News Letter from Christopher Columbus, 1493 View Columbus’s letter , read an excerpt , or view a depiction of his landing .
News Things to Ponder on Columbus Day: The Columbian Exchange On Monday, October 12, many Americans had the day off and stores hosted sales under the name of that 15th-century Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus. But Columbus’s impact on our world reaches past a 3-day weekend and great deals...
News Lincoln’s Favorite Dog, Fido Ever wonder why the name "Fido" has become synonymous with dogs? It all goes back to a very special dog belonging to Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln always had a fondness for animals, and it has been speculated that he relied on his pets to...
News Opening Day of the NYC Subway: On This Day, October 27 On October 27, 1904, New York City was forever changed. Nine miles of what one day would become 137 miles of subway track were ready for travel. After months of construction and a few iffy test rides, the IRT (Interborough Rapid...
News Meryl Streep Goes to Suffragette City Meryl Streep’s new bio-pic, Suffragette , chronicles the adventuresome lives of the British women’s rights advocate Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters. Tired of waiting for equality, the Pankhurts’ Women’s Social and Political Union...
News The Great Chicago Fire of 1871: On This Day, October 8 Read an excerpt of John R. Chapin's eyewitness account of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 .
News Alexander Hamilton, Hero of Yorktown: On This Day, October 14 In 1769, Alexander Hamilton, an ambitious young clerk in St. Croix, wrote to a friend that "I . . . would willingly risk my life, tho not my Character, to exalt my station. . . . I wish there was a war." Seven years later, he was a...
News Yellow Fever Epidemic, 1793 View the account of the 1793 yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia or read the transcript .
News Learn to Make an Interactive Timeline Do you want to make a great interactive timeline that incorporates images, text, audio, and video? TimelineJS is a great free tool to explore. View this tutorial as a printable PDF. If you need more help, or if you'd like to explore...
News Ensign Jesse Brown, First African American Naval Aviator, 1948 In October 1948, Jesse LeRoy Brown made history by becoming the first African American naval aviator. Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 1926, Brown was inspired to become a pilot by an airshow that he attended at age six. After...