History

Phil Pressel designed cameras for the government's top-secret Hexagon project. He's only recently been able to speak about his life's work.

Creek geologists Janet Sowers and Christopher Richard stand next to a plaque that puts a lagoon in San Francisco's Mission District.

It took 14 years for stone carvers to create the Mount Rushmore monument, seen here in 1995. Gloria Del Bianco's father, Luigi, led the carving team.

A modern-day map is paired with a vintage photo of the Arc de Triomphe. Historypin hide caption

In a cavernous barn, distillers make whiskey with rye, corn and malted barley.

John Brown's Last Stand: After the raid, John Brown's Fort — part of the U.S. Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry — became the town's only armory building to survive the Civil War.

A giant dioon, seen at the United States Botanic Garden, is part of the cycad family and can be found growing in Mexico and Central America.

A museum employee stands beneath a mastodon skeleton on display at the U.S. National Museum, now the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, circa 1917. A new study revisits an old debate about the evidence for an early mastodon hunt in North America.

These skeletal remains exhumed from an old prison cemetery are now confirmed as the bones of outlaw legend Ned Kelly.

Ruth Gruber, Alaska, 1941-43. Photographer unknown/Courtesy of International Center of Photography hide caption

White Star Line heir J. Bruce Ismay was one of 325 men to survive the sinking of the Titanic.