October 2006
Features
Viewing a transformation that still affects all of us—through the prism of a single year
Four million Americans came into the world that year. Here are some who have already made their mark on 2006.
It was a story so disturbing that we all still remember it. But what if it wasn’t true?
On what they still called their “home screens,” Americans got to watch the future
The Ford Mustang changed the industry when its creator realized “people want economy so badly they don’t care what they pay for it”
Just as the year changed the nation, so its World Series changed American sports
In 1964 the most popular movie star in America held a license to kill from the British government
One of the half-dozen most famous Americans of the twentieth century steps into full daylight
Departments
History Happened Here
History Now
In the News
Letter From the Editor
My Brush With History
Time Machine
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Recently added:
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- National Museum of Civil War Medicine
- National Museum of the U.S. Navy
- Manassas National Battlefield
- Maryland State House
In association with the
American Association for State and Local History
Why do we need a national nonprofit membership society for American history?
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“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.
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65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.
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Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.
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40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.
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“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.
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The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.
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Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.
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The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.
