In March of 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision on the Dred Scott case of slavery status within free-states, citing African American exclusion from the Constitution and its unalienable rights.

Fort Sumter was the first military engagement of the American Civil War when South Carolina rebels made the fall of the fort a priority in their push for sovereignty and independence.

Clipper Ships were built on the Chesapeake Bay between 1795 and 1815. Their unheard-of sailing speeds made them popular for trade and record-setting passages.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was opened on July 30th, 1952 and a second span added in 1973, serving as a vital 4.3-mile link between Baltimore, Washington D.C., Annapolis, and Atlantic coastal cities.

The Purchase of Alaska from Russia was completed on October 18th, 1867, adding 586,412 square miles to the U.S. territory for only $7.2 million, less than two cents an acre.

Grand Central Station, or simply Grand Central, is a New York City train station and the second busiest in the world, behind Manhattan’s Penn Station. The station took 10 years to construct leveraging 10,000 workers and opened in 1913.

Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian anarchists that fit the profile of the suspects in an armed robbery case and were quickly sentenced to death, which sparked outcries over racial profiling and social justice.