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The Circus Spectacular That Spawned American Giantism

How the “Greatest Show on Earth” enthralled small-town crowds and inspired shopping malls
by Janet M. Davis via What It Means to Be American on March 17, 2017
An illustration of Weyer’s Cave from 1858.

The 19th Century ‘Show Caves’ That Became America’s First Tourist Traps

Novelists concocted elaborate fake histories for mysterious caves in Virginia.
by Alicia Puglionesi via Atlas Obscura on March 2, 2016
The ceremony for the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869.

The Birth of Breaking News

On May 10th, 1869, the entire nation was waiting for the moment a silver hammer struck a golden spike, creating the first massive breaking news story.
by Aric Allen via YouTube on June 14, 2015

John L. Sullivan Fights America

In 1883, heavy-weight boxing champion John L. Sullivan embarked on a tour of the country that would make him a sports superstar.
by Christopher Klein via The Public Domain Review on April 30, 2014
Magellan’s ship, the Victoria, in the Pacific Ocean on the map of the New World.

The Land Divided, The World United

Building the Panama Canal.
via Linda Hall Library on April 8, 2014
Glass etching superimposed on park landscape to visualize where buildings were.

America’s Forgotten Capital City

At Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texans flex their go-it-alone style.
by Bill Newcott via The Saturday Evening Post on April 21, 2025
Bethlehem Steel Mill.

The Steel Mill That Built America

Bethlehem Steel was the birthplace of skyscrapers, bridges, and battleships. What happened after the plant's furnaces went cold?
by Matthew Christopher via Atlas Obscura on February 25, 2025
A group of people riding horses on a dude ranch.

The Rise and Resilience of Dude Ranches

Dude ranches have been a popular American vacation spot for more than one hundred years.
by Teresa Bitler via The Saturday Evening Post on February 3, 2025
American Indian children in boarding school.

More Than 3,100 Students Died at Schools Built to Crush Native American Cultures

The Washington Post has found more than three times as many deaths as the U.S. government documented in its investigation of Indian boarding schools.
by Dana Hedgpeth, Sari Horwitz, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Andrew Ba Tran, Nilo Tabrizy, Jahi Chikwendiu via Washington Post on December 22, 2024

Can the Rodeo Save a Historic Black Town?

One woman’s quest to rescue Boley, Oklahoma.
by Caleb Gayle via The Atlantic on December 17, 2024
A graphic of a megaphone with a group of people inside the horn holding smaller megaphones.

Gags and Grievance: The Labor Origins of Whistleblowing

The forgotten history of the Lloyd-La Follette Act and of whistleblowing in the federal workforce.
by Sarah Milov via Knight First Amendment Institute on October 28, 2024
John Dudley Sargent standing next to Edith Sargent.
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Something We Were Never Meant to See

Finding a story in the ways Robert Ray Hamilton, John Dudley Sargent, and Edith Sargent weren’t quite forgotten. 
by Maura Jane Farrelly via HNN on July 9, 2024
An 1863 illustration from “Le Monde illustré” of formerly enslaved people celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation.

What If Reconstruction Didn’t End Till 1920?

Historian Manisha Sinha argues that the Second Republic lasted decades longer than most histories state and achieved wider gains.
by Eric Herschthal via The New Republic on June 11, 2024
Whitehall, designed by Carrère & Hastings for Henry Morrison Flagler, 1902.

Building Palm Beach

On the town’s history & architecture.
by Benjamin Riley via The New Criterion on May 22, 2024
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Tunnel Vision

When you dig beyond all purpose, digging becomes the purpose.
by Daniel Lavery via HNN on March 26, 2024
A large crowd listening to Harry Truman give a speech on a train.

Harry Truman's Train Ride

A whistle-stop train tour, and some plain speaking spur Harry Truman's come from behind win in 1948 over Thomas Dewey.
by Michael Liss via 3 Quarks Daily on March 25, 2024
Reenactment of a group of settlers on the Ellis Trail, walking through prairie grass beside horse-drawn wagons.

