American Holidays
Proclaimed a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, this late-November tradition traces its roots to a 1621 harvest feast in Plymouth.
What is Thanksgiving?
The famous 1849 migration to California, sparked by the discovery of gold, is known by this two-word term.
What is the Gold Rush? (or California Gold Rush)
This 1962 confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Though not a signer of the Constitution, this future president was in France during its drafting and is best known for writing the Declaration of Independence.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
This war began in 1775 with battles at Lexington and Concord and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
What is the American Revolutionary War?
Signed into law in 1983 and first observed in all 50 states by 2000, this January holiday honors a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and nonviolent activist.
What is Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
This 1862 law provided settlers with 160 acres of public land if they improved it by farming for five years.
What is the Homestead Act?
This Wisconsin senator became infamous for claiming to have a list of communists working in the U.S. government.
Who is Joseph McCarthy?
This founding father’s financial plans included a national bank, assumption of state debts, and excise taxes, sparking major controversy in the 1790s.
Who is Alexander Hamilton?
Lasting from 1846 to 1848, this war ended with the U.S. acquiring modern-day California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
What is the Mexican-American War?
This holiday, marked by fireworks and patriotic music, commemorates the adoption—not the signing—of a key founding document on July 4, 1776.
What is Independence Day?
These skilled riders and cattle herders drove herds along trails such as the Chisholm Trail during the late 1800s.
Who were cowboys?
In 1947, this U.S. policy promised to support free peoples resisting communism, starting with aid to Greece and Turkey.
What is the Truman Doctrine?
He is often called the "Father of the Constitution" and played a leading role in drafting both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Who is James Madison?
This 20th-century war is often called “The Forgotten War,” despite involving U.S. troops fighting under a UN banner against communist forces.
What is the Korean War?
Originally called Armistice Day, this federal holiday was renamed in 1954 to honor all Americans who served in the armed forces, not just those from World War I.
What is Veterans Day?
This railroad, completed in 1869, connected the East and West coasts of the United States.
What is the Transcontinental Railroad?
This U.S. program provided over $12 billion to help rebuild Western Europe after World War II and prevent the spread of communism.
What is the Marshall Plan?
This Massachusetts patriot defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, later became the first vice president, and was the second president of the United States.
Who is John Adams?
This war began with the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and ended after a 100-hour ground campaign led by U.S. and coalition forces.
What is the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)?
Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, this holiday marks the date Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to enforce it—more than two years later.
What is Juneteenth?
This violent 1890 massacre in South Dakota resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Lakota Sioux and marked the end of major Native American armed resistance.
What is the Wounded Knee Massacre?
In 1957, the launch of this Soviet satellite shocked Americans and led to major investments in science, education, and the space race.
What is Sputnik?
As the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, this founding father also helped negotiate the treaty that ended the American Revolution.
Who is John Jay?
Fought largely at sea from 1798 to 1800, this undeclared naval conflict between the United States and France involved privateers and led to the eventual end of the Franco-American alliance.
What is the Quasi-War?