Congress plays baseball together in a bipartisan charity game dating back to 1909

Congress descended into fistfights, duels, and violence before the Civil War

In the decades before the Civil War, members of the United States Congress carried weapons, assaulted colleagues, and, in one case, a congressman killed another in a duel. The violence was driven largely by sectional conflict over slavery and foreshadowed the nation's descent into war.

Congress meets and legislates in the US Capitol building

The United States Capitol reflects neoclassical ideals drawn from ancient Greece and Rome. First opened to Congress in 1800 and repeatedly expanded over time, it remains the symbolic and functional home of both The House and The Senate.

Members of the United States Congress earn $174,000 annually

Members of the United States Congress have received the same pay since 2009. Leadership roles are more lucrative, and lawmakers become eligible for a federal pension after five years, with benefits tied to the length of service and salary.

Environmental regulation had bipartisan support in the 1970s

During the 1970s, Democrats and Republicans alike backed landmark environmental laws. Congress passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts with overwhelming bipartisan majorities—reflecting broad public agreement on protecting the environment.

Visualize every time Congress has mentioned the word 'democracy' since 1880, and why

This Pudding interactive analyzes every mention of "democracy" in the Congressional Record over 145 years, charting how the word shifted from a partisan label to a concept, and tracking when lawmakers warned the system itself was under threat.

As of 2022, Congress was more ideologically polarized than at any point in 50 years

Research from the Pew Research Center indicates that Democrat and Republican lawmakers have become more ideologically unified internally while moving further apart overall—with Republicans shifting to the right faster than Democrats have shifted to the left.

Hear how gerrymandering is like 'Moneyball applied to politics'

In a 2016 interview, journalist David Daley explained how Republicans used data-driven targeting after the 2010 census to lock in durable advantages, comparing modern gerrymandering strategies to the analytics revolution in baseball.

Congressional committees quietly shape most legislation

This video explains how 20 congressional committees—standing, select, and conference—perform much of Congress's work, from drafting legislation and holding hearings to overseeing executive branch agencies.

Congress has the power to enact laws related to bankruptcy, thanks to the US Constitution

It has done just that since 1800. This legislation, which outlines the various types of bankruptcy filings, has evolved over time. The most recent iteration is the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, which introduced Chapter 11 filings in an effort to make the process easier for businesses and individuals.

How baseball shaped Black America during Reconstruction

A cornerstone of the budding Black culture following the Civil War was baseball, with several clubs springing up in Black neighborhoods and leaders like Frederick Douglass cheering on the players, including his son, who played for a team in Washington. This detailed history of the early Black leagues unpacks how the game enhanced the upwardly mobile community—and why that fact led to the segregation of what would become Major League Baseball.

There are ETFs that track lawmakers' stock purchases

If you can’t get enough politics in your life, why not invest like a politician? Because members of Congress are required to disclose their stock purchases, you can do just that, and the NANC and KRUZ ETFs make it even easier. NANC, referencing Nancy Pelosi, holds a basket of stocks that Democratic politicians have purchased. KRUZ, referencing Ted Cruz, holds a basket of Republican-held stocks.

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

The history of the White House Hanukkah party

Despite celebrating Christmas for hundreds of years, the US Presidential White House didn't have its first Hanukkah celebration until 1979, when Jimmy Carter oversaw the lighting of a menorah. Since then, the tradition has expanded, including lessons on playing with dreidels and big parties. See a timeline of the events here.

Fenway Park is the oldest professional baseball stadium in use

The legendary park was built in 1912 and is considered hallowed ground for baseball fans, along with iconic venues like Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Some say baseball's drug problem goes back to the late 1800s

At age 32, pitcher James “Pud” Galvin was feeling tired and decided to take "the Brown-Séquard elixir," which contained a testicular fluid from dogs and guinea pigs, believed to invigorate tired bodies. It might've worked: Galvin pitched a two-hit shutout the next day.

Thanksgiving's connection to football began in 1876

It all started with a match between Princeton and Yale in 1876, attended by fewer than 1,000 fans. That competition spawned an annual tradition attracting millions of viewers across college and professional teams.

Comedic roasts, an ironic inversion of toasting, took off in the 20th century

Ribbing amongst friends likely goes back to the dawn of man, but formalizing the act caught on with fundraisers held by the Friar’s Club, a New York organization for theater agents. Rather than raising their glasses to good fortune and health, comics eviscerate an “honoree”—along with everyone else on stage—though they usually conclude with an earnest toast.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington

Bill Bell and then-Washington State congressman Joel Pritchard created the game as a way to entertain their bored children. They grabbed items they had on hand, using ping pong paddles to hit a wiffle ball over a hip-height badminton net.

How tax breaks power the PGA Tour, a nonprofit organization

When the PGA was formed in 1916, its primary objective was to grow the game of golf, so it was established as a nonprofit. When the PGA Tour split off in 1968, that nonprofit status stayed. But as revenue jumped past $1B, questions began to arise. This "Outside the Lines" investigation from 2013 dives into their tax records and details how much the PGA actually gives to charity.

Grant's third-term ambitions helped create the GOP's elephant symbol

In 1874, as Republicans debated Ulysses S. Grant possibly seeking a third term, Harper's Weekly ran a Thomas Nast cartoon showing a panicked elephant labeled "The Republican Vote." The image caught on, cementing the elephant as the GOP's enduring symbol.

A trailblazing member of Congress was inspired to champion Title IX because of her own experiences

Patsy T. Mink (D-HI) was the first woman of color in Congress and one of the law’s biggest proponents. Before elected office, Mink was rejected from 20 medical schools because of her gender. She went on to law school instead, but still faced discrimination after graduation when she was turned down jobs because she was a married woman.

The Bill of Rights originally proposed 12 amendments, not 10

Congress proposed 12 amendments in 1789, not 10. Of the two amendments not ratified, the one on congressional pay raises remained dormant for 203 years before finally becoming the 27th Amendment in 1992.

The first US Olympic basketball team was made up of amateurs from company teams

In 1936, the first year the Olympics featured basketball, the US squad featured players from two companies: an oil refinery in Kansas and Universal Pictures in Hollywood.

Congress regrets discriminatory laws targeting Asian immigrants

In 2011, Congress expressed regrets about discriminatory laws that targeted Asian immigrants, such as the 1875 Page Act. Click here to read one of the twin bills and learn more about the laws in question.

McCarthy set a modern record with 15 ballots to become House speaker

In January 2023, Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the United States House of Representatives on the 15th ballot. This required more rounds than any speaker election since before the Civil War and marking the longest multiballot speakership contest in modern history.

The congressman who spied for Russia

Sam Dickstein remains the only known member to have served in Congress while actively being on the payroll of a foreign adversary. The revelation came in 1999 upon the release of thousands of KGB documents.

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

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

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.

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

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.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

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.

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.

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.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spurring new Ebola vaccine development for the Bundibugyo species.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

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

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.