SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 12:  Cartons of mail ready to be sorted sit on a shelf at the U.S. Post Office sort center on August 12, 2011 in San Francisco, California.  The U.S. Postal Service is proposing to lay off 120,000 workers in order to deal with an $8.5 billion loss this year that has the agency close to insolvency. The layoffs, if approved by Congress, would take place over the next three years.  In addition to layoffs, the Postal Service also wants to eliminate 100,000 jobs through attrition.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Neanderthal woman was re-created and built by Dutch artists Andrie and Alfons Kennis. Research including fossil anatomy and a detailed study of DNA is present in the color of the skin and eyes. (Photo by Joe McNally/Getty Images)

Prospectors panning for gold, California, circa 1850

An aerial view of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Barbara Maranzani

Barbara Maranzani Archives | HISTORY

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HISTORY

<p>America’s Founding Fathers decided that one elected civilian—the U.S. president—would lead the executive branch of the federal government, a governmental structure that has remained in place for more than 200 years.</p>


U.S. Presidents

Listicle

Legacy Unpublished

<p>The 1960s was one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in world history. The era was marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, countercultural movements, political assassinations and the emerging "generation gap."</p>


1960s

<p>Prehistory, the vast period of time before written records or human documentation, includes the Neolithic Revolution, Neanderthals and Denisovans, Stonehenge, the Ice Age and more.</p>


Pre-History

<p>The U.S. government, with its three branches of government and a system of checks and balances, is responsible for governing the 50 states and all districts and territories of the United States.</p>


U.S. Government and Politics

<p>The Civil War was America's bloodiest and most divisive conflict, pitting the Union Army against the Confederate States of America. The war resulted in the deaths of more than 620,000 people, with millions more injured and the South left in ruins.</p>


Civil War

<p>The Revolutionary War waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a small fledgling nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.</p>


American Revolution

<p>Though the 19th century saw the rise of populism, the labor movement and Jacksonian democracy, it also ushered in the Gilded Age, when men like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. P. Morgan wielded vast control over politics and business.</p>


19th Century

<p>Landmarks and monuments, the physical record of human civilization, include spectacular structures like the Eiffel Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge and more.</p>


Landmarks

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">African Americans have played a central role in shaping U.S. history. From slavery and its abolition to the Great Migration, the civil rights movement and military, scientific, cultural and political achievements, explore key moments, milestones and figures in Black History.</div>
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Black History

<p>Explore the wars, battles, leaders, civilizations, regimes, prominent figures and major events from the continent that encompasses 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. From Stonehenge to the Great Awakening to the French Revolution to the rise and fall of Communism in Russia, see how Europe’s often tumultuous history unfolded.</p>


Barbara Maranzani ‑ Stories

Behind Martin Luther King’s Searing ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’

8 Surprising Facts About the Gettysburg Address

5 Romanovs You Should Know

A History of Papal Resignations

A New Find Offers a Rare Glimpse Into the Literary Mind of Winston Churchill

Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat nor Gloom of Night Can Stop the U.S. Postal Service, but Saturdays Soon Will

Did Neanderthals Die Out Much Earlier Than We Thought?

10 Facts About Grand Central Terminal

The Mother of All Catalogs Ceases Publication

9 Things You May Not Know About the California Gold Rush

German Gold Going Home?

9 Things You May Not Know About the Pentagon