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At Height of the 1918 Pandemic, NYC and Chicago Schools Stayed Open. Here's Why
In the fall of 1918, as the deadly second wave of the influenza pandemic known as the “Spanish flu” swept across the nation, schools in cities around the United States closed in order to limit contagion. But in the nation’s two largest urban centers, New York and Chicago, public ...read more
Black Americans Who Served in WWII Faced Segregation Abroad and at Home
When the Selective Training and Service Act became the nation’s first peacetime draft law in September 1940, civil rights leaders pressured President Franklin D. Roosevelt to allow Black men the opportunity to register and serve in integrated regiments. Although African ...read more
The Contentious 1896 Election That Started the Rural-Urban Voter Divide
As the presidential election year of 1896 began, things were looking rosy for the Republicans. But the emergence of a brash, young politician, William Jennings Bryan, soon turned the tide. Bryan’s campaign laid bare the diverging interests of those whose livelihoods were linked ...read more
5 Black Suffragists Who Fought for the 19th Amendment—And Much More
When Congress ratified the 19th Amendment on August 18,1920, giving American women the right to vote, it reflected the culmination of generations’ worth of work by resolute suffragists of all races and backgrounds. Historically, attention has focused on the efforts of white ...read more
When America Finally Got a Polio Vaccine, Shortages and Setbacks Soon Followed
On April 12, 1955, every American newspaper and TV set jubilantly announced that Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was a success. Just three years earlier, during the worst polio outbreak in U.S. history, 57,000 people were infected, 21,000 were paralyzed and 3,145 died, most of them ...read more
How the Electoral College Was Nearly Abolished in 1970
On September 18, 1969, the U.S. House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming 338 to 70 to send a constitutional amendment to the Senate that would have dismantled the Electoral College, the indirect system by which Americans elect the president and vice president. “It was ...read more
Geraldine Ferraro's 1984 VP Nomination Was Historic, But Failed to Clinch a Win
When Walter Mondale announced Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate during the 1984 presidential campaign, the three-term New York Congresswoman called the historic choice a "powerful signal" to all Americans. “There are no doors we cannot unlock. We will place no limits on ...read more
When American Students Attended School—Outside
As the 20th century dawned, tuberculosis—otherwise known as consumption, “white plague” or “white death”—had become the leading cause of death in the United States. The dreaded lung disease killed an estimated 450 Americans a day, most of them between the ages of 15 and 44. At ...read more
The 7 Oldest Presidents in History
When the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention pondered the question of what age a president should be, the big concern wasn’t about the office-holder being too elderly, but too youthful. “George Mason was the principal advocate for age requirements for elective federal ...read more
5 Vice Presidential Candidates Who Made History
Picking a vice president can be dicey. Although the presidential candidate is the main focus in an election, there’s a chance that a popular or particularly adept veep can help the ticket, just as a particularly unpopular or offensive candidate can hurt it. The selection is also ...read more
Photos: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Before and After the Bombs
In early August 1945, warfare changed forever when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, devastating the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killing more than 100,000 people. America’s immediate goal was to hasten Japan’s surrender, end World War II and avoid ...read more
How the Greensboro Four Sit-In Sparked a Movement
On February 1, 1960, four Black college freshmen, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond, sat down at a "whites-only" Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. and politely asked for service. The white waiter refused and suggested they order a ...read more
When the 'Capitol Crawl' Dramatized the Need for Americans with Disabilities Act
On March 13, 1990, over 1,000 people marched from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to demand that Congress pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. When they got there, about 60 of them cast aside their wheelchairs and other mobility aids and crawled up the Capitol ...read more
5 Presidents Who Lost the Popular Vote But Won the Election
Of the 58 presidential elections in the history of the United States, 53 of the winners took both the Electoral College and the popular vote. But in five incredibly close elections—including those for two of the past three presidents—the winner of the Electoral College was in ...read more
Huge, Hovering and Silent: The Mystery of 'Black Triangle' UFOs
Within the larger mystery of the UFO phenomenon is another, still-unsolved puzzle: Why do so many reports involve strange, triangular-shaped craft—often described as dark in color, virtually noiseless and the size of a football field or larger? What, exactly, are they? And why ...read more