Where we separate fact from fiction about some of history’s most divisive moments and personalities
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Fifty years ago last week, John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon to become the nation's 35th President. The 1960s were a significant changing of the guard in U.S. leadership and also in how Americans chose their leader. During the 1960 … Continue reading Does television affect how we elect Presidents?
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Today Part Two of "Discovering the Civil War" opens at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The exhibit is divided into a few sections, the last of which is entitled "Endings and Beginnings," a reference to the end of the … Continue reading The peculiar story of Wilmer McLean
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. On the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his son Robert Lincoln was supposed to attend American Cousin with his parents but was exhausted from a long carriage ride. He remained at home. When Robert heard the news of his father's … Continue reading The curious case of Robert Lincoln
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti D'Oprah? In case you haven't heard the news, the yodeling von Trapp family will be making an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show this Friday to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Sound … Continue reading The hills are alive with the sound of Oprah
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. In the history of Presidential elections, there has never been a battle of the beards. Beards have challenged mustaches. Mustaches have challenged clean-shaven candidates. Clean-shaven candidates have challenged beards. But never in the history of our republic, have two bearded … Continue reading FHF: The Beard Gap
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. One hundred forty three years ago today, the people of Alaska went to bed under the Russian flag, and awoke under the Stars and Stripes. They also woke up eleven days in the future. The purchase of Alaska was not … Continue reading Seward’s time-traveling folly
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. The story of Tokyo Rose is the stuff of legends—an English-speaking Japanese woman who seduced the airwaves of the South Pacific with tales of Japanese success, Allied failures, and honest encouragement to give up the fight and return home. The … Continue reading The orphan called Tokyo Rose
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. In 1885, Munich's Oktoberfest was celebrated under the glow of the electric light for the first time. Who was responsible for that feat? None other than Albert Einstein himself. Granted, it may have been his father and uncle who are … Continue reading Beer = mc2
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. It was 1906 when Upton Sinclair made the world vegetarian, at least for a little while. Sinclair's novel riled the United States and its President, Teddy Roosevelt, by revealing the unsanitary conditions under which food was made. Since 1879, over … Continue reading Bring your big stick to “The Jungle”
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. One hundred and ninety-six years ago today, the British sacked the District of Columbia. They were, in turn, sacked by a tornado. In 1814, the British wanted revenge. U.S. troops had burned the legislative building, government structures, and private warehouses … Continue reading Tornado saves capital, scares British
