AMERICAN HERITAGE

Featured Articles

The Constitution is more than a legal code. It is also a framework for union and solidarity.

In the hundred years since his death, features of Woodrow Wilson’s philosophy have become central to international politics and American foreign policy.

FDR’s War of Words with Lindbergh

by Paul Sparrow

Charles Lindbergh and the isolationists of American First opposed Lend Lease and Roosevelt’s attempts to prepare for possible war in Europe.

The Tragedy of Emmett Till

by Ronald Collins

The boy's vicious killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped to transform America's racial consciousness.

Classic Essays from Our Archives

The Treasure From The Carpentry Shop | December 1979, Vol 31, No 1

By David McCullough

THE EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

“The Tide is Setting Strongly Against Us” | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4

By Edward L. Ayers

Lincoln’s bid for reelection in 1864 faced serious challenges from a popular opponent and a nation weary of war.

The Day The Civil War Ended | June/July 1978, Vol 29, No 4

By Bruce Catton

At the Gettysburg reunion fifty years after the battle, it was no longer blue and gray. Now it was all gray.

Range Practice | Februrary 1968, Vol 19, No 2

By Dean Acheson

Our former Secretary of State recalls his service fifty years ago in the Connecticut National Guard—asthmatic horses, a ubiquitous major, and a memorable

America: Experiment or Destiny? | June 1977, Vol 28, No 4

By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? | Fall 2008, Vol 58, No 5

By Annette Gordon-Reed

To call it loaded question does not begin to do justice to the matter, given America’s tortured racial history and its haunting legacy.

Today in History

USS Constitution

USS Constitution is launched in Boston Harbor. The 1794 Naval Act authorized its construction along with five other frigates, and the USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides", served through the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.
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Edison successfully tests incandescent light bulb

Thomas Edison successfully tests his incandescent light bulb with a cotton carbonized filament. The light bulb would stay electrified for over 13 hours.
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Battle of Aachen

American soldiers triumph at the Battle of Aachen following the surrender of 5,000 German soldiers. Aachen, along the Belgian and Dutch borders, is the first German city captured by the Americans.