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The excavation of Homo naledi in South Africa, 2015.

When Did Human Ancestors Start Burying Their Dead?

Research claiming that human ancestors living between 240,000 and 500,000 years ago may have intentionally buried their dead, raises the question of when this behavior began.

7 Early Pioneers of the Gay Rights Movement

Before the Stonewall Riots, these individuals helped set the stage for advances in the LGBTQ civil rights movement.

Opera glasses owned by Mary Church Terrell.

11 Everyday Objects Used by Gilded Age Elites

During the Gilded Age era of opulence in America, certain objects signaled social status.

Did Polynesian Voyagers Reach the Americas Before Columbus?

The Polynesians were expert sailors—and research suggests they landed in the Americas centuries before Columbus.

5 Ways the Mongol Empire Promoted Innovation

The Mongols were brutal military conquerors, but they also took great interest in spurring intellectual collaboration.

How American Chinatowns Emerged Amid 19th-Century Racism

Facing economic threats and violence, early Chinese immigrants banded together and created communities to survive—and thrive.

United Farm Workers co-founders Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez sit together under portraits of Robert Kennedy and Mahatma Gandhi.

How Dolores Huerta Became an Icon of the Labor Movement

Together with Cesar Chavez, she spotlighted the ongoing civil and human rights struggles of farm workers.

5 Things You May Not Know About NATO

NATO invoked its Article 5 military commitment for first time after 9/11.

huge mushroom cloud exploding over a tropical island

FDR’s Role in Developing the Atomic Bomb

Roosevelt green-lit the Manhattan Project in response to fears that Nazi Germany might build a bomb first.

How Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ Led to US Food Safety Reforms

The 1906 bestseller was one of the most influential books in American history—but not in the way its author intended.

Hawaiian men paddling an outrigger canoe at sunset on the water

How Native Hawaiians Have Fought for Sovereignty

Ever since the US overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy in an illegal coup, Native islanders responded with protest, activism and expressions of cultural pride.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt smiles at a group of Japanese American women in the sunshine as she tours an internment camp

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Work to Oppose Japanese Internment

The first lady did what she could to support Japanese Americans during WWII—without appearing to defy FDR’s Executive Order 9066.