Dave Roos

William Jackson Smart was a twice-married, twice-widowed father of 14 children.

DNA from 5,500-year-old skeletons rewrites the history of one of the world's deadliest diseases.

Their fortunes fueled industries, funded philanthropy and sparked debates over inequality.

Some of the modern world's most groundbreaking technologies emerged during this 30-year period.

Even though airplanes were a relatively new invention, the race for air superiority started during World War I.

Historians and experts believe there’s a plausible explanation for the confounding images on the Ica Stones. They’re a hoax.

For starters, the colonists weren't protesting higher taxes on tea.

Printed just weeks after British troops opened fire on an unarmed crowd of Bostonians, Revere’s depiction of the melee likely stoked anti-British sentiment throughout the colonies.

The document was designed to prove to the world (especially France) that the colonists were right to defy King George III's rule.

America's first elected assembly met in Jamestown in 1619.

Historic coins were among the priceless objects found inside a copper box buried in Boston in 1795.

When the pope travels—be it to France, Jerusalem or beyond—the world pays attention.

On June 6, 1944, more than 156,000 American, British and Canadian troops executed the largest amphibious landing in history. Five veterans share their stories from that day.

From outdoor stone fireplaces to smart grills, backyard cookouts have come a long way.

Artificial flies were first mentioned in 200 A.D., but the sport really took off in the 1800s.

Roses are potent symbols of love, desire and secrecy that have been cultivated for millennia.

From dead rats implanted with bombs, to a giant explosive wheel, these World War II weapons were creative, but not very successful.

At the close of the Civil War, people recently freed from slavery in Charleston honored fallen Union soldiers.

The footbag craze was started by two friends in 1972.

The final resting place of Egypt’s most famous queen remains a mystery.

See how gas prices have risen and fallen over decades, often in response to Middle East conflicts.

The historic visit by President Richard Nixon to the People's Republic of China warmed relations between the two nations and substantially altered the balance of power between the U.S., China and the Soviet Union.

In 1996, crowds and a killer storm took the lives of eight Everest climbers.

From planning to logistics to weather, how Hitler's Nazi forces fumbled the largest invasion of World War II.

A temporary solution to organize Germany into four occupation zones led to a divided nation under the Cold War.

Allied military leaders knew that casualties could be staggeringly high. Historians are still calculating the toll.

These handwritten hexes believed to carry magical powers that could 'bind' rivals in sports, law and love.

When a small, scrappy Mexican force handed the French army a surprise defeat in 1862, the Confederacy was denied a potential ally.

After a tense lead-up, treaties signed in 1977 paved the way to ending American management of the 51-mile-long waterway.

Shrouded in secrecy, both orders were founded on Enlightenment principles, but only one still exists.

In 1804, Lewis and Clark set off on a journey filled with harrowing confrontations, harsh weather and fateful decisions.

The explorers not only produced maps from their 1804-1806 expedition to the American West, they also recorded some 122 animals new to science.

These impressive mountains are either too remote, too dangerous or too sacred.

No reigning British monarch stepped foot on U.S. soil until 1939.

Inventors have tinkered with self-driving cars for more than 100 years.

In 2012, Herbert Nitsch earned the name 'the deepest man on Earth' after he free-dove deeper than anyone thought possible.

The U.S. military is now an all-volunteer force, but for most of the nation’s history, it relied on conscription to fill its ranks.

The three stranded astronauts caught a free ride back to Earth using the moon's gravity.

Tract housing offered affordable suburban homes to families after World War II.

The history of the bison is intertwined with Native Americans, for whom the animals were spiritual equals—and a vital resource.

Eggs offer an amazing package of nutrition—and humans have been poaching wild bird eggs since time immemorial. Keeping chickens to eat their eggs is a more recent (but still ancient) practice.

Route 66 got its name in Springfield, Missouri, in 1926 after much debate. Author John Steinbeck later dubbed it the “Mother Road.”

Fossils and footprints offer tantalizing clues to the origins of life on land.

The tsunami was the deadliest in recorded history, taking 230,000 lives in a matter of hours.

These wildfires wrought extreme devastation as they roared through neighborhoods and lands in the U.S.

Early versions of a carpet cleaning device were pulled by a horse, but it was a janitor who came up with a portable model you could plug in.

One storm left an estimated 8,000 dead in its wake, while an epic flood carried human bodies some 350 miles away.

In 1997, 39 members of a religious sect were found dead by suicide inside a San Diego mansion. Why did they do it?

In the early days of air travel, getting on a plane required no ID and minimal screening.

Standards of education varied widely, and corporal punishment was the norm.

For more than 130 years, the government has issued advice for healthy eating.

Although Montana is the fourth-largest U.S. state by area, it's also one of the least densely populated states.

Maine is the largest state in New England and forms the northeast border of the United States with Canada. It has been a state since 1820.

“The Old Line State” is known for its diverse geography and crucial role in the nation’s history.

The state is one of the nation's top producers of wine, hazelnuts and Christmas trees.

Idaho farmers produce more potatoes and trout than any other state in the nation

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a haven for his fellow Quakers.

Kansas, situated on the American Great Plains, became the 34th state on January 29, 1861. Its path to statehood was long and bloody.