CATEGORIES

Putting the Pieces Together

Americans needed to begin to put the past behind them, come together, and plan for the future in the spring of 1865. But Abraham Lincoln, the man best equipped to lead them and who had hoped to restore the country as smoothly and peacefully as possible, had been assassinated.

LAST SHOTS

The last Confederate forces in the Civil War didn’t surrender in the spring of 1865 or on a battlefield.

AND IN OTHER 1865 NEWS

A group of African Americans stop at the White House’s annual public reception on January 1, where they shake hands with President Abraham Lincoln.

A Plot to Kill President the

For several months, actor John Wilkes Booth’s band of conspirators had plotted to capture President Abraham Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for Confederate prisoners.

Let the Thing Be Pressed

In June 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began a nearly 10-month campaign in Virginia.

HEALING THE NATION

President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time on March 4, 1865.

A Helping Hand

The spring season is hard in any agricultural society. Plants and animals are too small to eat.

WAR SHERMAN-STYLE

As far as Union Major General William T. Sherman was concerned, the Civil War had gone on long enough.

PEACE TALKS

The fall of Fort Fisher made clear that the Confederacy’s days were numbered. Southerners were tired and hungry.

FORT FISHER'S FALL

Outnumbered Confederate soldiers inside Fort Fisher were unable to withstand the approach of Union troops by land and the constant Union naval bombardment from the sea.

Getting Started

Beginning in April 1861, two armies— both made up of American soldiers—began fighting each other in the Civil War.

Eye in the Sky

An interview with Joe Piotrowski

Airborne Animals

Humans have taken to the skies in balloons, gliders, and airplanes-but we're not alone among the clouds. Animals of all sorts have evolved to harness wind power.

TAKING OFF

The Wright brothers expected airplanes to “take off,” but even they might be amazed at the way the airline industry has become big business. In the past, it was expensive to send something by plane.

GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY

After their historic flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright returned to Dayton, Ohio. They spent the next few years making adjustments and building additional versions of their powered aircraft in their bicycle shop.

WHY KITTY HAWK?

The Wright brothers searched carefully for the best place to test their gliders and flying machines. Their main concern was for good, steady winds. But they also hoped to find a remote location to allow them to perform tests away from the public eye.

Two Brothers From Ohio

Most people do not realize that the Wright brothers—Wilbur, born in 1867, and Orville, born in 1871—performed various scientific experiments before inventing their aircraft. For as long as anyone in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, could remember, the Wright boys had worked on mechanical projects.

A Helping Hand

May 6, 1896. A group of people who had gathered beside the Potomac River, just south of the U.S. capital, grew quiet. Then, it erupted in cheers as a small, unmanned aircraft took to the skies and flew for more than half a mile. The flight came seven years before the Wright brothers’ first manned, powered flight. The inventor of the aircraft was Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley.

THE IDEA MEN

People dreamed of flying thousands of years before the Wright brothers found success near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These dreamers, such as Leonardo da Vinci, studied birds flying and imagined how humans might do the same—if only they had wings. Other men developed a more hands-on approach to the topic. Early inventors made wings of cloth, glue, and feathers and tied these creations to their arms in an attempt to imitate nature.

Da Vinci's 4 Designs

Have you ever wondered how a bird flies? Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) did. He thought that understanding how a bird flies would provide the key to human flight. So, what did da Vinci learn from birds?

Silken Wings

Seven hundred years before the Wright brothers began experimenting with human flight, the Chinese had already mastered its secrets—with kites.

Along Rivers and Through Prairies

An Interview With Dr. Robert Moore

A TRUE PIONEER

DR. D'S MYSTERY HERO

Routes Well Traveled

The United States is not the only country that celebrates its historic routes. But the routes included here are much older!

From Point A to Point B

Before railways extended across the continent in the mid- to late 1800s, getting from one coast to the other in North America was a real trek.

Let's Dine Out

Has your family ever taken a long car trip? Did you eat at restaurants or shop along the way? On the Oregon Trail, pioneers could not stop in restaurants or grocery stores.

THE PATHFINDER

One man in particular provided information about the route to Oregon Country. He was explorer, soldier, and politician John Charles Frémont.

THE MISSION AT WAIILATPU

One fall day in 1831, four Nez Perce men arrived in St. Louis, Missouri. They sought a meeting with General William Clark. They had met Clark some 25 years before when he had explored the country with Meriwether Lewis and the Corps of Discovery.

Last Stop, Independence

For many Oregon Trail pioneers, Independence, Missouri, was the last stop in the United States. Soon after it was founded in 1827, the waterfront town became a strategic city on the Missouri River.

Danger on the Trail

About 20,000 emigrants died on the Oregon Trail. That averaged to about one grave for every 100 yards from the Missouri River to the Willamette Valley. And because pioneers had to keep to a steady pace each day, burials on the trail were hasty. There often was no time to create a marker to note a burial site.