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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 18h

During the Spanish-American War, the United States acquired the Philippines as a territory in the Treaty of Paris. Many Filipinos supported independence, leading to the bloody Philippine-American War that lasted until 1902.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

In 1688, James II of England was deposed and replaced by William of Orange in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. James was a Catholic, while William was Protestant.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The 1907 Jamestown Exposition was a World’s Fair held in Virginia to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Between 1820 and 1849, this building was constructed to serve as the city hall for the District of Columbia. It was designed by George Hadfield. In 1916, it was completely renovated and rebuilt to become a federal courthouse, and today it is used by the District of Columbia’s Court of Appeals.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Book review: “The Tourist: Travel in Twentieth-Century North America” by John A. Jakle This look at tourism in the twentieth century covers the subject in all its facets: why have people traveled? How has travel shaped the American landscape?

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Starting today, I am taking a brief break from posting. New posts will resume on Sunday.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

During the nineteenth century, Saratoga Springs in New York was one of the most popular resort towns in the United States. Initially a health resort, it became known over time for its gambling and horseracing.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were both part of the historic Ross Expedition to Antarctica from 1839 to 1843, shown in this 1863 painting. Both ships later disappeared as part of the Franklin Expedition to the Arctic in 1848. The Erebus and Terror were not found until 2014 and 2016, respectively.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The Cathedral of Saint-Pierre de Beauvais has an infamously disaster-filled history. Construction began in 1225, but the church’s choir collapsed in 1284. The church once had a large tower, but it collapsed in 1573.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Book review: “1776” by David McCullough David McCullough’s 1776 looks at a pivotal year of the American Revolution, with a focus on George Washington’s military campaigns.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

In August 1910, the SS Princess May ran aground off the coast of Alaska on the way to Vancouver. Photographs of the accident quickly became famous. The ship was later returned to the water and was in use until the 1930s.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a New Deal agency that worked to preserve, develop, and promote natural resources across the United States. Known as “Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” the CCC was one of the most popular New Deal programs. This sign for a CCC camp is from a camp in Brownstown, Indiana.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Painted by illustrator George Cruikshank, who illustrated many of Dickens' books, this painting shows a young Shakespeare surrounded by many of his characters. The painting’s title says it takes place in 1564, the year of the Bard’s birth.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Omaha, Nebraska, was founded on the Missouri River in 1854, and is named for a Native American tribe. The city grew because of the Transcontinental Railroad, which ended across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This print was made in the second half of the eighteenth century and shows boats in Thailand (then called Siam). At the time, Siam was in the middle of a dynastic upheaval. The Ayutthaya Kingdom, which had been in power since 1351, fell in 1767.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The Rookery Building in Chicago was built in 1888 and designed by architects Daniel H. Burnham and John Wellborn Root. This photo shows how the lobby looked when it was built. In 1905, the lobby was remodeled by a young Frank Lloyd Wright.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

“The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age” by Alex Wellerstein Harry S. Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb twice on Japan is one of the most controversial in American history.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Fort Winfield Scott in San Francisco was built in 1861 to prepare for the Civil War. As the fort’s technology became outdated, it was gradually replaced by other fortifications.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, remain the deadliest in American history. 9/11 – perhaps the most consequential event of the twenty-first century – unfolded over the course of an hour and a half.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

This poster was produced by the Mexican Tourist Association and shows the town of Taxco de Alarcón. The large church is the Church of Santa Prisca, which dates back to the 1750s. It was the tallest building in Mexico when it was built.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

This 1784 painting shows the fort of Bijai Gahr, near the town of Bayana in northern India. The fort dates to around the year 1040 and was used by several empires over the last few centuries.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Happy Star Trek Day! The first episode of the original series aired exactly sixty years ago on September 8, 1966. This photograph is of the USS Enterprise, a World War II aircraft carrier that gave its name to Star Trek’s most famous ship.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Labor Day became an official federal holiday in 1894, but many states were already recognizing the event. It was created in the early 1880s by the Knights of Labor, a nationwide union, and the Central Labor Union, a New York City area union.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

William McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901 – exactly 125 years ago. The assassination occurred at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley died on September 14, and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him in office.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Ezra Meeker traveled the original Oregon Trail in the 1850s and eventually became a successful brewer in Washington state. In his 70s, he began to retrace the Oregon Trail in an effort to mark and preserve the historic route.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This illustration of Tecumseh is from an 1818 calendar printed for the Pennsylvania Dutch. Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief who fought with the British in the War of 1812. He worked closely with his brother, a religious leader named Tenskwatawa.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This painting is titled “View of the Port of Ripetta, Rome,” but this title is only half accurate. The large dramatic staircases are based on the Port of Ripetta, built in 1704 and demolished in 1901. At the top of the stairs is the Pantheon, which is not located this close to the old port.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving a term from 1917 to 1919, representing the state of Montana. She served a second term from 1941 to 1943.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This illustration is from a manuscript of the book “The Land of India.” This image shows a large elephant, though its size is too small, and the creature resembles a dog. The manuscript was made in Ghent around 1475.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The Louisville Water Tower in Kentucky was completed in 1860 as a way of preventing cholera epidemics. Designed by Theodore R. Scowden, the tower is today the oldest ornamental water tower in the world. It was in use until 1909. Today, it and the adjoining pumping station are a museum.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Book review: “Walter Hines Page: Ambassador to the Court of St. James” by Ross Gregory www.goodreads.com/book/show/48...

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The USS Iowa was commissioned in 1897, just in time for the Spanish American War. She was decommissioned and recommissioned several times, and during World War I was used as a training ship.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Though harder to find today, trolleys once could be found across the United States. This trolley crossed between Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkson, Washington. The bridge it is crossing spanned the Snake River, and the trolley operated from 1915 to 1929.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This richly colored map is from the Miller Atlas of 1519. The original manuscript is in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. It was made in Portugal by a group of cartographers, and is based on both the work of Renaissance explorers and Ptolemy. This particular map shows the South China Sea.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Long before he was president, Harry Truman was an artillery captain in World War I. He was the only president to see combat during World War I, though Eisenhower also served in the military during the war. Truman enlisted in 1917, served in France, and returned home in 1919.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This temple can be found in Dougga, an archeological site in northern Tunisia. The site is one of the best-preserved Roman towns in North Africa, and was settled around the 6th century BC.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle dates to the 14th and 15th centuries, and is the official place of worship for the Royal Family. This lantern slide shows the West Window, which dates to 1503-1509.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

The postcard shows Johns Hopkins Hospital before 1907. The hospital opened in 1889, thirteen years after Johns Hopkins University was founded. Both the school and hospital were named for merchant and philanthropist Johns Hopkins, whose unique first name was the maiden name of his great-grandmother.

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Reposted by Archive of the Past

Andrew J. Bramlett @andrewbramlett.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

My main rare book collecting focus has been canvassing books, which were used in door-to-door book sales. In addition, I have been trying to find pieces of ephemera that connect to these books.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

This fascinating map shows Habsburg Castle in Switzerland from a bird’s-eye view. Rather than being a traditional aerial illustration, it is also an interesting experiment in perspective. Habsburg Castle was the original seat of the House of Habsburg and dates to the eleventh century.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

When Kansas was admitted as a state, whether or not the state would allow slavery was left up to a popular vote. The New England Emigrant Aid Company was an abolitionist group that supported emigration to the Kansas Territory and hoped to move enough New Englanders to ensure a slavery ban.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

This photograph of a man and Chevrolet was taken at the studio of Hal Roach. Roach was a Hollywood producer known for working with Laurel and Hardy and creating the Our Gang series, often called The Little Rascals.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This 1898 photograph shows a group of tourists in Mexico. The tourists and their train were photographed below the Aqueduct of Querétaro in the city of Querétaro City. The aqueduct was built in the eighteenth century and is still a landmark today.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Andreas Everardus Van Braam Houckgeest, a Dutch ambassador to China, built this home in Croydon, Pennsylvania in 1797. It was named China Retreat and was heavily inspired by the architecture and art of China.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Book review: Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman James K. Polk is not often ranked by the public as one of America’s most consequential presidents, though he certainly had an important impact on the Nineteenth Century.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The short-lived Gillender Building was built in New York City in 1897. It was twenty stories tall. In 1910, it was demolished to make way for the Bankers Trust Company Building, a skyscraper now called 14 Wall Street.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Pes-Ke-Le-Cha-Co was a chief of the Pawnee tribe and was painted by Charles Bird King for a book of Native American history. The painting shown here is a copy by Henry Inman, as the original has been lost.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Melbourne, Australia, was first settled by Europeans in the 1830s and grew into a major city during Australia’s gold rush. The city is named for Lord Melbourne, who was then Prime Minister under Britain’s Queen Victoria.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

The Hotel Del Coronado was the largest resort in the world when it opened in 1888, and to this day is the second largest wooden structure in the United States. It is located close to San Diego, and in the 1920s was a popular retreat for Hollywood stars.

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Archive of the Past @archiveofthepast.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

The Arc de Triomphe was inaugurated in 1836 after thirty years of construction, and honors the soldiers of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. It is located in the Place Charles de Gaulle, originally called the Place de l'Étoile, where twelve roads converge in one roundabout.

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