Former American President Abraham Lincoln is one of history’s most famous ghosts

William Mumler’s spirit photography stunned and bewildered the public

William Mumler’s most famous work is a portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln accompanied by the ghost of her deceased husband, Abraham Lincoln. Other subjects of Mumler's photos claimed that the spirits standing beside them resembled their loved ones. Mumler’s method was never officially proven and continues to mystify viewers.

Truth met President Lincoln at the White House in 1864

In October 1864, Truth traveled to Washington and met President Lincoln a week before his reelection, though she could secure the appointment only through a white abolitionist friend. Lincoln signed her autograph book, and Truth later said she had never been treated with more "kindness and cordiality" by anyone.

Abraham Lincoln's missing bodyguard

The night President Abraham Lincoln was shot, his bodyguard John Frederick Parker was late for his shift—and reportedly left his post to drink at the bar. Infamous assassin John Wilkes Booth entered the booth at Ford's Theater where the president sat while Parker was absent, leading to one of the United States' greatest political tragedies. Read more about the troubled history of Parker here.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Abraham Lincoln's assassination helped create the multibillion-dollar funeral business

After the president was killed in April 1865, he became one of the first well-publicized embalming examples in the US. The burgeoning science enabled his body to go on a multistate tour. Prices soon climbed for the process and fueled more wakes, perhaps helping to lay the foundation for the pricy funeral industry.

See a ranking of the most memorable presidential pets in history

This list highlights famous White House animals—from Abraham Lincoln's goats, Nanny and Nanko, to Joe Biden's German shepherds, Champ and Major—showing how pets have long been part of presidential life. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

President Abraham Lincoln was inspired by a novel to create the holiday

A writer and abolitionist from New Hampshire, Sarah Josepha Hale was instrumental in cementing many of the Thanksgiving traditions we celebrate today. Her 1852 novel "Northwood, a Tale of New England," described a feast with a roasted turkey, stuffing, plum pudding, and pumpkin pie. She wrote dozens of editorials and letters to politicians campaigning for the day to become a national holiday. In 1863 she was finally successful in convincing President Lincoln to make it official.

Whitman’s famous elegy for Lincoln, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’

After President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Whitman wrote two poems about him, both mourning the country’s loss. The more famous one is “O Captain! My Captain!,” which first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1865.

See some of the most controversial pardons in presidential history

From Lincoln's selective commutations of Dakota men after an 1862 uprising, to Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon after Watergate, and Bill Clinton's final-day clemency decisions, pardons have long sparked fierce debate over justice, political favoritism, and presidential power.

The most haunted locations in the US

This TimeOut guide presents some of the most notorious places in the United States, profiling the creepy histories of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, the Waverly Hills Sanitorium in Louisville, Kentucky, and the lingering effects of the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts.

Since 1800, every president has lived and worked in the White House

John Adams became the first president to live in the White House when it was completed in 1800. Since then, every American president has used it as both a residence and the official seat of executive power.

See checks signed by US presidents

One bank has made it a point to conserve checks from US presidents. Peruse this gallery of signed checks from Washington, FDR, JFK, Lincoln, and more.

Future President Abraham Lincoln challenged Polk’s justification for war with Mexico

As a freshman congressman, Abraham Lincoln introduced the “Spot Resolutions,” demanding President Polk prove that Mexico had attacked on US soil. This constituted Lincoln’s first major political stand and highlighted growing dissent over the war.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address became one of the most famous speeches in American history

Delivered by Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a national cemetery, the 272-word Gettysburg Address reframed the war as a struggle for equality. The speech would be cited as a moral touchstone for later movements such as women's suffrage and civil rights.

James Garfield, the first left-handed US president

Though he was assassinated only four months into his tenure, President James Garfield was a highly respected figure, a professor known for his mastery of several languages, success as a general in the Civil War, and accomplishments in Congress. He was also left-handed, the first southpaw to sit in the Oval Office. Learn more about Garfield's ambidexterity here.

The hidden hallway behind Mount Rushmore and why it’s unfinished

Mount Rushmore was designed to be more than a massive monument to US presidents, and its ambitious plans were part of the reason why. This fascinating video explores its backstory, creation, and the hidden tunnel behind President Lincoln's head.

Ancient ghost stories appeared in texts like 'The Odyssey'

Sharing ghost tales has been around for centuries. Ancient Mesopotamia, Rome, and Greece each had their own chilling stories about encountering spirits. Find mentions of specters in some of history’s most famous writings like the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and "The Odyssey."

Presidents invite guests to personalize the State of the Union

The tradition began in 1982 when Ronald Reagan honored Lenny Skutnik, who rescued a survivor from the icy Potomac after a plane crash. Since then, presidents have spotlighted a wide range of guests from Rosa Parks to Rush Limbaugh to humanize and reinforce policy themes.

Long after his death, Washington was made the highest-ranking military figure in US history

Only three Americans have held the rank of General of the Armies: John J. Pershing, Ulysses S. Grant, and Washington. However, Washington still outranks the others because Congress passed a 1976 law stating that he outranks all officers "past or present."

Five US presidents won the election despite losing the popular vote

Because presidents are elected through the Electoral College rather than a national vote, candidates can win while receiving fewer votes nationwide. John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump (2016) each won the presidency while losing the nationwide popular vote.

Hollywood’s best scandals

With all the money, power, and beautiful people in Hollywood, it’s no wonder there’s no shortage of scandals. This list highlights 10 of the most salacious ones, from Marilyn Monroe’s affair with then-president John F. Kennedy, to the mysterious death of starlet Natalie Wood in 1981.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Alexander the Great, Rudyard Kipling, and more may have died from food poisoning

Though it is hard to prove decades or centuries after their deaths, some researchers suspect that food poisoning killed a variety of historical figures, including US President Zachary Taylor in 1850: Some researchers believe he may have consumed food contaminated with *Salmonella*.

Phantom limbs were first documented in the 16th century by a French military surgeon

Ambroise Paré, the military surgeon, observed this phenomenon among soldiers who'd lost limbs, yet the term wasn't formally coined until hundreds of years later, by Silas Weird Mitchell, an American Civil War surgeon.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

Maya Angelou's 1993 recitation of 'On the Pulse of Morning' at President Bill Clinton's inauguration was a historic event

After Robert Frost in 1961, Angelou became the second poet in history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration. She was also the first African American and woman. The poem includes themes of change, inclusion, and the responsibility of both the President and citizens to create success in a country.

Fallingwater is one of the world’s most famous houses

Fallingwater, a country house set atop a waterfall, is arguably Frank Lloyd Wright’s most celebrated work. Legend has it that the initial drawings of the house were hurriedly sketched in just three hours after Wright’s client surprised him with a phone call and announced he wanted to see the plan’s progress.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Famed historian David McCullough on five things to know about the Wrights

The bestselling author of popular, beloved histories on US presidents, engineering feats and disasters published a study of the Wrights in 2015. Here. he highlights five key facts to know about the brothers, including that their efforts were bootstrapped—meaning they paid for their work themselves with no outside investors.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.