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H. R. Locke, c. 1895 · Library of Congress
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Abraham Lincoln:
The Life Behind the Legacy
From a Kentucky log cabin to the presidency, Civil War and a nation changed forever.
The Sailor Who Went
Around the World Alone
Charles Blondin:
A Life Above Niagara
Archival portraits: Alexander Gardner / Library of Congress (digitally cleaned); Hollinger & Co. / Library of Congress; Charles Reutlinger / Paris Musées, Musée Carnavalet (CC0). Image sources and historical context are linked in each story.
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From Richard Nixon to George H. W. Bush: Power, Trust and the Cold War
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From Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson: Crisis, Power and Civil Rights
Five presidents expanded federal power through depression, war and the struggle for civil rights, leaving achievements and controversies that still…
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1920s Women’s Swimwear: The Decade That Changed the Beach
Woollen one-pieces, decorative bathing caps and even tape-measure inspections: discover how women’s swimwear changed during the 1920s.
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From William Howard Taft to Herbert Hoover: Reform, War and the Great Depression
Five presidencies trace America’s path from Progressive Era reform through world war and 1920s prosperity to the crisis of the…
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American Presidents
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Victorian Lives
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Journeys, discoveries and remarkable lives →
Browse matching stories from the archive. Jack Black is shown in a historical engraving from Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor.
Bringing History To Life explores remarkable people and the images they left behind. Created by Matt, with sources, image credits and room for the uncertainties of history.
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