Mitchelville Was The First US Town Led By Formerly Enslaved People
This month in 1863, the founding of a town that made history: Mitchelville was the first town in the United States to be governed by formerly enslaved people.
There’s An Official Spanish-Language Version Of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
“The Star-Spangled Banner” became the national anthem of the United States more than a century after it was written. Another fun fact about the anthem: there's an official Spanish-language version.
Long Before He Was President, Abraham Lincoln Was A Tavern Owner
The 16th President has been called the Great Emancipator, Honest Abe, The Railsplitter… and if you go far enough into his backstory, you can call him "Bartender In Chief."
You Can Only Drive To Michigan’s “Lost Peninsula” Through Ohio
This week in 1837, Michigan became the 26th state in the Union. Michigan is famous for having an upper peninsula and a lower peninsula, but it also has a Lost Peninsula.
John Adams And Ben Franklin Shared A Room Once And Spent The Night Arguing About The Window
Today in 1735, the birthday of John Adams, the only president who ever spent a night bickering in bed with Benjamin Franklin.
In The Early 20th Century, Some Americans Thought Tipping Was Horrible
When tipping first came to the US, it had lots of opponents, sometimes for opposing reasons.
The Washington Monument That Was Built Before The Washington Monument
Today in 1827, the people of Boonsboro, Maryland marked Independence Day by trying to build a stone monument to George Washington in a single day.
![Riveting team working on the cockpit shell of a B-25 [i.e. C-47] bomber at the plant of North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood [i.e. Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach], Calif. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division/Wikicommons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter#/media/File:Riveting_team2.jpg](https://www.bradycarlson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240529riveter-80x50.jpg)
There Was More Than One “Real” Rosie the Riveter
Today in 1943, Norman Rockwell's painting "Rosie the Riveter" was on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. But that's not the image that we think of today as Rosie, and just as there were multiple depictions of the character, there were multiple real-life inspirations for those depictions.
The “Hairy Eagle” Is A Decoration Made Partly With Abraham Lincoln’s Hair
It's Abe Lincoln's birthday, and if you want to see a small bit of the man himself, you could try heading to Syracuse, New York, where there’s a bit of Abe Lincoln’s hair in a very unusual decoration known as the Hairy Eagle.
The US Rationed Shoes During World War II, So People Made Footwear Out Of Old Firehoses
Today in 1943, the US announced it would start rationing shoes to save rubber and leather for the troops in World War II. People on the home front found ways to make shoes out of alternative materials.