Are you already an expert in everything America? Great! No need to read about these fascinating facts and important events that have shaped the U.S. as we know it today.

US History You Should Know

Whoa Facts

It’s easy to assume that whatever customs, systems, processes, and general facts of life you’re accustomed to are the “norm.” However, as soon as you venture out of your home country or region, it becomes extremely apparent that not everything you do or have at home is the norm elsewhere. For Americans, this means coming&nbsp;across <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/why-dont-americans-use-bidets/genevieve-carlton">a bidet</a> on a French vacation, or having a tip refused at a restaurant, or being forced to make sense of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/why-dont-americans-use-metric-system/melissa-sartore">the metric system</a> can come as a shock to the system.The truth is, the US does many things differently from the rest of the world. From minor differences like&nbsp;an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/why-american-flags-everywhere-in-united-states/megan-summers">obsession with the American flag,</a> to major ones with political or economic implications, like the use of a sales tax instead of value-added tax, or the refusal to recognize the International Criminal Court’s authority, the US is unique in a number of ways. Below you’ll find many things Americans do differently from the rest of the world - and why.

All The Things The US Does Differently From The Rest Of The World

General

Why America Does Things Differently Than Other Countries

Garri Chaverst

Mysteries

Maps, ciphers, millions of dollars worth of gems - who doesn't love a treasure hunt?When we think of buried treasure, though, many of us might think of what's resting on the floor of the Pacific or Atlantic. Even so, there's good news for American, landlocked <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-treasure-hunters/ranker-entertainment">treasure hunters </a>- there are many legends of great treasures that exist within our borders.From Spanish conquistadors to victors of the Gold Rush, lost treasure is spread throughout the country. Which of these treasures do you think is worth hunting for?

Famous Buried Treasures In The United States That Have Never Been Found

Emily Mast

Since the dawn of civilization, a lot of important things have happened. Here are lists of about the many winding routes we took to get where we are today.

Historical Contexts

Though the U.S. is not even 250 years old, history textbooks already must omit a great deal. Here are in-depth looks at a few of the most fascinating and less flattering events and scenes that took place on American soil.

America's Forgotten History

History

The biggest political mistakes of both the past and present are debated ceaselessly, but governance-related blunders aren&rsquo;t the only miscalculations that can change the world. In fact, some of the biggest mistakes in American history were&nbsp;unrelated to politics. Important and impactful gaffes can occur in any field - including science, engineering, business, and the military - and&nbsp;their consequences can often impact all of society.

Some of those <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mistakes-that-changed-history/troybrownfield" target="_blank">mistakes</a> have been so impactful that they&rsquo;ve changed the course of American history, especially when they&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-events-happening-at-the-same-time/kellen-perry" target="_blank">coincide with important events</a>. Errors in judgment or judiciousness can happen to anyone, but only a select few are unfortunate - or&nbsp;in some cases, fortunate - enough for their screwups to alter the history books in a major way. It&rsquo;s safe to say the modern United States of America would not exist as it does now without a handful of notable bungles along the way.&nbsp;

Mistakes That Created Modern America

Stephan Roget

Lists about the brilliant and fascinating men who led the American Revolution and created the documents that established these United States of America.

Our Founding Fathers

Interesting

Get ready for the most fascinating things <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/whoa-founding-fathers-facts/alby-thompson" target="_blank">you never knew about the Founding Fathers</a>.&nbsp;These little-known tidbits about former Presidents of the United States and the group of men who created America with its founding documents may change your view of the American Revolution completely. If you&#39;re looking for scandalous&nbsp;John Adams facts, George Washington fun facts, and loads of trivia about Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, this is the list for you. And these are all the facts left out of your U.S. history textbooks.

Who are our Founding Fathers? These facts about the founding fathers include president trivia about the educations and occupations of&nbsp;these American leaders. For instance, who married a 17-year-old? Who was a volunteer firefighter, and what president was an awesome dancer?&nbsp;The only way to find out is to check out all of these fun facts about the Founding Fathers. And don&#39;t forget to&nbsp;file away Benjamin Franklin&#39;s essay entitled &quot;Fart Proudly&quot; for your next dinner party conversation starter.

