At age 22, Washington inadvertently started the French and Indian War

Marshall served in the Continental army under Washington

Before his judicial career, Marshall served in a Virginia regiment during the American Revolution, rising to the rank of captain. He fought at Brandywine and Monmouth, endured the winter at Valley Forge, and developed a personal connection with Gen. George Washington.

George Washington had a limited formal education, leaving school at 15

A few years after his father died in 1743, Washington's schooling ended. He soon began working as a land surveyor in Virginia. He later assumed management of Mount Vernon at age 22 and became the estate's master at age 29.

Pontiac's Rebellion prompted Britain to draw a line between colonists and Native lands in 1763

After the French and Indian War, a coalition of Indigenous nations—led by Odawa leader Pontiac—launched a major uprising against British forts. In response, Britain issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which reserved lands west of the Appalachian Mountains for Native peoples.

Washington's military acumen and political judgment were crucial to the Continental Army's success

In this podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson argues that Washington's endurance, strategic communication, political judgment, and ability to elevate capable subordinates proved decisive, in sharp contrast to the failures of British leadership during the war.

The Americans abandoned Philadelphia to the British in 1777

While George Washington's army was encamped in Valley Forge, the British took over the capital of Philadelphia (and the colonies, at the time), including Ben Franklin's house. It wouldn't last long. This is one of a series of podcast episodes exploring the war's battles.

Hamilton was one of Washington's aides during the Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, Alexander Hamilton served as a key aide to George Washington, handling correspondence, strategy, and coordination, and serving as a trusted intermediary between Washington, Congress, and senior military leaders.

The American War of Independence included over 1,500 military engagements

Several hundred of these were major battles like Yorktown, Saratoga, and Bunker’s Hill. This interactive map shows the locations of key locations of the conflict, highlighting major factors in each battle and their outcome.

Emanuel Leutze's painting 'Washington Crossing the Delaware' is one of the defining images of the Revolutionary War

The scene depicts George Washington leading Continental forces across the icy Delaware River on Christmas Day, 1776, enabling a surprise attack on British-paid mercenary troops at Trenton. This risky maneuver revived the revolution after months of defeat.

Key was initially opposed to the War of 1812

Like the majority of Americans, Francis Scott Key was opposed to the US declaring war on Great Britain, calling the move “abominable.” His feelings began to change after the British raided Washington, D.C. He joined the Georgetown Artillery shortly after.

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

Revolutionary War reenactments have taken place for centuries

The first known reenactment of the war occurred in 1778, while the war was still ongoing. A journal entry from a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army remarked that soldiers had commemorated a “Glorious victory obtained over the British” at Saratoga with “a Grand sham fight.”

Hamilton's tax on whiskey sparked the first armed rebellion against US federal authority

As Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton designed an excise tax on whiskey that provoked violent resistance in western Pennsylvania. The Whiskey Rebellion ended when George Washington mobilized state militias under federal authority to enforce the law.

The White House was burned by British forces during the War of 1812

On August 24, 1814, British troops invaded Washington, DC, and set fire to the President's House, destroying its interior and roof. However, the exterior sandstone walls survived. After the war, reconstruction began under the original architect.

In a 2012 poll, Brits named Washington as the kingdom's greatest military enemy

The poll by the UK's National Army Museum ranked Washington above Irish independence hero Michael Collins, France's Napoleon Bonaparte, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Foreign policy and war defined Madison's presidency

During James Madison's presidency, disputes with Britain and France over trade, maritime rights, and impressment dominated foreign policy, culminating in the War of 1812 and shaping how the United States engaged with major European powers.

Washington, DC, was designed by French-born architect Pierre L'Enfant

Pierre Charles L'Enfant was an engineer who fought in the American Revolution. George Washington chose him to design the capital for his military service, artistic training, and vision of a monumental national city.

George Washington used his Farewell Address to explain his departure and warn the nation

In his 1796 Farewell Address, Washington explained that stepping aside from the presidency would set a republican example of limited power. He also warned against political parties, regional divisions, and permanent foreign alliances that could threaten national unity and independence.

Guerilla warfare was a significant part of the success of the Americans

Francis Marion, also known as the Swamp Fox, was a Patriot general who used guerrilla warfare tactics in the Carolinas during the Revolutionary War’s southern campaigns. Also called “maneuver warfare,” the approach focuses on disorienting the enemy and exploiting their weaknesses while avoiding their strengths.

Washington systematically introduced and popularized mule breeding in the United States

Known as "the father of the American Mule," Washington imported a prized Spanish donkey and bred it with a female horse at Mount Vernon. He promoted mules as stronger, more efficient farm animals, helping spread their use across the South and transforming American agriculture.

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

Jefferson’s Lewis and Clark expedition joined the centuries-long hunt for Northwest Passage

For centuries, leaders pursued a direct seafaring trade route from Europe to Asia. Jefferson joined this quest by sending Lewis and Clark west, though they confirmed no such practical interior route existed across the continent.

The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled America’s size in 1803

Acquired from France for $15M, the Louisiana Purchase added 828,000 square miles to the United States—stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rockies. US ambassadors in France signed the papers to buy the tract from the embattled Napoleon Bonaparte for a mere $15M before Jefferson learned the terms, due to the advantageous nature of the deal.

Americans touring the Louvre were inspired to create their own grand museums

The one-time royal residence was first transformed into a public museum in 1793 amid the French Revolution. Americans visiting in the early 1800s were both turned off by the aristocratic grandeur and compelled by the open access to the public. James Fenimore Cooper, the author of "The Last of the Mohicans," apparently came and measured the length of galleries.

A timeline of colonial settlement

An overview of early American settlement, beginning with the London Company's expedition to Virginia. Source includes a number of citations for further reading.

Who started WWI?

World War I started with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. That's certainly one of the biggest catalysts for the war, but who started it? Ten historians offer their interpretations of which nations bore the brunt of the responsibility. As this article unsurprisingly discovers, it's complicated.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

The Wrights descended from English-born migrants to Boston in the 1630s

Samuel Wright was a Puritan who arrived in Massachusetts just two decades after the Pilgrims. His great-great-grandson Daniel Wright, born in Connecticut in 1757, fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, seeing action at the Battle of Saratoga.

Fracking originated in the American Civil War

After witnessing how artillery created fissures in narrow water channels, a Civil War veteran wondered if the process could be replicated in underground wells to extract oil. He patented an "exploding torpedo" for this purpose, which became the foundation for future fracking techniques.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

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.

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

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

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

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

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

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.

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.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

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.

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

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.