The American Civil War has origins further back than most people realize. Politicians in the North and South were divided on the issue of slavery as early as 1820 -- the year of the Missouri Compromise. The compromise allowed slavery in the newest state in the Union, Missouri, but banned it within the remainder of the Louisiana territory. However, thirty-four years later, the Missouri Compromise was overturned by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 -- which allowed the two new, independent territories (Kansas and Nebraska) to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. The North, foreseeing a possible future of nationwide legal slavery, indignantly fought the measure, but it was ultimately signed into law by President Franklin Pierce. The result was a bitter divide between politicians of the North and South, and a significant shift in the political weather of the United States.

Michigan hosts the largest celebration of the Coast Guard in the country.

The Apollo 11 spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex on July 16, 1969. On July 20, Mission Commander Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon, followed closely by Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin -- Command Module Pilot Michael Collins looked on from the Moon's orbit. All three were U.S. Air Force veterans, as well as veteran astronauts. This historic event preceded five more successful manned moon-landing missions for the Apollo program, ending with the Apollo 17 mission -- the last time anyone has been on the lunar surface.

On July 16, 1945, the United States performed the first ever test of a nuclear bomb at the Manhattan Project laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico -- the facility in which Little Boy and Fat Man, the designs for the first two nuclear weapons ever to be used in warfare, were developed by leading government scientists. The Manhattan Project's first test proved to be successful, and the United States went on to drop bombs on Japanese metropolises Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- the first and only two populated cities to be targeted with nuclear weapons -- which resulted in the end of World War II, and the beginning of the nearly fifty-year Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Battle for Iwo Jima was a major turning point for Allied Forces during World War II. The Allies considered the capture of Iwo Jima Island to be strategically necessary in the campaign to invade Japan, because of its central location between the Japanese mainland and Pacific U.S. military bases. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander of the Allied Forces' Pacific Fleet, has been quoted as having said, "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue." Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded for actions taken at Iwo Jima, which is more than those awarded for any other operation during World War II.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. displays the names of...

On the seventieth anniversary of the GI Bill, one veteran recalls the monumental influence the veterans’ benefit has had in his post-war years. From covering college classes to helping his fledgling family find an affordable home, Dan Doyle’s story reminds us how the GI Bill not only benefits veterans returning from the front lines, but is also an investment in our communities.

She proudly wore the award for the rest of her life.

The unwritten and complex Navajo language, used as code by the Marines, was never broken.

This was a remarkable memorial to the brave men who fought there.