In June 1864, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed a law protecting Yosemite Valley—marking the first time the U.S. government preserved land for public use.

Dueling arrived in North America in 1621, when two servants in Plymouth fought with swords and both survived. Over time, the practice evolved into formal affairs governed by the Code Duello, which required specific rules, seconds, secluded locations, and the challenged party’s choice of weapons.

Gertrude Ederle made history on August 6, 1926, when she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

On January 10, 1992, a container ship en route from Hong Kong to Washington lost twelve cargo containers during a storm in the North Pacific.

In July 1864, Union soldier John Wales January was captured during a cavalry raid near Macon, Georgia. He was sent to the infamous Andersonville prison, later transferred to Charleston, then Florence, South Carolina. There, scurvy and gangrene set into his feet and lower legs.

In 1864, 13-year-old Robert McGee was traveling west with a wagon party near Fort Larned, Kansas, when the group was attacked by Oglala Lakota warriors led by Little Turtle. McGee, already orphaned, was captured, scalped, and left for dead on the plains.

In 1978, photographer Mark Gubin climbed onto the roof of his studio in Milwaukee with a tub of white paint and no particular plan.

In 1932, famed Hollywood makeup artist Max Factor Sr. introduced a device that looked more like a torture instrument than a beauty tool.

As Nazi U-boats struck just miles from U.S. beaches in 1942, the Merchant Marine—made up of civilian volunteers—was tasked with hauling critical war cargo. Lacking military status, they faced deadly attacks in unarmed ships silhouetted by the lights of American cities.

In 1914, 16-year-old Antonio Pasin sold his family’s only mule and sailed from Italy to America. In Chicago, he took any job he could—hauling water, cleaning celery, building pianos—until he saved enough to open a workshop in 1917.