'Through this unique means, I convey to you and all mankind, America’s wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere.'

'On the return trip home, gazing through 240,000 miles of space toward the stars and the planet from which I had come, I suddenly experienced the universe as intelligent, loving, harmonious..'

-Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, in "The Way of the Explorer"

'We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.'

- President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

Voyager carries Earth's hopeful greeting into deep space as a message of peace

Along with scientific instruments, each Voyager carried a golden record containing multilingual greetings—ranging from Sumerian and Akkadian to Thai and Cantonese—music, and sounds of Earth intended for any intelligent life that might find it.

'There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.'

- Philosopher Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980)

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

'May your future be limited only by your dreams.'

- Teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986)

'Men and nature must work hand in hand. The throwing out of balance of the resources of nature throws out of balance also the lives of men.'

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

'Under God' was added to the pledge in 1954 as an anti-communist statement

When President Eisenhower signed the phrase into law on Flag Day 1954, the intent was ideological: to distinguish American democracy from "godless" Soviet communism. The author of the original 1892 pledge, Francis Bellamy, was himself a Baptist minister who believed in the separation of church and state, making the addition an inversion of his intent.

FDR inspired Rockwell's 'Four Freedoms'

In his 1941 State of the Union speech, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt defined "Four Freedoms" that democratic societies provided: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Rockwell conceived of a series of paintings based on those values, using his small-town examples of the principles in action. Below is "Freedom From Want."

Roosevelt’s post-Pearl Harbor address became one of America’s most iconic speeches

Delivered to a joint session of Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Dec. 7 “a date which will live in infamy.” The speech, heard by tens of millions of Americans, helped consolidate national support for entering the war.

A quote by Ralph Bunche

"The well-being and the hopes of the peoples of the world can never be served until peace - as well as freedom, honor and self-respect - is secure."

Watch the historic treaty signing that established NATO in 1949

NATO was created with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949, in Washington, DC. The clip embedded in the webpage includes a newsreel with an excerpt from US President Harry Truman’s speech celebrating the historic day.

'Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.'

- Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth, deepening US fears of falling behind in the space race. Watch archival footage to see why the mission was such a historic turning point.

Thomas Jefferson delivered his 1801 State of the Union address in writing

In 1801, President Jefferson ended in-person State of the Union addresses, feeling they were too monarchial, and sent written messages instead—a practice that lasted until 1913. His first message was written and sent via his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, who later led the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The history of ARPANET and how it helped the US military during the Cold War

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1958, which recruited scientists to design the first large-scale computer network to support the American military during the Cold War. Academics would use the network to communicate via email among several US research universities.

'We are on the move now ... Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom ...'

- Martin Luther King Jr. at the conclusion of the five-day, 54-mile march

The US once had a plan to nuke the moon

In the 1950s, the US considered detonating a hydrogen bomb on the moon as part of a Cold War show of force. Known as Project A119, the classified plan aimed to create a visible explosion from Earth to signal American dominance in the space race.

Watch Bill Nye be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Joe Biden bestowed the honor for Nye's work in science education, science advocacy and environmental stewardship, with the White House adding, "By sharing the magic of fun and science, he inspires generations of Americans to follow facts and reason and leave the world better than we found it."

A quote by scientist Nikola Tesla

"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result ... His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way."

Sri Swami Satchidananda gave the opening remarks at the first Woodstock

The yoga guru was invited to begin the legendary 1969 festival and told the massive crowd he believed music “is a celestial sound and it is the sound that controls the whole universe, not atomic vibrations.” The speech leaned into yoga as a philosophy, one that the many concertgoers in attendance could use to guide their collective desire for peace.

Read an email Steve Jobs wrote himself in 2010

Steve Jobs apparently liked to email himself to save his thoughts. This archival email, written the year before he died, shows Jobs expressing gratitude and wonder for the world and its creative people.

President Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine in 2025, announcing a new 'Trump Corollary'

On Dec. 2, 2025, the 202nd anniversary of the doctrine, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation reaffirming US "dominance" in the Western Hemisphere. His administration's national security strategy officially codified the "Trump Corollary," stating that the US would prevent non-hemispheric powers from gaining strategic influence in the Americas.

See a collection of LIFE's most iconic photos in history

Famous images, like a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II, are each shared with context in this article. See some of history's most famous moments from a unique point of view, including photos of Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, and Muhammad Ali.

'Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.'

- Alexander Graham Bell's first words transmitted via telephone (March 10, 1876)

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

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.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

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

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.

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.

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

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

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SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

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.'

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.