America250 — 250 years since 1776. Explore two and a half centuries of American history. Start the tour

#Exploration

24 entries

People (6)

John C. Frémont

The Pathfinder of the West whose maps drew settlers into California and Oregon

John Wesley Powell

The one-armed Civil War veteran who ran the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon

The first human to set foot on the moon

Shoshone guide and interpreter whose knowledge made the Corps of Discovery possible

The first American woman in space

The Army officer who explored the southern Louisiana Purchase and never climbed Pikes Peak

Places (7)

Grand Canyon National Park

The mile-deep Colorado River gorge protected from dam projects in 1968

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded 1607 on the Virginia tidewater

Mississippi River

The continent's central artery — highway, boundary, and the most mythologized river in American history

The "Lost Colony" that vanished from the Outer Banks before relief ships returned

Rocky Mountains

The 3,000-mile cordillera that defined the western frontier and the Continental Divide

The Spanish presidio in Florida — oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States

Gateway to the West and crossroads of American expansion

Eras (1)

Colonial America

The 168 years of English settlement that built the society the Revolution would transform, 1607–1775

Events (6)

The contested October holiday marking Columbus's 1492 landing

French and Indian War

The North American theater of a world war that made the American Revolution inevitable, 1754–1763

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The 1804–1806 Corps of Discovery that mapped the American West to the Pacific

Louisiana Purchase

The 1803 land acquisition that doubled the size of the United States

The 2,000-mile overland route that carried 400,000 settlers to the American West, 1840–1869

The Space Shuttle

The reusable spacecraft that defined American spaceflight for three decades

Concepts (3)

The Frontier Thesis

The argument that the American frontier made America — and what happened when it closed

U.S.–Spain Relations

From the empire that colonized half the continent to the war that ended its American reach

Westward Expansion

The century-long process by which the United States spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Organizations (1)

The space agency founded in 1958 that won the race to the Moon and became the symbol of American ambition

All Tags

Politics 169 Economy 147 Military 115 Presidency 113 Civil Rights 112 Reform 111 Law & Justice 99 Founding Era 95 Foreign Policy 90 Race 82 Constitution 74 Industry 71 Science & Technology 71 Cold War 62 Civil War 61 Protest 58 Westward Expansion 57 Arts & Culture 56 Revolution 55 Slavery 54 Women 51 War 49 Modern America 46 Indigenous 42 Diplomacy 41 Media & Press 38 Labor 33 Immigration 31 Supreme Court 30 Religion 29 Environment 28 Congress 28 World War II 28 Exploration 24 Disaster 22 Reconstruction 22 Abolition 21 Progressive Era 21 Finance 20 Democracy 19 Assassination 15 Education 14 Colonial America 13 Gilded Age 12 Public Health 12 Suffrage 11 World War I 8 Sports 8 Corruption 8 Prohibition 1