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.Read more
7 Early Pioneers of the Gay Rights MovementBefore the Stonewall Riots, these individuals helped set the stage for advances in the LGBTQ civil rights movement.Read more
11 Everyday Objects Used by Gilded Age ElitesDuring the Gilded Age era of opulence in America, certain objects signaled social status.Read more
Did Polynesian Voyagers Reach the Americas Before Columbus?The Polynesians were expert sailors—and research suggests they landed in the Americas centuries before Columbus.Read more
5 Ways the Mongol Empire Promoted InnovationThe Mongols were brutal military conquerors, but they also took great interest in spurring intellectual collaboration.Read more
How American Chinatowns Emerged Amid 19th-Century RacismFacing economic threats and violence, early Chinese immigrants banded together and created communities to survive—and thrive.Read more
How Dolores Huerta Became an Icon of the Labor MovementTogether with Cesar Chavez, she spotlighted the ongoing civil and human rights struggles of farm workers.Read more
5 Things You May Not Know About NATONATO invoked its Article 5 military commitment for first time after 9/11.Read more
FDR’s Role in Developing the Atomic BombRoosevelt green-lit the Manhattan Project in response to fears that Nazi Germany might build a bomb first.Read more
How Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ Led to US Food Safety ReformsThe 1906 bestseller was one of the most influential books in American history—but not in the way its author intended.Read more
How Native Hawaiians Have Fought for SovereigntyEver since the US overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy in an illegal coup, Native islanders responded with protest, activism and expressions of cultural pride.Read more
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.Read more