How America’s First Third Party Influenced PoliticsThe Anti‑Masonic Party existed for only a decade, but promoted anti‑establishment sentiment in its opposition to the dominance of Freemasonry in American politics.Read more
How a Hoax by Two Sisters Helped Spark the Spiritualism CrazeWhen two young sisters claimed to communicate with ghosts in the mid‑1800s, they soon became celebrity mediums and unwittingly spurred a trend.Read more
How G.I. Joe Jump‑Started the Action Figure CrazeIn the late 1970s, smaller ‘Star Wars’ action figures took over.Read more
How the Coercive Acts Helped Spark the American RevolutionAs colonists grew increasingly defiant, the British government responded with punishing measures that only angered them more.Read more
The 1877 Strike That Brought US Railroads to a StandstillThousands of rail workers in states across the country protested poor pay and working conditions in a massive—and violent—uprising.Read more
How a Malaria Scare at the Start of World War II Gave Rise to the CDCThe Office of Malaria Control in War Areas sought to curb malaria transmission in the United States.Read more
8 Treasures Discovered in Attics, Barns and MoreThese are some of the most surprising, and valuable, historical objects people have ever found by accident.Read more
How Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Organized for Nuclear DisarmamentAs survivors of history’s only atomic bomb attacks, they made it a mission to warn the world about the horrors of nuclear war.Read more
5 Ways Christianity Spread Through Ancient RomeSure, there was that extensive road system. But it helped that Christianity didn’t paint itself as an exclusive club.Read more
Why Eisenhower Added ‘Under God’ to the Pledge of Allegiance During the Cold WarThe pledge, as recited by U.S. schoolchildren, wasn’t standardized until World War II, and didn’t contain “under God” until 1954.Read more
10 Times America Helped Overthrow a Foreign GovernmentThe US has long facilitated regime change to support its own strategic and business interests.Read more