19 Things You Didn't Know About Our Founding Fathers

The Founding Fathers: Facts and Trivia

Mel Judson

In 1897, the US was at the tail end of an economic recession now known as the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.historylink.org/file/20874">Panic of 1893</a>. Many Americans were struggling to feed their families or keep a roof over their heads. So when news got out that gold has been found in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon, thousands of people hastily uprooted themselves and headed north to take part in rushing to remote northwestern Canada.&nbsp;Although some of the stampeders were experienced miners, far more were <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-life-was-like-on-the-oregon-trail/jacobybancroft">completely unprepared for the hazardous trip</a> to the gold fields or for the Wild West-type conditions they found upon arrival. And although George Carmack - credited with first finding gold in the Klondike - became a rich man, the majority of gold-seekers did not. By 1899, the Klondike Gold Rush (also called the Yukon Gold Rush) was all but over.

10 Fun Facts About The Klondike Gold Rush

TGWrites

Money

The penny has been part of US currency almost as long as the country has been independent. In fact, the first &quot;Fugio&nbsp;cent&quot; was&nbsp;<a href="https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/sg012106-coins.htm" target="_blank">designed by Benjamin Franklin</a>. Since the very beginning, the images on the penny have symbolized the spirit of the country.&nbsp;There has been talk in recent years of <a href="https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/05/7-reasons-get-rid-penny/" target="_blank">doing away with the penny</a>&nbsp;as we move toward a more cashless society, but we&#39;re not quite there yet.

As with anything that&#39;s mass-produced, some mistakes&nbsp;have crept into the penny&#39;s circulation. Those coins are hard to come by, but if you have one, you may be in line for a real financial windfall. Maybe you have a collectible in a bowl or piggy bank you&#39;ve forgotten about. Here&#39;s a list of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-valuable-us-coins/zach-seemayer" target="_blank">most valuable pennies</a> out there to help you spot that one-of-a-kind gem.

The Most Valuable Pennies Of All Time

Michelle Nati

US History

The history of North America spans centuries, extending back far before settlers from Europe arrived. Much of the earliest history of what became the United States is shrouded in colonialism, lost forever due to <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-important-missing-historical-documents/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">missing documents</a>, or linked to <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/modern-archaeological-facts/zach-seemayer" target="_blank">archaeological discoveries</a> that continue to be made.&nbsp;

A lot of what most of us know about American history comes from the textbooks we had in school, documentaries and television shows, and books or other materials we encounter throughout our lives. It&#39;s impossible to learn everything about history, of course, which makes it all the more exciting to find out new facts and details over time.

In 2021, we uncovered a lot of American history that often left us asking, &quot;How are we just now hearing about this?&quot; Vote up the facts that leave you asking&nbsp;the same question.&nbsp;

15 Facts About American History We Learned In 2021 We Wish We'd Known Earlier

Facts About American History We Learned In 2021

Melissa Sartore

Weird History

Rites of passage usually symbolize&nbsp;an important change of status in society,&nbsp;and are thus regarded as important and cherished traditions. And Native&nbsp;American rites of passage, specifically,&nbsp;are generally&nbsp;vibrant, colorful, and joyous affairs rich with sentimentality and merrymaking. However, there's always the odd and perhaps inevitable&nbsp;bloodcurdling&nbsp;exception. A handful of&nbsp;tribes are notorious for implementing&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/mutilation-and-tests-8-intense-female-rites-of-passage/joanne" target="_blank">harsh tests that men</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/mutilation-and-tests-8-intense-female-rites-of-passage/joanne" target="_blank">women</a>&nbsp;must pass.&nbsp;And while many of these rituals&nbsp;unlike a lot of their ultra-violent overseas counterparts&nbsp;have long since been relegated to the distant past, that doesn't make their legacy&nbsp;any less intense.&nbsp;Most of the following ancient&nbsp;practices will make jumping into a pit of tarantulas&nbsp;seem almost mild by comparison. Read on for a list of initiation rituals that are enough to make anyone think twice about the benefits of growing up.&nbsp;

5 Facts About Rites Of Passage In Native American Cultures

5 Horrifyingly Brutal Native American Rites Of Passage

Alan Smithee

Fascinating trivia and things you didn't know about some of America's most interesting, influential, and controversial people. 

Real American Heroes

If you took American History in school and paid attention at all, then you probably heard the name Sacagawea at least once during your studies. But who was <a href="https://historydaily.org/sacagawea-facts-you-didnt-know" target="_blank">Sacagawea</a>? And what did she do? Born in the early nineteenth century,&nbsp;Sacagawea was a Shoshone Indian woman from Idaho&nbsp;who served as an interpreter and field guide on Meriwether Lewis and William Clark&rsquo;s Expedition. This expedition, you might recall,&nbsp;mapped the United States from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Coast.

