HISTORY

Kurt Vonnegut and Oliver Stone have something in common: They both earned Purple Hearts. Discover other famous veterans have earned this venerated medal.

Inauguration Day isn’t just a matter of scheduling—presidential term limits are exactly four years, down to the hour.

Bald eagles are powerful symbols of America—but there's much more to know about these quirky birds.

Scientists have uncovered ancient fossils, prehistoric artwork, and other clues to human evolution. Here are nine of the most revealing discoveries that have changed our understanding of our early ancestors—and ourselves.

Within the last 200 years, we’ve discovered about two dozen species of hominins in Europe, Africa, and Asia—which you can see laid out in this map.

The imposing clocks have an origin story, but it doesn't have much to do with any actual grandfathers.

This common phrase is often used during times of political uncertainty, and has even been described as an ancient Chinese curse. History says otherwise, though.

“Fido” is a name that has become synonymous with all things dog. But where did the name come from?

Alexander Hamilton argued that lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court were the only way, but some modern scholars disagree.

The origins of those ‘I Voted’ stickers you see everyone rocking on Election Day go back to the 1950s in the United States, but the design everyone recognizes most was created by Janet Boudreau in the late 1980s.

From the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, no institution is safe from terrible reviews.

One was a born leader lauded and reviled by underlings and historians alike. The other was Napoleon.