers more than 100 years later. Here, read about what happened in this dramatic and compelling first-person account from a Titanic survivor.
Sketches of sinking ship Sketches of the successive steps in the foundering of the Titanic, made by John B Thayer, Jr. from one of the
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.
What if the trip to the Moon had been one way? White House speechwriter William Safire wrote a statement that Nixon could read in the event of a disaster.
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