A letter about a hurricane helped launch Hamilton's life in America

Hamilton learned about global trade before he was a teenager

Before he moved to America, Hamilton worked as a clerk around age 12 at the Caribbean trading firm Beekman and Cruger, handling shipping documents, inspections, and port logistics. He eventually managed the day-to-day operations of a trading charter that immersed him early in Atlantic commerce.

One of Hamilton's first published works was an anonymous pamphlet

While on a scholarship at King's College, Alexander Hamilton anonymously published a series of political pamphlets defending the Continental Congress, engaging in a sustained, sharply argued back-and-forth with loyalist writer Samuel Seabury that drew wide attention.

Hamilton's formal education was cut short by the Revolutionary War

Enrolled at King's College, Alexander Hamilton planned to graduate in just a few years, racing through an intense curriculum, before the Revolutionary War interrupted his studies and he joined a New York volunteer militia.

Alexander Hamilton consolidated states' debts, implemented a tax system, and established a national bank

While the US was only 12 years old when Alexander Hamilton was tapped as the first secretary of the Treasury, it already owed almost $80M. With the country bringing in just $4.4M in taxes, that was not nearly enough to cover government operations and pay debts.

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton founded New York City's first private orphanage

Schuyler Hamilton, Alexander's wife for 24 years, continued telling his story after his death. She devoted decades to her own work—cofounding New York's first private orphanage, leading charitable fundraising, and becoming a prominent advocate for education and social welfare in the early republic.

Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda tell the story of Alexander Hamilton on 'Drunk History'

On "Drunk History," Lin-Manuel Miranda retells Alexander Hamilton's life after the musical's success—revisiting the founding-era story that made Miranda famous, this time through the show's deliberately chaotic, comedic lens.

A bankrupt flour merchant in debtor’s prison helped inspire the Erie Canal

In 1807, Jesse Hawley, jailed for debt after struggling with high transport costs, published essays under the pen name “Hercules.” His writings laid out the canal’s route and benefits, galvanizing support for the project.

Hamilton's endorsement helped win Jefferson the presidency

In the 1800 presidential election, neither candidate won a majority in the Electoral College, sending the decision to the House of Representatives. After 36 failed votes, Alexander Hamilton lobbied for his ideological rival, Thomas Jefferson, over Aaron Burr, helping break the deadlock.

How a 19th-century aristocrat scammed the rich to buy fake Caribbean land

Nearly 200 years ago, Gregor MacGregor pulled off one of the most brazen real estate scams in history. A disgraced military leader, MacGregor sold plots of land in what is today Honduras, touting the country of Poyais as a new major region in South America. But no building was taking place, and instead of investing the proceeds of bond sales in construction, MacGregor was lining his pockets. Read the unbelievable story of MacGregor's exploits here.

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 Great Migration helped transform Harlem into the epicenter of Black culture

Starting in 1910, millions of Black Americans moved from the South to escape segregation, violence, and dismal work opportunities. They moved to urban areas in the North, Midwest, and West. Chief among them was Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood, which became an especially desirable location for Black people around 1910.

Twain grew up in Missouri near the Mississippi River

When Twain (then known as Samuel Clemens) was 4 years old, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town along the Mississippi River. Hannibal would eventually be the setting for two of his most famous works: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

A free archive of firsthand historical documents from explorers of America

Maintained by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the American Journeys collection contains more than 18,000 pages of primary source documents—journals, letters, maps, and accounts written between roughly 1000 CE and the early 1800s. These include eyewitness records of the Norse arrival in North America, Spanish conquistador expeditions, and the Lewis and Clark journey. Browse this list of highlights where pages from the original texts are specified (clicking a link opens a PDF).

Whitman's view on slavery was informed by a trip to New Orleans

In 1848, Walt Whitman traveled with his brother to New Orleans to pursue a job opportunity at the Daily Crescent newspaper. While there, he witnessed firsthand the horrors of the slave trade, an experience that would inform the political and artistic projects that followed.

What was the impact of the Haitian Revolution of 1791?

This 53-minute podcast explores the context surrounding the Haitian Revolution, a 13-year rebellion led by the then-French colony's enslaved population. The Spanish colonized the Caribbean island after Christopher Columbus landed on it in 1492,...

Pulitzer left $2M to Columbia to establish the Pulitzer Prize

The man who transformed the New York World into the largest newspaper in America in the late 1800s left his home country of Hungary in 1864 to fight in the US Civil War. When he died in 1911, Pulitzer left $2M to Columbia University to found its journalism school and establish the Pulitzer Prize.

How the Bank of Italy became Bank of America

Amid the devastation of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, Italian immigrant and local banker Amodei Giannini managed to keep hold of a substantial amount of currency. On a handshake, Giannini loaned needy locals money to rebuild. The enterprising banker would go on to form one of the first banks for the middle class, the Bank of Italy, which would go on to become the Bank of America in 1930. Read about the founder here.

The Benjamin Franklin letter that anticipated daylight saving time

Benjamin Franklin did not invent daylight saving time. But while living in Paris, he did pen a satirical letter to Parisians suggesting they could save money on lamp oil by changing their sleep schedules. Read it in full here.

Hurricanes may kill 300 times more people than officially reported

A recent study suggests that, since 1930, more than 3.5 million people have died due to hurricanes. This incorporates the long-term effects of storms on people's health and economic well-being, contributing to thousands of premature deaths each year.

The 'Miracle on the Hudson' showed heroism in the air and changed social media forever

On Jan. 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 lost both engines after hitting birds and was safely landed in the Hudson River. The event was a turning point for Twitter, as a photo and a tweet quickly spread—marking Twitter's rise as a real-time news source.

Teen who walked 6 miles to graduation receives college scholarship on the spot

Xavier Jones, a 14-year-old boy, set out to attend his eighth-grade graduation ceremony at Harris-Stowe State University, walking six miles in the hot sun. Inspired by his perseverance, LaTonia Collins Smith, the university's president, awarded him...

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Hear the story of a doctor who decided to flee Cuba with his family in 1963

In this StoryCorps conversation, Gustavo Mestas reflects on leaving the island with his family in 1963 and the difficult transition that followed—from treating patients in Cuba to picking tomatoes and cleaning motels while rebuilding a life in the US.

Stephen Hawking's early rowing days shaped the bold persona for which he became known

Before gaining fame as a physicist, Hawking was a coxswain at Oxford, where the sport helped him find his social footing and develop leadership skills, even as his motor neuron disease began to emerge.

Born to a well-off family in South Africa, Elon Musk left for Canada in 1989 before heading to the US

Musk was bullied as a child in South Africa, and even recalled being punched in the face, per a recent Walter Isaacson biography on the entrepreneur.

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.

Few actual Stamp Act stamps survived, as colonists destroyed nearly all of them in protest

The elaborate stamp bore royal symbols and the word "America" and was printed in Britain and shipped to the colonies to be sold by government officials. Protests erupted in nearly every colony before it could take effect, often violently targeting stamp collectors.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

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.

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.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

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

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

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 United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

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 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.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

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