The National Mall hosts one of the country's largest July Fourth fireworks shows

There are over 20,000 trees on the National Mall

Nearly 4,000 of the Mall's trees are cherry trees, all maintained by a small National Park Service arborist team that provides year-round, science-based care to address soil compaction, root damage, and heavy visitor traffic.

The 2017 Women's March was one of the largest protests in the Mall's history

Held the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, the 2017 Women's March drew an estimated 470,000 to 500,000 people to Washington, DC, and 3 million to 5 million nationwide. It is widely regarded as the largest single-day protest in US history.

Take an architectural walking tour of the National Mall

Architect Nicholas Potts leads a walking tour of the National Mall, noting that many buildings adapt European neoclassical styles into an American form, such as replacing traditional motifs with corn cobs on the columns of the US Capitol building.

The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum complex

With 21 museums and the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum complex. Eleven of those museums sit directly on the National Mall, and all offer free admission to the public.

See L'Enfant's original plan and vision for DC and the National Mall

In the 1790s, L'Enfant designed a capital defined by broad avenues, public squares, and long sight lines between major civic buildings. Much of his vision for the Mall was disrupted for decades and was finally realized through later 19th- and early-20th-century redesigns.

The National Mall's oldest building is the Lockkeeper's House

Built in 1837, the Lockkeeper's House is the oldest structure on the National Mall. It once served the lockkeeper of the Washington City Canal and of an extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, part of early plans to bring commercial waterways into the capital.

Fireworks usage on Independence Day comes from their celebratory use in ancient China

Burning bamboo stalks produces a small explosion that was believed to ward off evil spirits. As knowledge of fireworks, which initially used these stalks, carried over into other cultures, so did their use to promote good luck and celebration.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt turned the National Mall into a public memorial in 1987

First displayed on the National Mall, the AIDS Memorial Quilt comprised thousands of handmade panels honoring individuals who had died of AIDS. Its placement on the Mall was intended to force public recognition of the human cost of AIDS amid widespread government inaction.

The National Parks System is a popular attraction in the US

More than 16 billion people have visited the US National Park System since 1904. Curious about how something like World War II affected park visitation? This table of annual recreational visits spans the early 20th century through 2023, demonstrating the slow-but-steady rise in visitors over the decades.

The unbuilt monuments of Washington, DC

The capital city of the United States famously was built in a swampy area, with dozens of memorials, monuments, and more spanning its vast and complex design. This video explores five monuments that were either built or were rejected as alternatives in the sprawling District of Columbia on the banks of the Potomac River.

Independence was approved on July 2, not July 4

This video highlights lesser-known facts about the Declaration of Independence, including that Congress approved independence on July 2—leading many Founders to believe that would be the day Americans would celebrate their independence.

See 10 of the artifacts on display at the Smithsonian's America at 250 exhibition

From Thomas Jefferson's portable writing desk to a first-generation iPod, the National Museum of American History is showcasing 250 objects across all three floors to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

DC has the highest share of low-income renters on housing assistance in the country

Seventy-two per every 1,000 residents in the nation's capital were low-income residents on housing assistance as of the year 2024.

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

George Washington was a fan of barbecue

The first US president celebrated laying the cornerstone of the US Capitol by hosting a barbecue, the centerpiece of which was a 500-pound ox. By the 19th century, barbecue was a standard component of public celebrations, including Independence Day and Memorial Day.

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.

America’s largest Comic-Con by attendance takes place in New York City

New York Comic Con—held annually at New York City's Javits Center since 2006—draws around 200,000 attendees, features more than 570 panels and events, and hosts more than 1,250 exhibitors, making it North America’s biggest pop-culture convention by attendance.

Memorial Day weekend is one of the biggest travel weekends of the year in the United States

In 2026, AAA estimated over 45 million Americans planned to travel over the long weekend, with approximately 87% of those trips made by car.

Thousands of musicians play 'Taps' simultaneously at 3 pm on Memorial Day

Taps Across America launched in 2020 when pandemic closures canceled parades and ceremonies. Tens of thousands of musicians now participate each year, playing the 24-note bugle call from porches and lawns across the country.

Learn how the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade comes together each year

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is essentially a huge theatrical production spanning several long blocks in New York City rather than a stage. Naturally, organizing it is a complicated process. This podcast episode explains how the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade comes together each year.

Pyrodrones combine fireworks with millisecond-accurate drone choreography

Drones are outfitted with fireworks and positioned using 3D software to ensure perfect timing and safe spacing during shows. A single GPS error during planning can ruin the show, as happened in 2024 when a drone crashed and injured a spectator due to programming failures.

Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People' depicts a scene from the French Revolution

The massive painting, at over 8 feet by 10 feet, is striking, especially considering the warfare being depicted. Paintings of this size were usually reserved for historical events, but Delacroix was portraying what the people of Paris experienced just a few months earlier.

The massive gathering that rang in the first Earth Day

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and helped inspire a significant nationwide environmental movement. In Philadelphia, the holiday was rung in with a gathering in the city’s Fairmount Park featuring musicians, speakers, and over 10,000 attendees. This video from CBS offers remarkable footage from the day and explains why Philadelphians were especially drawn to the environmental cause.

Double rainbow appears in New York City on 9/11 anniversary

On the evening of the 9/11 anniversary in 2023, a double rainbow appeared after a thunderstorm across Manhattan, providing inspiration 22 years after the terrorist attacks there. Peruse several amateur images taken of the phenomenon which were shared on social media, including shots from up high in condos overlooking Central Park and from across the Hudson River in New Jersey.

Watch 5 decades of Times Square ball drops

Dick Clark started hosting his “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” show in 1972, which has become an annual television staple. This compilation includes five decades' worth of ball drops, allowing you to watch how the tradition subtly evolved.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

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

The federal government distributes more than $160M in grants directly to libraries each year

The Institute of Museum and Library Services distributes funds annually to State Library Administrative Agencies, which support statewide initiatives and channel funds to public and academic libraries.

Every day, lightning releases several Hiroshima bombs' worth of energy into the atmosphere

If all this lightning struck one location at once, the bolt would be the diameter of the center circle of a basketball court, turning the entire court into a crater. Its heat would ignite surfaces for miles around, and its shockwave would demolish buildings.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

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

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

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.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

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

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

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

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

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

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

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

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.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

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.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

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.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

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.