Love it or hate it, the Internal Revenue Service has been around nearly as long as the United States itself. Its roots stretch back to the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862, creating the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue and imposing the nation’s first federal income tax. The tax was meant to fund the Union’s war effort — and it worked, bringing in millions of badly needed dollars.

Pew Research Center reports that union membership has fallen dramatically over the past four decades — from 20% of American workers in 1983 to fewer than 10% in 2024. Most Americans say that decline has hurt not just workers but the country itself.

On September 11, 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed by George Washington as the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury.

Vast deserts, mountain ranges, open plains — nearly one in every ten acres of the U.S. is overseen not by states, but by a little-known federal agency: the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Forget nukes, pandemics, or even terrorism — most Americans today believe the biggest danger comes from something far closer to home: lies spreading online.

Sixty-two years ago today, a quarter of a million people filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in one of the largest demonstrations for justice in American history: the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Ten years after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, young Americans — LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ alike — still dream of saying “I do.”

Thirty-four years ago today, on August 21, 1991, the people of Latvia reclaimed their freedom. After decades of Soviet control, the Latvian parliament declared independence from the USSR — even as tanks rolled through the streets of Riga.

A staggering 80% of U.S. adults say Republican and Democratic voters not only disagree on policies—but also can’t agree on basic facts, according to Pew Research Center’s latest survey. This overwhelming bipartisan consensus reflects a deepening crisis in American civic life: even our understanding of truth has become partisan.

On the morning of August 7, 1974, the impossible happened in lower Manhattan. At 7:00 a.m., Philippe Petit stepped off the edge of the South Tower of the World Trade Center — and onto a wire.

In classrooms across the country, public school teachers are grading papers by day — and stocking shelves, serving tables, or freelancing by night. According to new Pew Research analysis, about 1 in 6 full-time public school teachers held a second job during the 2020–21 school year. And it wasn’t just summer work. Roughly 17% of teachers worked a non-school job during the school year, a rate nearly four times higher than the national average for all U.S. workers.

The U.S. Department of the Interior was created on March 3, 1849—but its impact is still unfolding.

On July 31, 1964, Ranger 7 became the first American spacecraft to successfully photograph the Moon up close. Just 17 minutes before crashing into the lunar surface, it transmitted over 4,300 stunning images—crystal-clear glimpses of the Moon that helped pave the way for the Apollo missions and, five years later, Neil Armstrong’s famous steps.

Fox News, launched in 1996, isn’t just a cable channel—it’s a political powerhouse. Loved by some, distrusted by others, its influence on U.S. media and politics is profound. Pew Research’s latest data highlights just how central Fox is to the modern information divide.

On this day in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in United States v. Nixon that President Richard Nixon had to turn over secret Oval Office recordings to a federal court. The decision would lead directly to his resignation just 16 days later.

Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program, currently covers about 1 in 5 Americans. Designed to serve low-income individuals, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, Medicaid is a cornerstone of the U.S. healthcare system. As of January 2025, 71.4 million people were enrolled in Medicaid, with another 7.3 million in CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).

Before the EPA existed, rivers caught fire. Smog choked cities. Factories dumped toxins into streams without consequence. There were no national standards for air or water—and no federal agency to enforce them.

Americans are largely skeptical of the GOP’s sweeping budget and tax legislation — the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — currently under Senate consideration after passing the House in May. The bill is a top priority for President Trump, but the public response is mostly negative.

Her name was Wisława Szymborska.

She grew up in Poland under fascism and then communism — regimes that demanded loyalty, silence, and propaganda.

In the 1970s, America had a corruption problem — and it wasn’t just at home.

After Watergate, investigators uncovered something deeper: more than 400 U.S. companies had secretly paid hundreds of millions in bribes to foreign officials.