The archive, narrowed.

Barack Obama's Election as U.S. President

Hope and change toppled the political establishment.

The iPhone Launch

Steve Jobs unveils a phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator — then admits they're the same device

The September 11 Attacks

Four hijacked planes, ninety-one minutes, and the day that ended the post-Cold-War decade

Camp David Accords

Jimmy Carter's thirteen-day hostage situation with two Middle East leaders

Watergate Scandal & Nixon Resignation

Power, paranoia, and the presidency's ultimate accountability reckoning.

Apollo 11

An eight-day round trip to a place no human had ever stood — broadcast live to a fifth of humanity

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

A bullet in Memphis, a nation in flames.

Assassination of John F. Kennedy

A president's murder spawned a half-century of doubt.

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

Wright Brothers' First Flight

Two bicycle mechanics proved gravity wrong with math and stubbornness.

Brooklyn Bridge Opens

The bridge that nearly killed everyone who built it.

Telephone Patent Granted to Alexander Graham Bell

The patent filing that sparked a century of legal warfare.

First Transcontinental Railroad Completed

Two railroads, one golden spike, America finally connected.

Emancipation Proclamation

Battle of Gettysburg

Lee's gamble on Northern soil ended in catastrophic defeat.

American Civil War

When Lincoln's election shattered the Union and slavery's fate hung in the balance

American Declaration of Independence

Thirteen colonies formally told Britain to get lost.