American modernism highlighted a rapidly changing America

O’Keeffe was part of a movement of American artists changing previous norms

One of the most recognizable names of the American modernism movement from the early 1900s, O’Keeffe’s portrayals of nature strayed from realism and prioritized emotional truth, using elements like bold colors and abstract shapes to capture the feeling of observing her subjects.

The widespread violence of World War I birthed surrealism

Following World War I, artists used unconventional forms of expression to make sense of the death and destruction they'd witnessed for years. Life as they knew it had ended, and movements like Surrealism, founded by André Breton, rebelled against tradition.

A boom hit after WWI, with consumerism usurping frugality as an American value

When American soldiers returned home after WWI in the 1920s, they found a country ready to spend money, make a home, and indulge in creature comforts after wartime rationing. This uptick in US wealth and production led to job opportunities for advertising experts.

What was the American Arts and Crafts Movement?

Although the phrase "arts and crafts" is now often used as a catchall for handmade art making, the term also refers to a 19th century artistic movement in both England and the United States. Its adherents felt alienated by industrialization's mass production and sought to bring noticeably human features back to household objects and design.

Both British and American pop art took inspiration from US culture

Pop art emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and the late 1950s in America. American pop art focused on representational art and was directly inspired by living within American popular culture, using hard edges and distinct forms. Its British sibling, on the other hand, took a more academic approach, viewing American culture from a distance and employing irony and parody.

The de stijl movement embraced bright colors and abstract images

The 20th-century movement sought to develop a universal language for the modern era by fusing form and function. Modern day viewers will recognize its bright colors and clean aesthetic, popular with retro-styled book and album covers.

See a massive collection of Norman Rockwell's paintings

Rockwell's works sought to capture authentic scenes from American life and, in the process, came to define the American ideal. This collection includes 244 of his paintings, from his early days at the Saturday Evening Post through his more socially minded work for Look, to the end of his career. Below is 1951's "Saying Grace."

Picasso was initially ignored by the US art market

Picasso’s now-iconic style was radical for its time and, as such, was something the US art market initially ignored. Hugh Eakin, author of “Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came to America,” tells the story of the social norms, tax laws, and influential figures like lawyer John Quinn that set the course for modern art in America in the early 1900s.

A rich archive of the visual imagination of the Cold War era

The blog aggregates art, design, fashion, and technology from the atomic and space age, spanning mid-century American futurism and its Soviet counterpart. The content has a broad range: escape pods from a B-58 bomber sit alongside Tour de France caravan vehicles and unidentified industrial designs.

Postmodern novels challenged narrative itself

Postmodernism describes the cultural movement following World War II, which found artists and thinkers responding to the horrors of the war by challenging the conventional narratives they believed allowed for it. In literature, postmodernist writers played with genre, gallows humor, and intertextuality, interrogating the form itself.

The 1950s saw the rise of the modern American road trip

Guaranteed time off and the ability to travel more affordably offered Americans the opportunity to hit the road for their vacations. The country's expanding interstate network of highways made those trips more convenient, especially for those looking to visit a site in the country's nascent National Parks System.

The Civil War introduced many technological advances to both society and warfare

The conflict accelerated innovations—including railroads, telegraphs, ironclad ships, and mass-produced weapons—while advances in photography, medicine, and manufacturing transformed how Americans communicated, healed, and built after the war.

‘The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby’ mapped a major transition

The hilarious 1963 story offered insight into how Americans were shifting away from elite interests to “low culture” by focusing on customized cars and their teen enthusiasts in Southern California. Wolfe pokes fun at the trend while also recognizing young people’s post-war desire for freedom, individualism and creativity.

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.

Whitman revolutionized American poetry

Whitman was a groundbreaking force in American literature, legitimizing the national idiom, capturing the spirit of the evolving country, and inspiring younger generations of writers for centuries to follow.

250 years of world trade history

Adam Smith’s revolutionary ideas about free trade were often ignored throughout American history to protect domestic industry—until World War II caused a shift in sentiment about global trade.

Modern Marvels examines the Manhattan Project

This episode of the television program 'Modern Marvels' focuses on the Manhattan Project, combining archival footage and interviews with historians and scientists to shed light on one of the most ambitious military and scientific endeavors in human history.

An exploration of the life and death of US malls

American malls sought to recreate the cohesion of a downtown shopping center but with the indoor, quiet convenience of a rural or suburban setting. First developed in the 1950s, malls quickly took off and became the spine of American retail shopping. In the last two decades, online retail has forced many to close, leaving behind peculiar, vast abandoned spaces. Pick through the stark nostalgia with this fascinating photo essay.

America's demographic change in one chart

From 1901 to 2020, the US population has changed significantly. This video reveals the change in America’s demographics over more than 100 years.

See a timeline of colonial settlement in North America

This interactive timeline uses archival maps, illustrations, and documents to trace early American history—from the failed 1590 Roanoke colony and Indigenous accounts of a devastating smallpox epidemic to the political tensions that culminated in the Revolutionary War.

Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times' blended slapstick and satire

The 1936 film thrust Chaplin's iconic Little Tramp character into the Industrial Revolution, satirizing how mass production was dehumanizing individuals. The movie was not only a hit, but it was also the product of a burgeoning Hollywood: Chaplin had founded his own company (United Artists) in 1919.

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.

American Express stopped its rail service when President Wilson seized American railroads

After the US entered World War I, the federal government took control of American railways and consolidated rail companies. American Express officially exited the express shipping business in 1918 and turned its focus to its travel and financial services.

The devastation of the American Civil War led to the establishment of Memorial Day

Tracing its origins to the post-Civil War era, Memorial Day began as local tributes to those who lost their lives in the war. Originally taking place annually on May 30, it was moved to the final Monday in May in 1971.

Hear experts discuss how religion has shaped American life

Produced by the National Museum of American Religion, this podcast examines how religion has shaped America and how America has influenced religion—covering topics from the Nation of Islam and rock 'n' roll to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with scholars and everyday citizens as guides.

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.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

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

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

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

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

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 original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

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

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.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

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

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

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.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

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.