Driver education was largely removed from public schools in the 1990s

Fewer middle-class students now attend private schools

Stanford professor Sean Reardon says there are two primary reasons behind this trend. The first is that many parochial schools, which tend to offer more affordable tuition, have closed. The second is that tuition for the remaining private schools has outpaced middle-class salaries.

US school distrists have greatly consolidated since 1940

Consolidation significantly decreased the number of independent school districts from approximately 117,000 in 1940 to just over 13,000 today, mainly driven by efforts to boost efficiency and balance funding across communities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many private schools offered in-person classes

By early 2021, approximately 76% of private schools offered some form of in-person learning compared with 38% of public schools.

After public schools were integrated, segregation found a home in private schools

The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling banned segregation in public schools, but it didn’t eliminate the problem: Many white families moved to “segregation academies,” which were private schools founded to skirt the new law

Learn about the political history of the Department of Education

The Department of Education, created in 1980, has faced calls for elimination since day one. Though it contributes a small portion of K-12 funding, it plays a vital role in civil rights enforcement, federal grant distribution, and education research—making its existence and work symbolically controversial.

School buses are the safest vehicles on the road

Even without seat belts or airbags, the big yellow school bus transporting millions of students to school each day remains the safest vehicle on the road. A long history of tragic lessons led to today's highly tested school bus design, including the padded compartments created by school bus seats, multiple emergency exits, cross-view mirrors, and more.

Why financial literacy education in the US sucks

If you don't remember learning anything about basic financial literacy in school, you're not alone—that's the common sentiment among those who have passed through the American school system. This video explains the history of financial education in the US and points out what can be done in the future to make the financial lessons children learn in school stick with them past recess. Watch it here.

Private schools are free to experiment with teaching styles

Because they’re not beholden to national curricula, private school teachers can use different pedagogical approaches, like Harkness, which was developed at New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. The method brings students to a large round oval table and encourages them to lead the lesson through inquiry.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act improved the lives of many children with disabilities

Before the IDEA, many individuals lived in state institutions and received little education—only one in five attended public schools. Today, US public schools now educate over two-thirds of children with disabilities in general education classrooms.

The Challenger disaster ended NASA's plan to fly ordinary Americans in space

The explosion of the Challenger halted NASA's civilian spaceflight ambitions for decades, including plans to send teachers, journalists, artists, and other nonastronauts into orbit—an effort aimed at building public support that quietly disappeared after the 1986 disaster.

The United States faces a sizeable teacher shortage

Teacher vacancies have surged since 2017, with each year opening more positions than hires. Educators are quitting in record numbers, citing low pay and burnout. Today, there are 567,000 fewer education professionals than before the pandemic.

How student loans became incredibly prevalent

As of 2024, the total outstanding federal student loan debt sat at $1.6T, held by almost 43 million borrowers. Explore the history of student loans and how they became prevalent in the US, as told by several influential actors in the creation of the program over the years.

Cheap debt and relatively minimal regulation fueled private equity's expansion

Low interest rates in the 2010s made taking on debt cheap, making leveraged buyouts incredibly lucrative. Private equity firms were able to make large deals quickly, in part because they don't face the same disclosure requirements and shareholder approval processes as public companies. These two factors juiced the growth of private funds.

There were 12 on-track fatalities in the 1970s

The decade found engineers pushing Formula 1 cars to their limits. The cars were faster than ever and drivers were taking bigger risks to win. Safety features, however, remained the same. With vintage footage and driver interviews, this Daily Fuel Up video explores some of the wildest crashes from the era and, importantly, what changes FIA made following the decade’s 12 driver deaths.

Some medical schools have phased out human cadavers for digital alternatives

AI-based anatomy tools and digital cadavers are increasingly used to teach students, bypassing the ethical and consent concerns around the use of real bodies. Digital cadavers have also become less expensive than real ones, though the tactile and sensory experiences of real dissection may be irreplaceable.

The Society of Automotive Engineers sorts self-driving technology into six levels

At level 0, a vehicle cannot intervene on its own, and the driver controls all navigation. At level 3, the car operates autonomously under limited conditions, but a human can still take control. A future level 5 vehicle drives itself and lacks a steering wheel or pedals.

NASCAR started declining in 2007

In the 1990s and early 2000s, NASCAR was one of the biggest sports in North America. It was racking up ratings and ticket sales on par with the NFL, and even beating the NBA Finals viewership. Ratings went down in 2007 and stayed there until 2018 due to a number of factors such as a changing media landscape, rule changes, and the retirement of popular drivers.

Construction of small, affordable starter homes has decreased 75% since the 1970s

Rising costs aren’t the only thing stopping first-time homebuyers from buying real estate—only 9% of recent new construction is for starter homes. The majority of new housing construction focuses on higher-end buyers due to the increased cost of land, labor, and resources.

Volunteer fire departments are declining as communities shift to career staff

As populations increase and emergency calls grow more complicated, many communities are replacing volunteer fire departments with full-time professional staff—a change that boosts response capacity and reliability but also significantly raises costs.

Should you give up a car in retirement?

Did you know that drivers over the age of 74 tend to pay higher car insurance rates than most other age groups? That small fortune in auto insurance payments is just one reason some people give up a car when they retire. If you're curious about the pros of getting rid of your car when you retire, read this article.

Nearly 40% of American cars were electric in 1899

They were most common in cities, where battery swap stations allowed drivers to "refuel" their vehicles reliably. Innovations in combustion engines caused electric cars to lose ground until environmental policies and advances in battery technology revitalized interest.

The scope of 529 plans has expanded, but 529s still have some drawbacks

The tax-advantaged accounts can be used to pay for K-12 education, apprenticeship programs, and student loans, in addition to their original purpose: paying for college. But 529s have downsides, such as fees and penalties for non-qualified uses.

The number of annual oil spills has dropped dramatically since the 1970s

Oil spills from oil tankers—which can have a sharp, short-term impact on oil prices—have become increasingly rare over the decades in part because of stricter regulations.

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

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute guarantee was discontinued after a string of delivery-driver accidents

The chain's promotional gimmick offered customers free or reduced pizzas if their pizzas weren't delivered in 30 minutes or less. That policy led to the chain's popularity, but it also led to reckless driving: In the late '80s, the National Safe Workplace claimed its drivers had the same death rate as miners. After Domino's was found liable in 1993 for nearly $79M in damages, it discontinued the policy.

The federal government pumped $70 billion into transit amidst reduced ridership during the COVID pandemic

When ridership collapsed by 75% in the spring of 2020, Congress sent transit agencies nearly $70B to help them survive. But that money has largely run out, and ridership remains 14-28% below prepandemic levels, leaving many transit systems with large budget deficits.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

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.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

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

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

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

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

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

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

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.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.