government

A detail from ‘Napoleon Crossing the Alps’ by Jacques-Louis David

One of the most fascinating figures to ever live was born 246 years ago.

Patrick Henry delivers his famous "give me liberty" speech.

He’s best remembered for saying “Give me liberty or give me death,” but did Henry actually utter those words?

You probably shouldn’t do it—unless there really is a fire.

Back in 1919, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. sort of made it seem like it was against the law to yell “fire“ while in a crowded theater, so we understand if you’re confused.

No, spies aren't all focused on national security. Yes, the CIA did deploy a mission called Operation Acoustic Kitty.

If you've always wanted to live in a lighthouse, now is your chance.

A photograph on display at the Bradbury Science Museum at Los Alamos National Laboratory shows the first thermonuclear test on October 31, 1952.

America’s greatest physicists assembled under the Manhattan Project to create the deadliest weapon the world had ever seen—an atomic bomb.

The combat veteran is the first Asian American woman from Illinois ever elected to Congress.

From serving in the Iraq War to becoming the first U.S. senator to give birth in office, Tammy Duckworth has an impressive history of overcoming adversity with grit and humor.

Not 'The Defender,' but we needed to show you something.

The peculiar sub had wheels and other innovative features.

From Lyndon B. Johnson to Joe Biden, presidents can get neither fast nor furious behind the wheel.

Love it or hate it, daylight saving time means you have to reset your clocks twice a year and either gain or lose an hour of sleep.

Oil fields like the one above were at the center of the Teapot Dome Scandal in the 1920s.

A century ago, the Teapot Dome scandal was the Watergate of its time.

An Irish family at the ruins of their house In Killarney.

The lack of proper aid paired with layers of broken policies and a fractured response from a distant British government led to unimaginable—and likely avoidable—suffering in Ireland.

According to historians, these are the worst American presidents ever to hold the highest office in the land.

Did Thomas Jefferson really bring ice cream to the U.S.?

George Washington wasn’t the only U.S. president for whom a healthy dose of fiction gets mixed in with the facts.

The reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

In 1968, when the CIA needed help with an audacious Cold War operation, officials decided that eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes would be the perfect man for the job.

Women register to vote following the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Despite what you may believe, 1920 wasn't all flappers and jazz bands. The year saw some major events that would go on to shape history.

Pedro Lascuráin ruled Mexico for about 45 minutes.

Their reigns were short, but not sweet.

NASA Prepares For Space Shuttle Discovery's Launch

NASA is organizing a task force that will determine how the agency studies UFOs in the future.

The gender binary looms large in this sphere.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing that ‘Cheryl was no lady as she devastated such and such a town,’” Roxcy Bolton said. She wasn't alone in her exasperation.

Our 30th president, born on the Fourth of July in 1872, once pardoned a raccoon.

Area 51 has been strongly associated with alien sightings and secret government studies for decades. Here are a few facts you might not know about it.

Hanford, Washington, became the site of nuclear experiments.

In the 1940s, residents near Hanford, Washington, were getting dosed with the radioactive equivalent of Three Mile Island every day.

The U.S. Senate chamber and its rows of desks.

The historic moments that happened at these desks—and the Senate VIPs who sat behind them—mean that some have taken on lives of their own.

Four UFOs appeared in the sky at 9:35 a.m. on July 15, 1952 over a parking lot in Salem, Massachusetts.

Project Blue Book's questionnaire had sections for describing UFOs and even sketching pictures.

15 Epic Facts About Napoleon Bonaparte

10 Facts About Patrick Henry

Is It Illegal to Falsely Shout 'Fire' in a Crowded Theater?

4 Big Misconceptions About Spies

Feeling Adventurous? The U.S. Government Is Giving Away Lighthouses

9 Explosive Facts About the Manhattan Project

17 Things You Might Not Know About Tammy Duckworth

A Century-Old Experimental Submarine, 'The Defender,' Is Found 'Hiding in Plain Sight' in Long Island Sound

The Reason U.S. Presidents Aren't Allowed to Drive Cars

25 Fascinating Facts About Daylight Saving Time

10 Facts About the Teapot Dome Scandal

Ireland’s Great Hunger: 13 Facts About the 19th-Century Potato Famine that Devastated the Emerald Isle

The 10 Worst Presidents in American History, According to Historians

1 Misconception About Each U.S. President

When Howard Hughes Helped the CIA on a Top-Secret Mission

12 World-Shaping Events That Happened in 1920

10 of History’s Shortest-Serving World Leaders

NASA Launches Official Inquiry Into UFO Sightings

The Sexist History of Naming Hurricanes After Women Only—And How 1970s Feminists Fought to End It

10 Things You Might Not Know About Calvin Coolidge

10 Mysterious Facts About Area 51

Green Run: When the U.S. Government Released Radiation in the Pacific Northwest

5 Famous Desks in the U.S. Senate

Think You Spotted a UFO? See What the 1952 Questionnaire for Reporting Sightings Looked Like