EN
Elizabeth Nix
Latest from this author
Latest from this author
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) is a holiday commemorating an effective end of slavery in the United States.
Find out more about this Old West icon, from how he met his friend Doc Holliday to what happened to him after the Tombstone gunfight.
Check out seven facts about this infamous chapter in American history.
British troops faced off against minutemen in Lexington, Mass.
It has to do with ancient Greek mythology, the Olympics and the British royal family.
Harry S. Truman’s unexpected election victory over Thomas Dewey was forever imprinted in history, thanks in part to a famous photo.
One of the most famous examples of ancient Greek sculpture, the Venus de Milo is immediately recognizable by its missing arms and popularly believed to represent Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, who was known to the Romans as Venus. The artwork was discovered in 1820 on the Aegean island of Melos (also […]
Built on the orders of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and located in Great Britain, Hadrian’s Wall was a defensive fortification that marked the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire for three centuries. The wall measured 73 miles in length and stretched from coast to coast across present-day northern England, between Wallsend in the east to […]
According to the ancient historian Suetonius, the Roman emperor known as Caligula loved one of his horses, Incitatus, so much that he gave the steed a marble stall, an ivory manger, a jeweled collar and even a house. Another chronicler, Cassius Dio, later wrote that servants fed the animal oats mixed with gold flakes. Famous […]
One previous president called it 'Shangri-La.'
The holiday was traditionally a more solemn occasion on the Emerald Isle—until Americans got involved.
Get the stories behind some of the world’s most iconic photos, from the flag-raising on Iwo Jima to the day Elvis met Nixon.
Explore the story of this literary classic and its author, L. Frank Baum, whose jobs ranged from chicken breeder to frontier storekeeper before he struck literary gold in 1900.
Find out more about the Dutch-born painter, including what he did before becoming an artist, the unusual place where he painted some of his best-known works and why he might not have been responsible for cutting off his own ear.
Around A.D. 250, the Maya built flourishing cities. What triggered their decline?
Learn about the notorious Chicago gangster—from the crime he did time for at Alcatraz to his feelings about the nickname 'Scarface.'
This Republican VP's musical number was eventually covered by a range of artists, including Tommy Edwards, Van Morrison, Elton John, Merle Haggard and Barry Manilow.
The first woman in the modern world to run a country hailed from Southeast Asia. Many have followed.
As the famous saying goes, 'If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.'
On August 6, 1991, without fanfare, British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee published the first-ever website while working at CERN, the huge particle physics lab in Switzerland.
A lifetime appointment comes with some caveats.
Find out seven surprising facts about how the nation’s highest court works—and how it’s changed over the years.
The legendary frontiersman's background holds some surprises, including his real opinion on coonskin caps and his poor track record in real estate.
Check out eight fascinating facts about the world-famous author, including why his riverboat career was marred by tragedy and who served as the real-life model for Huck Finn.
Paul Revere gets all the glory but he wasn’t the only one to make a daring late-night ride to warn that the British were coming. In 1781, during the Revolutionary War (and six years after Revere’s ride), a 26-year-old Virginian, John “Jack” Jouett, made a dangerous, 40-mile dash on horseback to Monticello, the home of […]
The iconic Indian activist, known for his principle of nonviolent resistance, had humble beginnings and left an outsized legacy.
The epic race to standardize the electrical system—later known as the War of the Currents—lit up 19th-Century America.
Get the facts on the iconic Italian astronomer and physicist.
Legend has it that a young Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree when he was bonked on the head by a falling piece of fruit, a 17th-century “aha moment” that prompted him to suddenly come up with his law of gravity. In reality, things didn’t go down quite like that. Newton, the son […]
Find out more about this fascinating Englishman, from the job he held that involved sending people to the gallows to the cause of one of his most bitter rivalries.
Check out seven things you may not know about the iconic entertainer.
American presidents can be elected to two, four-year terms in office (or a maximum of 10 years in a case of a president who ascended to the position as vice president), thanks to the 22nd Amendment, which was ratified in 1951. However, vice presidents, like members of the U.S. Congress, face no such restrictions on […]
Find out some fascinating facts about this iconic American landmark.
From the origins of his famous name to the mystery surrounding his death, the legendary American outlaw.
It was Kinderhook, New York's favorite son, Martin van Buren.
Find out more about the Medici family, who encouraged the careers of such luminaries as Michelangelo and Galileo and whose members included popes, queens and a long line of dukes.
In 1889, people poured into central Oklahoma to stake their claims to nearly 2 million acres opened for settlement by the U.S. government. Those who entered the region before the land run’s designated starting time, at noon on April 22, 1889, were dubbed “sooners.” The area to which the settlers flocked was known as the […]
In order to track the disease’s full progression, researchers provided no effective care as the study's African American participants experienced severe health problems including blindness, mental impairment—or death.
Following the American Civil War, if someone called you a carpetbagger or scalawag, it wasn’t meant as a compliment. The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of Reconstruction—the period from 1865 to 1877 when the Southern states that seceded were reorganized as part of the Union—to describe Northerners who moved to the South after the […]
A diplomatic incident between the United States and France in 1797 outraged Americans and led to an undeclared war.
Among the waterways linking the lakes are the St. Marys River, the Niagara River, and the narrow Straits of Mackinac.
People have been chewing gum, in various forms, since ancient times.
1. The job used to go to the person with the second-most votes. The drafters of the Constitution set up a system in which presidents were chosen by members of an Electoral College, and each elector got to vote for two people. The candidate with the most electoral votes (as long as it was a […]
Get the facts about the famous comic strip Peanuts and its creator.
Get the facts on this engineering marvel, which was dedicated in September 1930.
Commanders in chief seeking refuge from Washington politics and weather have retreated to destinations across the U.S. map, from the Jersey Shore to Southern California.
