Month: November 2017

The advantage swung from one side to the other in the battle of Buena Vista, one of the most hard-fought battles of the Mexican War. While 5,000 American soldiers withstood…

In America’s early days, women had no voice in government and were not expected to know much about politics. But Abigail Adams, the wife of the second U.S. Prwsident, was…

The crowd roared as the tall Virginian appeared on the balcony of New York City’s Federal Hall. George Washington, hero of the revolution, had agreed to serve his country in…

The presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, was the setting for a historic moment in September, 1978. With the help of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the leaders of Egypt and…

The press jokingly called her “Lemonade Lucy,” because no alcoholic beverages were served in the White House while she was First Lady. But Lucy Hayes, wife of the 19th President,…

Did Betsy Ross really sew the first American flag? Probably not. There seems to be no truth to the popular legend that a committee headed by George Washington asked Ross,…

A rider clings to a wildly rearing horse. A cavalry unit gallops across the plains. Rough-and-ready cowboys ride full tilt through a frontier town. These scenes of action and adventure…

In art, the term “school” usually refers to a group of artists who work in similar style. But the painters of the so-called Ashcan School were even more closely bound…

James Whistler believed that art should speak for itself, and that the subject matter of a painting was not important. To underline this point, he called his paintings symphonies, nocturnes,…

Winslow Homer is regarded as one of America’s greatest artists. No other American painter has captured the power and beauty of the sea as effectively. As a child in Massachusetts,…

The Revolutionary War had begun in April, 1775, and British troops controlled Boston. The Americans controlled the surrounding countryside, and they knew that the British wanted to take Charlestown, just…

Ralph Bunche was a skillful diplomat who played a key role at the United Nations during its early years. His efforts on behalf of world peace won him the Nobel…

Sojourner Truth could neither read nor write. But when this tall African-American woman strode on stage to speak out against slavery, she held everyone’s attention. She began almost every speech…

In 1806, Zebulon Pike journeyed west to explore the vast territory the U.S. had bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase. Crossing the Great Plains into present-day Colorado, he reached…

From the stormy coast of the Atlantic to the highest mountain in the Appalachian range, North Carolina stretches 500 miles east to west. It is the tenth largest state in…

California Exploring for Spain in 1542, Juan Cabrillo was probably the first European to see California. He was followed in 1579 by England’s Sir Francis Drake. Although each explorer laid…

On the morning of June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside her apartment in a Los Angeles suburb. Within days, police identified…

Every year between May and November, people in the eastern U.S. watch for hurricanes. These vast tropical storms in the Carribean Sea travel northwest, striking at the Caribbean islands and…

On February 28, 1983, the biggest audience in television history watched the final episode of a beloved comedy series. That series was M*A*S*H, which ran for 11 years on CBS…

A Chorus Line In the words of one of its songs A Chorus Line caused “one singular sensation” when it opened on Broadway in 1975. Critics hailed it as one…