Death taxes have helped fund wars since the 1860s

Death taxes are placed on a deceased person's estate

Death taxes can include liquid cash, property, stocks, or other financial assets they owned. There are two main types of death taxes in the US: the estate tax and inheritance tax. Death taxes are levied at the federal and state level, but are targeted towards the rich.

Estate tax opponents coined the term 'death tax' to sway public opinion

Even though the term death tax has been used for centuries, opponents of the federal estate tax started utilizing the term in the 1940s to try and sway public opinion. Since the modern federal estate tax was first established in 1916, opponents have unsuccessfully tried to get it repealed.

How income taxes evolved from a funding tool for war into a crucial revenue source for the federal government

Americans have long resisted income taxes. So, how did they become permanent? This overview explains how wartime funding needs, constitutional changes, and economic shifts gave rise to the modern tax system, from the Civil War to the payroll withholding rules we follow today.

Capital gains taxes were first levied in the US in 1913

However, up until 1921, they were treated the same as ordinary income. Ever since then, rates have swung up and down.

See how the federal estate tax has changed in the 21st century

In 2001, the government passed an act to completely repeal the tax. It was overturned in 2010. In 2017, the government increased the exemption threshold so fewer people would have to pay into the tax. In 2025, the exemption threshold was permanently set to $15M.

The US has carried debt since 1791

After the Revolutionary War, the US owed $75M to nations like France. Debt builds when spending exceeds revenue, funding programs, wars, and economic recovery efforts. Most debt is domestic, like Social Security bonds, with foreign nations also holding a share.

How World War II affects your wallet today

The world's deadliest conflict also impacted social programs extensively, including ways that still affect your money today. World War II is responsible for the practice of employers withholding tax payments and sponsoring health insurance, as well as the norm of providing school lunches for the nation's schoolchildren. Watch this brief video to learn more.

Trade and tariffs in the Roman world

Trade between nations and empires date back thousands of years, including the use of tariffs to raise government revenue.

The concept of life insurance likely originated in ancient Rome around the year 100 BCE

However, life insurance policies didn’t reach the Americas until 1759, when life insurance started being used to protect the families of Protestant ministers when said ministers died. This timeline of life insurance’s early history—and how it has evolved since then—provides more details.

More than 40 states have passed versions of the Uniform Declaration of Death Act

The 1981 model law, now enacted in most states, is the legal basis for death in the US. There have been many efforts to amend this law, citing the need for more transparency to improve trust between families and the medical profession, though none have moved forward. Alterations to the law could have implications for organ donations and removing life support.

A 1993 deal with the government exempts British Royals from paying inheritance taxes

When Queen Elizabeth II died, King Charles didn't have to pay any inheritance taxes on the money he received from his mother. That's because of a unique deal the royals made with the UK government in the 1990s, in an effort to preserve the assets of the royal family that are synonymous with the institution.

See comparisons of different countries' taxation strategies

Taxes are a major revenue source for most countries, and how each government taxes citizens often reflects the country's economy. Developed countries tax at much higher rates than developing ones, and as a country grows its GDP, it also typically grows the proportional percentage of taxes it gains from its citizens.

Child mortality rates since ancient Rome

One of the great achievements of modern humanity has been the sea change in child mortality rates—the chance that a newborn eventually lives past puberty. For thousands of years, children had a 50% chance of not entering adulthood. About 300 years...

Gambling funded America's early expansion

In the colonial era, lotteries were viewed as a voluntary tax to help fund infrastructure and capital projects. The idea came from Europe, which had used lotteries dating back to the 16th century. The image below is from a Massachusetts lottery in 1758.

A graphic illustration of death tolls in historical events and wars

Which killed more, the American Civil War or the Korean War? Hurricane Katrina or the Titanic sinking? You’ll be surprised how wrong you are about death tolls.

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.

The term ‘mortgage’ was born out of the French word for ‘dead pledge’

Borrowing money to buy a house has been a global practice since the Romans in the fifth century BCE. But before the mortgage, there was the “dead pledge,” which labeled the property as “dead” to the borrower until they paid off their loan to the lender.

In ancient Rome, toast was added to drinks

Toasted bread crumbs absorbed the acidity of bitter wine and, in some cases, added flavor. Although the term "toasting" was not yet in use, the practice was common. Some say the Roman Senate decreed in the first century CE that all citizens must drink to the honor of Emperor Augustus before every meal, though scholars debate the validity of that claim. Eventually, the literal toast became associated with the tributes.

Two-thirds of soldier deaths during the war were due to disease

Roughly two-thirds of all Civil War deaths resulted from disease rather than battle. Poor sanitation, contaminated water, and limited medical knowledge made camps breeding grounds for dysentery, typhoid, and other deadly infections.

Traditional IRAs are tax-deferred—meaning you’ll pay taxes when you withdraw funds during retirement, rather than before you invest in the IRA

You can typically deduct traditional IRA contributions from your taxes. To invest in a Roth IRA, on the other hand, you must contribute money that has already been taxed.

Wealthy Egyptians slept on woven beds to allow air circulation in hot climates

The history of beds is a fascinating look at economics, social science, and cultural beliefs around what takes place during sleep. This brief survey of the history of bed-making begins roughly 5,000 years ago and runs through ancient Egypt and Rome to modern Europe. Take a look here.

Congress has formally declared war 11 times across five conflicts, the last in 1942

The five declared wars were the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. Every major American military conflict since Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan has been fought without a formal declaration.

Governments have historically used counterfeiting for economic warfare

Inserting fake currency into an economy can help destabilize it. During the American Revolution, for instance, the British distributed counterfeit “Continental Dollars” in an effort to devalue the currency being used in the US at the time with the goal of undermining America’s growing financial credibility. The Nazis also ran an extensive counterfeiting scheme during WWII.

Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience' was largely a protest against the Mexican-American War

Henry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes that funded what he saw as an unjust war waged to expand slavery. His act of protest inspired his famous essay "Civil Disobedience," a foundational text for nonviolent resistance.

A history of China's ancient hidden tombs

Like many ancient cultures, the Chinese had a tradition of burying the dead in elaborate tombs, which would serve as both burial places and residences for the deceased. Archaeological evidence of these tombs, including those of former emperors, provides insights into the country's cultural evolution.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

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

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

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.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.