As the US expanded west, the debate over slavery in new territories led to the Compromise of 1850, leaving many states and citizens divided — particularly over the fugitive slave act.

Beginning in the 1890s, two rival Chinese gangs known as tongs fought in an ongoing bloodfest in New York’s Chinatown, vying for control of the opium trade, illegal gambling and prostitution.

In 1953, Swanson Foods had a 260-ton Turkey surplus after Thanksgiving, prompting the invention of the TV Dinner. The concept proved popular, with 10 million trays sold in the first year.

In 1919, white soldiers returned from WWI to find their jobs filled with southern blacks who had migrated north. The Red Summer of 1919 was a racially tense period of riots, murders, arson, and more.

The Hollywood Ten were a group of writers and directors who refused to cooperate with the anti-communism committee proceedings. Their defiance would result in jail time, debt, and Hollywood’s blacklist.

Tammany Hall was a political powerhouse in New York City from 1789 until its slow unraveling in the mid 1900s. Boss Tweed and others would become infamous for corruption and embezzlement of millions in taxpayer dollars.

In an effort to halt communist expansion and aggression, the Truman Doctrine provided millions in aid to Turkey and Greece after Britain’s war-torn economy could support them no longer. Truman’s doctrine is arguably the starting point of the Cold War.