Sports

Over the course of the month-long World Cup, fans will cheer for every “golazo” and groan over every near miss, or defensive miscue. One thing most people outside of the pitch won’t lose sleep over, however, is the sport’s most important object: the ball. This year’s ball, the ...read more

Every four years, patient soccer fans around the world can allow themselves to dream once again that their nation can—and will—claim FIFA World Cup glory. In the decades since Uruguay hosted and won the first World Cup in 1930—a much smaller-scale affair featuring 13 teams and ...read more

He was known as the Galveston Giant—a boxer who fought his way toward the first world heavyweight title held by an African-American. But in 1912, Jack Johnson became something else: a wanted man. Accused of violating the Mann Act, which forbade transporting a woman across state ...read more

Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues on April 15, 1947, when he took the field in the top of the first inning against the Boston Braves. When Robinson took his spot at first base, he broke baseball’s 50-year-old color barrier, which not ...read more

The Kentucky Derby, first held in 1875 at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, is the longest-running sports event in the United States. Dubbed the “Run for the Roses,” the Derby features three-year-old thoroughbreds racing a distance of 1.25 miles. Today, some 150,000 ...read more

History Flashback takes a look at historical “found footage” of all kinds—newsreels, instructional films, even cartoons—to give us a glimpse into how much things have changed, and how much has remained the same. When the Olympic Committee announced that Squaw Valley would be the ...read more

It’s an iconic image: Two athletes raise their fists on the Olympic podium. The photograph, taken after the 200 meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, turned African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos from track-and-field stars into the center of a ...read more

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics have been the first Games in 34 years that Russia has not, technically, attended. After a years-long doping scandal, the International Olympic Committee stripped Russia of 41 medals and formally banned them from this year’s games, leaving ...read more

The Past in Color features the work of colorist Marina Amaral, bringing to life black and white photos with color applied digitally. LAPD officer. Bit-part Hollywood star. Nixon supporter. Trailblazer for racial integration. Kenny Washington had an eventful–and in some ways ...read more

In a year filled with dramatic global events and unexpected twists, it could be difficult to keep up with the news. To help make sense of the year that was, discover the history behind the stories that shaped 2017. North Korea Grows Its Nuclear Ambitions 2017: The United States ...read more

Nearly 60 years before the first Winter Olympics, long before figure skating was even a sport, an American named Jackson Haines became known for the pirouettes, dances and dramatic jumps he performed on the ice. Haines’ road to fame and fortune wasn’t an easy one. He was laughed ...read more

The instantly-recognizable song is played before thousands of sporting events every year, but just how did the Star-Spangled Banner come to be a staple of sports in the first place? The answer, it turns out, has to do with World War I. Baseball fans in the late 19th century ...read more

The bicycle as we know it evolved in the 19th century thanks to the work of several different inventors. A German baron named Karl von Drais made the first major development when he created a steerable, two-wheeled contraption in 1817. This clunky wooden prototype didn’t include ...read more

Footage taken of President Herbert Hoover along with his family and colleagues during the late 1920s or early-1930s was recently examined at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, possibly becoming the earliest color film ever taken inside the White House grounds. These seven ...read more

You haven’t heard of him because his improbable rise wasn’t possible in America. Richmond was born into slavery on what’s today the New York borough of Staten Island on August 5, 1763. When the British landed there in 1776, at the start of the American Revolution, Richmond did ...read more

1. Janet Guthrie—Racing Through the Glass Ceiling Janet Guthrie wasn’t the first woman to get behind the wheel of a race car, but she became the first woman to compete in NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series (known today as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series), in the 1976 World 600 ...read more

1. Sybil Ludington: The Female Paul Revere On the night of April 26, 1777, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles to warn approximately 400 militiamen that the British troops were coming. Sound like Paul Revere? It was, except she rode twice as far, was half his age and was ...read more

Fresh off a victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Detroit Red Wings donned their road jerseys sporting their distinctive wheeled wing logo and laced up their skates to take to the ice against their next opponent. This was no ordinary game, however, and no ordinary opponent. ...read more