American History Documents

America - still a young country by world standards - began as an experiment in self-government. This collection includes stories of America's people as they follow a path of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Image of the original poem The Star Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key. Click on the image for a better view.  

This document, released by NASA, shows early objections to the design of the O-Rings and the potential for joint leakage.  The document is dated ...

Personnel from the Marshall Space Flight Center, in Alabama, objected to lowering the standards for the SRM (Solid Rocket Motor) O-Rings and clevis jo...

Personnel from the Marshall Space Flight Center, in Alabama, objected to lowering the standards for the SRM (Solid Rocket Motor) O-Rings and clevis jo...

NASA personnel, at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, were very concerned about Morton Thiokol's position on the O-ring and clevis-joint ...

Image of Orville Wright's December 17, 1903 Diary Entry. Click on the image for a better view.

Image of Orville Wright's December 17, 1903 diary entry, page 2. Click on the image for a better view.

Image of Orville Wright's December 17, 1903 diary entry, page 3. Click on the image for a better view.

Image of Orville Wright's December 17, 1903 diary entry, page 4. Click on the image for a better view.

After the Wright Brothers successfully tested their Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville (Orevelle) sent a telegram to his father to share the...

This image depicts the arrest warrant of Lee Harvey Oswald.

This map, from the Illustrated London News, depicts the Pacific "border" of Japan's Empire - and the distance (3,379 miles) between Tokyo and Honolulu...

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