Yankee Doodle Was a British Diss Track. We Made It Our Anthem.
I went down a Yankee Doodle rabbit hole at midnight and I have no regrets. Turns out the song you sang in 2nd grade was originally a 1750s British diss track — and the colonists stole the chorus out of pure spite. The pettiest founding story they never taught you.
The 1776 Mic Drop: John Hancock Signed His Death Warrant in Cursive Five Inches Tall
John Hancock was a 39-year-old billionaire with a Boston mansion and a bounty on his head from the British Crown. He signed the Declaration of Independence five inches tall in cursive with a flourish. Then walked back to work. The shirt, the mug, the tot
Some Women Say Live Laugh Love. Abigail Adams Threatened to Foment a Rebellion in 1776.
Some women say live laugh love. Abigail Adams threatened to foment a rebellion. Her husband — the future second president — called her saucy. Then she raised the next president of the United States. Those women are not the same.
America's Almost-Bird: Why Ben Franklin Was Right About the Turkey
Ben Franklin spent a 1784 letter trying to talk America out of the bald eagle. He wanted a turkey. He was right.