History and knowledge-based information
Just over three years after Neil Armstrong took mankind’s first steps on the moon, Apollo 17 astronauts left the last footprints on the lunar surface in December 1972. Described by NASA as ” the last, longest and most successful” of the manned astronaut lunar landing missions, Apollo 17 yielded significant …
Over the decades, the 1980s had more than its fair share of iconic technology, from walkmans to VCRs to pagers. Many of the innovative Reagan-era gadgets and entertainment devices have since become obsolete, but they paved the way for a new generation of 21stitems from the last century such as …
By 1987, the AIDS epidemic had reached grim proportions. The disease had killed nearly 60,000 people worldwide and more than 40,000 were HIV-positive in the United States alone. The majority of those ravaged by the disease were homosexuals. Despite rising cases and deaths, President Ronald Reagan did not utter the …
An escaped slave man named Peter showing his scarred back during a medical examination in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1863. Library of Congress By the time he got to a Union encampment in Baton Rouge in March 1863, Peter had been through hell. The sleuths had chased him. He had been …
Despite the horrors of slavery, the decision to flee was not easy. Escaping often involved leaving family behind and heading into the complete unknown, where harsh weather and a lack of food might await them. Then there was the constant threat of capture. So-called slave catchers and their hounds scoured …
They called him “Moses” for leading the slaves of the South to freedom in the North. But Harriet Tubman fought the institution of slavery far beyond her role as a conductor for the Underground Railroad. As a soldier and spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, Tubman became …
Contents A “white man’s war”? The Second Confiscation and Militia Act (1862) The 54th Massachusetts Confederate threats The fight for equal pay On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation: “All persons held as slaves in any State … in rebellion against the United States,” it declared, …
Throughout human history, children have played with and cared for dolls. Miniature facsimiles of human beings have been found around the globe from all periods of history, using all kinds of materials. They range from carved wooden paddle dolls discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs to scarily realistic soft vinyl dolls …
For generations, the mainstream cultural narrative of Thanksgiving in America has told how a Native American named Squanto showed Pilgrims how to obtain food after they arrived on the Mayflower in Massachusetts in 1620. Having fled their native England, the new emigrants endured hardships and hardships both in their journey …