American Experience

For nearly 50 years, chemical engineer and inventor Maria Telkes applied her prodigious intellect to harnessing the power of the sun.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history.

Over 100 years before the COVID-19 pandemic set off a nationwide wave of fear and anti-Asian sentiment, an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco's Chinatown unleashed a similar crisis.

Over 100 years before the COVID-19 pandemic set off a nationwide wave of fear and anti-Asian sentiment, an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco's Chinatown unleashed a similar crisis.

Revisit 1967 when inner cities across America erupted in violence.

Revisit 1967 when inner cities across America erupted in violence.

Revisit 1967 when inner cities across America erupted in violence.

When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service.

When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service.

When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service.

For nearly 50 years, chemical engineer and inventor Maria Telkes applied her prodigious intellect to harnessing the power of the sun.

Discover the fascinating story of this iconic American garment.

Discover the story of the polygraph, the controversial device that transformed modern police work, seized headlines and was extolled as an infallible crime-fighting tool.

Discover the fascinating and unexpected history behind America's favorite board game.

When Black neighborhoods in scores of American cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The commission's final report, issued in March of 1968, would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson refused to acknowledge it publicly or even thank the commissioners for their service.

In the spring of 1927, after weeks of incessant rains, the Mississippi River went on a rampage from Cairo, Illinois to New Orleans, inundating hundreds of towns, killing as many as a thousand people and leaving a million homeless.

Explore the 1928 dam collapse, the second deadliest disaster in California history.

In August 1942, the murder of a young Mexican American ignited a firestorm in Los Angeles.