Invasion of Normandy took careful planning
Learn more about the planning and execution of the Invasion of Normandy — "Operation Overlord" — on June 6, 1944.
Moving with a Conestoga or prairie wagon
Learn more about the start of a large migration of Anglo-Saxon pioneers at the end of the War of 1812.
How the sewing machine transformed society
Learn how the invention of the sewing machine led to the evolution of the American mercantile economy into the age of industrial capitalism.
From reluctant vice president to the White House
Hugh Earnhert digs into Harry Truman's reluctance to run as FDR's vice presidential candidate in the 1944 election.
Social Security Act was part of FDR’s New Deal
Probably the most revolutionary of all the New Deal undertakings was the Social Security Act. Find out how it was created, amended and finally passed.
Corps of Discovery paved the way west
Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the rest of the Corps of Discovery were the first white men to cross the western half of the U.S. in 1804.
When Lincoln was thanked by Sojourner Truth
Learn more about the life and work of Sojourner Truth and the time she visited Abraham Lincoln to thank him for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.
European immigrants got mixed welcome
The United States attracted many European immigrants during the decades of 1840 and 1850. Learn more about these large migrations and what caused them.
Camels trail paved the way for Route 66
After the 1848 treaty ended war with Mexico, and the U.S. received all of Texas above the Rio Grande, a new form of transportation was needed — the camel.
The triumvirate and their great compromise
Learn more about Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster and how they made decisions leading to the development of the American nation.