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Missing in Action: How Military Families in Tortuous Limbo Galvanized a Movement
“MIA” stands for missing in action, a term used to refer to members of the armed forces who have not returned from military service and whose whereabouts are unknown. Since ancient times, soldiers have gone to war and never returned, their fate unknown. In the wake of the Vietnam ...read more
Why Hitler Secretly Met With a Japanese General During WWII
In December 1940, three months after Japan, Germany and Italy signed their “Tripartite Pact” World War II alliance, a convoy of Japanese military leaders headed for Berlin to learn from their new allies. At the head of the group was General Tomoyuki Yamashita, a veteran ...read more
When Galileo Stood Trial for Defending Science
Four centuries ago, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei put his liberty and life on the line to convince the religious establishment that the Copernican model of the solar system—in which the Earth and the other planets revolved around the sun—represented physical reality. ...read more
When Did People Start Eating in Restaurants?
People have been eating outside of the home for millennia, buying a quick snack from a street vendor or taking a travel break at a roadside inn for a bowl of stew and a pint of mead. In the West, most early versions of the modern restaurant came from France and a culinary ...read more
The Post World War II Boom: How America Got Into Gear
In the summer of 1945, as World War II drew to a close, the U.S. economy was poised on the edge of an uncertain future. Since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call in late 1940 for the United States to serve as the “arsenal of democracy,” American industry had stepped up to meet ...read more
How Did Billy the Kid Die?
Western outlaw Billy the Kid met his demise at about 12:30 a.m. on July 14, 1881, when he went to his friend Pete Maxwell’s home in Fort Sumner, New Mexico in search of a slice of beef for a late-night snack. As the story goes, Billy—just 21 years old, but already a murderer who ...read more
7 Reasons Ulysses S. Grant Was One of America’s Most Brilliant Military Leaders
In March 1864, Ulysses S. Grant went to Washington, D.C., to receive his commission from Abraham Lincoln as lieutenant general in command of all the Union armies. After several years of frustration with a parade of unsuitable commanders, the president had finally found the man ...read more
How Crude Smallpox Inoculations Helped George Washington Win the War
When George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, America was fighting a war on two fronts: one for independence from the British, and a second for survival against smallpox. Because Washington knew the ravages of the disease firsthand, he understood that the ...read more
When Biosphere 2 Became a Grand Experiment in Self-Isolation
It was the ultimate social-distancing experiment. On September 26, 1991, four men and four women in dark-blue spacesuits waved goodbye to friends, families and a bank of television cameras as they stepped through an airtight door to embark on an unprecedented mission. In spite of ...read more
How the Vietnam War Draft Spurred the Fight for Lowering the Legal Voting Age
In the summer of 1965, support for the conflict in Vietnam eroded as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s advisors recommended sending hundreds of thousands of servicemen over the course of at least five years to win the war. Troop buildup grew steadily, and on July 28, Johnson ordered ...read more
5 US Wars Rarely Found in History Books
You’ve heard of the Vietnam War, but what about the “secret war” in Laos? Over 16 million members of the Greatest Generation fought in World War II, but what about the 5.8 million Americans who served in the “Forgotten War?” History is full of conflicts that have become footnotes ...read more
The Real Story Behind the ‘Migrant Mother’ in the Great Depression-Era Photo
It’s one of the most iconic photos in American history. A woman in ragged clothing holds a baby as two more children huddle close, hiding their faces behind her shoulders. The mother squints into the distance, one hand lifted to her mouth and anxiety etched deep in the lines on ...read more
How Willie Nelson Helped Build Farm Aid
By the mid-1980s American farmers were facing economic hardships not seen since the Great Depression. Droughts in 1980 and 1983 had wrought devastation in the Corn Belt, Midwest States and Northeast. Land values and farm product prices plummeted as loan interest rates soared, ...read more
Bankrupt and Dying from Cancer, Ulysses S. Grant Waged His Greatest Battle
Shortly before noon on May 6, 1884, Ulysses S. Grant entered the office of his Wall Street brokerage firm a wealthy man. Hours later, he exited a pauper. Thanks to a pyramid scheme operated by his unscrupulous partner, Ferdinand Ward, Grant’s investment firm had instantly ...read more
When Mask-Wearing Rules in the 1918 Pandemic Faced Resistance
The influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919 was the most deadly flu outbreak in history, killing up to 50 million people worldwide. In the United States, where it ultimately killed around 675,000 people, local governments rolled out initiatives to try to stop its spread. These varied ...read more