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The stump of a Giant Sequoia at Converse Grove in California.

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The 19th‑Century Rush to Log Thousands of California’s Giant Sequoias

A single giant sequoia could supply 500,000 board feet of lumber, a bonanza for profit‑hungry logging companies—or so it was thought.

How the ‘Lucy’ Fossil Rewrote the Story of Human Origins

The stunning 1974 discovery offered proof that ancient hominins were walking around on two feet some 3.2 million years ago.

When John Adams Signed a Law to Authorize Deportations and Jail Critics

The 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts called for deportation of people from ‘hostile’ nations and made it a crime to criticize the government.

The Army General Who Invented Muzak

Eisenhower installed ‘elevator music’ in the White House and NASA used it in astronaut training, but its inventor came up with many other, more impactful inventions in his lifetime.