American History magazine

#OnThisDay in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Seven months earlier, on April 7, 1963, he visted Antietam National Battlefield. View some footage of his visit here, courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum.

The Continental gunboat Philadelphia sank in 1776. It is now housed at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. #sunkenship #history #revolutionarywar #revolution #boats

What did women wear in the 18th century?

Join Managing Editor Dana B. Shoaf and historic interpreter Rachel Blake as they discuss women’s clothing in the 18th Century.

Fort Frederick Housed Soldiers, Officers, and Prisoners of War.

Join Managing Editor Dana B. Shoaf and historic interpreter Patrick McGuire in a discussion about the history of Fort Frederick in Maryland.

This Week in History: Act of God?: The British Set Fire to the White House

At the height of the War of 1812, the British invade Washington DC, setting fire to everything as they stormed into the capital. President James Madison is forced to flee to Brookville, Maryland, while the British occupied the underdefended city. Shortly after the enemy invasion, heavy thunderstorms, as well as a tornado, tearing through DC, putting out many of the fires and damaging the British ships. The British are forced to flee the city giving way for Madison's return on September 1. The U.S. government recuperates and is able to send forces to push the enemy back toward Canada, ultimately winning the war.

This Week in History: August 1981–IBM Introduces its First PC

On August 12, 1981, IBM revealed its first personal computer, the 5150. Developed in just 12 months—a record build for the company—the 5150 included "ground-breaking" features, such as a floppy disk drive, a cassette drive and 16KB of RAM. Apple at first scoffed at IBM's late entry into the PC market, but the company quickly blew Apple away in market share, dominating at 56 percent to Apple's 16 percent. The 5150's use of third-party software and its open architecture—which allowed for users to upgrade and swap out physical components—had also paved the way for other companies to clone the PCs, making them better, faster, cheaper, and "IBM Compatible." Ironically, IBM's biggest seller would also prove pivotal to its downfall. By the 1990s, with its popular 5150's technology open to its competition, IBM was pushed out of the PC business. Apple, however, survived—by using IBM's architecture in its PCs.

This Week in History: 'Show Me the Money!' WWI Vets Demand Pay from Washington

On July 28, 1932, between 12,000-15,000 WWI vets, known as the "Bonus Army", flood into Washington to demand bonuses promised to them by the government in 1924.

This Week in History: July 2 or July 4? – The History of the Real Independence Day

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 2. But Congress later designated July 4 as the day Americans celebrate. And that made John Adams mad.

This Week in History: Washington vs. The Press—The Pentagon Papers

On June 13, 1971, The New York Times published a classified 7,000-page Dept. of Defense study on American decision-making in Vietnam and Southeast Asia after RAND employee Daniel Ellsberg, a former military analyst and one of the study's authors, photocopied the papers and shared them with Times reporter Neil Sheehan. The leak was a blow to the U.S. government, revealing its efforts—dating as far back as the Truman Administration in 1945—to interfere in Southeast Asia to stem the spread of communism, as well as lies told to the American public by Lyndon B. Johnson to continue the Vietnam War. The Nixon Administration accused the press of illegally publishing government secrets. However, the courts ruled in the journalists' favor, establishing a landmark First Amendment decision that redefined the relationship between the First and Fourth Estates. “In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam War," Justice Hugo L. Black wrote in his opinion, "the newspapers nobly did that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do.” Incensed by the ruling, Nixon then hired a group of "plumbers" to prevent future leaks, setting into motion a chain of events that would forever change the American presidency.

This Week In History: First Nonstop Flights Across the Atlantic...

Two skilled pilots fly out non-stop over the Atlantic in record-setting times. On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island to Paris in just 33 1/2 hours. Five years later to the day, Amelia Earhart becomes the first female aviator to achieve the same feat, flying from Newfoundland, Canada, to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in 14 hours and 56 minutes.

This Week in History: Lewis and Clark's Western Adventure

Sent by President Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark brave the wild west to explore the newly acquired U.S. Territory, the Louisiana Purchase, on May 14, 1804.

This Week in History– Snoward Bound! Togo Saves the Day in Alaska

In early February 1925, Leonhard Seppala and his trusty lead sled dog, Togo, travel over 250 miles in dangerous weather conditions to deliver much-needed medicine to the people of Nome, Alaska after an outbreak of diphtheria spreads through town.

This Week in History – The Invention of Basketball

This Week in History: George Washington Crosses the Delaware River

This Week in History: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor

This Week in History: The Space Race 1957–US vs. USSR

What drove us to the moon? Well, it all started with Russia and a bright, shiny beeping ball...

A Brief History of the Battle of Antietam

#ONTHISDAY September 17, 1862, George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac attacked Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia between Antietam Creek and the Potomac River outside Sharpsburg, Maryland. At the end of the day, 23,000 Americans were dead, wounded or missing—still the greatest single-day casualty total in America's history. In this short video presentation, park rangers from the Antietam National Battlefield Park describe the day's events.

This Week in History– Snoward Bound! Togo Saves the Day in Alaska

In early February 1925, Leonhard Seppala and his trusty lead dog, Togo, deliver much-needed medicine to the people of Nome, Alaska after an outbreak of diphtheria spreads through town. Togo ran more than 250 miles through dangerous inclimate weather, such as below-freezing temps and blinding storms, to reach the hand-off area.