Nicodemus, Kansas: The Last All Black Town in the West

Descendants of the first settlers in Nicodemus are working to preserve and share a story of grit, perseverance, self-governance, and homecomings.
by Lane Wendell Fischer via The Daily Yonder on March 20, 2024
Ledger drawing of Plains Indians on horseback.

A Shameful US History Told Through Ledger Drawings

In the 19th century ledger drawings became a concentrated point of resistance for Indigenous people, an expression of individual and communal pride.
by John Yau via Hyperallergic on February 21, 2024
Train cars between drifts of snow up to the top of the engine, with onlookers watching

The Monster Blizzard That Turned Kansas Into a Frozen Wasteland

The 1886 blizzard imperiled settlers and left fields of dead cattle in its wake.
by Erin Blakemore via HISTORY on January 17, 2024
Painting of the Mexican railway

On the Shared Histories of Reconstruction in the Americas

In the 19th century, civil wars tore apart the US, Mexico and Argentina. Then came democracy’s fight against reaction.
by Evan C. Rothera via Aeon on January 16, 2024
Shopper looking through a large bar code as if peering behind a curtain

How We Almost Ended Up with a Bull’s-eye Bar Code

If history had taken another path, bar codes would look dramatically different today.
by Jordan Frith via The Conversation on January 10, 2024
Loggers standing next to logs floating down a river in the Oregon forests

Water Logs

Log drivers once steered loose timber on rivers across America before railroad expansion put such shepherds out of work.
by Akanksha Singh via JSTOR Daily on October 3, 2023
Eugene V Debs speaking at a rally, c1912-18. Photo courtesy the Library of Congress.

For Socialism and Freedom: The Life of Eugene Debs

How Eugene V. Debs turned American republicanism against the chiefs of capitalism – and became a true crusader for freedom.
by Tom O’Shea via Aeon on October 2, 2023
The Northern Pacific Railway.

How One Robber Baron's Gamble on Railroads Brought Down His Bank

In 1873, greed, speculation and overinvestment in railroads sparked a financial crisis that sank the U.S. into more than five years of misery.
by Mickey Butts via Smithsonian on September 18, 2023
Amy Brady next to cover of "Ice" on ice background

A Profoundly Impactful Substance

"Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks – A Cool History of a Hot Commodity" reveals the history of frozen water and its impact on American life and culture.
by Ian Macallen, Amy Brady via Chicago Review of Books on June 6, 2023
Portrait of Jane Stanford, circa 1855.

A Poisonous Legacy

Two new books reveal the story of Stanford University’s early years to be rife with corruption, autocracy, incompetence, white supremacy, and murder.
by Jessica Riskin via New York Review of Books on June 1, 2023
Malcolm Harris, left, and the cover of his book "Palo Alto," right. (Photo by Julia Burke)

The Obscene Invention of California Capitalism

A new history examines Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, the West Coast's settler ideology, and recent turbulence in the world of tech.
by Malcolm Harris, Emma Hager via The Nation on March 15, 2023
A pair of horses are unable to pull an overcrowded streetcar in New York City, shown in Harper's Weekly on Sept. 21, 1872.

A Virus Crippled U.S. Cities 150 Years Ago. It Didn’t Infect Humans.

The Great Epizootic, an equine flu in 1872-1873, infected most U.S. horses. Streetcars and mail delivery stopped across the country while fires raged.
by Jodie Tillman via Retropolis on February 12, 2023
Six frames of a rider on his horse going through the motions of trotting.

Palo Alto’s First Tech Giant Was a Horse Farm

The region has been in the disruption business for nearly 150 years.
by Malcolm Harris via The Atlantic on February 8, 2023
Aerial view of cleanup at ruptured Keystone pipeline that dumped oil into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, Dec. 9, 2022.
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Oil and Oil Spills Have Long Gone Hand in Hand

New technology has facilitated the transportation of oil, but spills remain a risk.
by Nolan Varee via Made By History on January 9, 2023
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