The Harlem Renaissance was a golden age for African American writers, artists, and musicians who migrated to Harlem seeking affordable rents during the Great Migration.

The Great Migration was a period during the 20th century when more than six million African Americans relocated from the segregated South to find opportunities and safety in less racist parts of the U.S.

After the shift in priorities following the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, The Great Awakening was a period in the United States marked by the return of religious practice and fervor. Passionate preachers led the movement, traveling the country delivering sermons to convert non-believers.

In September of 1862, Abraham Lincoln made his Emancipation Proclamation giving confederate states 100-days to rejoin the Union before their slaves would be set free. Signed on New Years Day, 1863, the proclamation proved a monumental step towards the abolition of US slavery.

The freedom riders were a group of seven African Americans and six white civil rights activists who set out in 1961 to evaluate the Supreme Court’s ruling that segregation inside transportation facilities is unconstitutional. Facing mobs of white haters, firebombs, and beatings, the freedom riders left their mark on the movement.

The Liberty Bell was cast in London in 1751, arrived in Philadelphia in 1752, and has become the symbol of American independence and liberty for all.

On August 5th, 1949, a grass fire erupted near Helena, Montana, prompting 15 smokejumpers to parachute into the wildfire. When the firefighters’ escape plan was thwarted by the the fast-moving fire, of the three survivors, one’s quick thinking created a firefighting technique still used to this day.