History Matters

Why George Washington's Farewell Address has never been more important It was the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Songwriter and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda had joined the cast of his hit musical "Hamilton" to virtually perform the song "Dear...

Gotterdammerung^[1]The last days of the Third Reich, taking its name from the end of Wagner's ‘Der Ring des Nibellungen.' The word means "Twilight of the Gods," and signals the end with chaos and destruction. Our understanding of historical narrative is not static....

This is the woman whose statue will replace that of Robert E. Lee in the US Capitol When Barbara Johns was just 16 years old, she led a walkout at her high school to protest poor and unequal school conditions. The moment is one that many historians believe helped...

AP WAS THERE: Battle of the BulgeIn 2020, the world marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Sterling Publishing, in cooperation with The Associated Press, released an illustrated book called "Victory: World War II In Real Time," filled with original AP...

Proclamation of Thanksgiving This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government...

“Here is a man who under the most difficult, adverse circumstances that one can imagine was able to stand up, speak in a mature and independent fashion, and evaluate the world around him critically."   Escaped slave and Navy sailor recounted his remarkable Civil...

So why didn’t the founders plan for this particular scenario, of a president simply denying that he had lost an election? Because they couldn’t even fathom it, Engel said. “They couldn’t fathom two things: a person who had become president who was so utterly lacking...