Obviously, you could probably figure out that Sacagawea lived a bold, brave life just from that fact. However, the more you read about Sacagawea, the more impressive this woman is. Not only was she the only woman on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but she was also a teenager who had just given birth. It&rsquo;s no wonder suffragists saw a model of tough, independent womanhood in Sacagawea. Read on to discover more of the amazing, tough-as-nails details of Sacagawea&rsquo;s life that you might not have learned&nbsp;in history class.

10 Facts About the Bold, Brave Life of Sacagawea

Ryleigh Nucilli

There are a few <a href="https://www.ranker.com/collections/us-history-you-should-know" target="_blank">American history facts</a> everyone should know: George Washington didn&#39;t&nbsp;have wooden teeth, slavery was abolished in 1865, and the United States will never, ever adopt the metric system. But there are more obscure US history facts that seldom come up in conversation - like the US Air Force planning to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119" target="_blank">nuke the moon in 1958</a>.

From a historical perspective, the USA is still a relatively young nation. Yet you&#39;d be surprised how much of its history you may never have learned before. The following selection of American history trivia was shared by Redditors. Vote up the facts you never knew before!

Fascinating Facts About American History We Just Learned That Made Us Say 'Really?'

American History Facts We Just Learned That Made Us Say 'Really?'

Alby Thompson

Historical Figures

The popularity of Lin-Manuel Miranda&#39;s&nbsp;Hamilton&nbsp;musical has revived interest in Alexander Hamilton, along with the personalities and struggles of&nbsp;his fellow founding fathers. While most Americans probably know that George Washington didn&#39;t chop down a cherry tree, they may be less aware that the first <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/george-washington-denture-origins/genevieve-carlton" target="_blank">president didn&#39;t have wooden teeth</a>. Also worth pointing out: Ben Franklin&#39;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-facts-of-the-week-09072020/alby-thompson" target="_blank">kite wasn&#39;t struck by lightning</a>.

There are plenty of other interesting facts about the founding fathers that Redditors have shared over the years. Check out this selection of some of the most interesting tidbits, and vote up the ones you never knew before!

Things We Just Learned About The Founding Fathers That Made Us Say 'Really?'

Lists about the history and quirks of America's highest office.

The American Presidency

Presidential speeches are often remembered for one great phrase, memorable line, or rhetorical flourish that makes its way into the history books. But they should be seen as more than collections of memorable words - in fact, as documents of their time and place. Great presidential speeches are made in the context of crises, challenges, and times of great peril. But they can also inspire, uplift, and encourage. The truly great speeches manage to do both at once.What's less well-known about many of the great addresses by presidents that they're short. Maybe the most famous speech in American history, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, is just over two minutes long. Many others, rather than being long rambles of adjectives and superlatives, are fewer than one thousand words, and lasted just 10 minutes. They didn't need thousands and thousands of words to make their point, just a few well-chosen ones given by a dynamic speaker.Here are the greatest and most inspiring presidential speeches of all time, be sure to upvote those that inspire you the most!

The Best Presidential Speeches of All Time

Quotation

The 20 Best Presidential Speeches of All Time

Mike Rothschild

Wacky pics, zany products, and totally weird, absolutely true stories that are too kooky to make up.

How Bizarre, How Bizarre

In the long history of American products, some initially odd ideas were transformed into household staples and cultural icons that&nbsp;Americans now take for granted.&nbsp;Most US invention stories involved luck, perseverance, and usually a strange quirk of ingenuity.&nbsp;Some backstories of American items, like the Etch-A-Sketch or the aerosol can, merely involved ideas or technologies developed elsewhere and adapted creatively in the US.&nbsp;But there are also some very unique US product stories, frequently involving unintended consequences and bizarre outcomes, behind how certain products were invented. Here is a list of some of the best.

15 Weird but True Stories Behind Unique American Products

Product

15 Weird Origin Stories of Iconic American Products

Phil Gibbons

Artifacts

The Library of Congress (LOC) is a bastion of historical holdings, with some really old objects you’d expect to find, like Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural Bible, a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, and Walt Whitman’s notebooks. However, there's also no dearth of weird artifacts in the Library of Congress. In fact, the world’s largest library, founded in 1800, contains plenty of antiquated items that are perhaps less than venerable but still fascinating.&nbsp;Along with books, the library’s 164 million items include old films, sheet music, maps, comics, advertisements, recordings, recipes, posters, photographs, newspapers...&nbsp;and hair.Yes, the LOC has locks of hair in its collections, from the revered heads of Thomas Jefferson and&nbsp;Walt Whitman, among other famous figures.&nbsp;Many of these weird old objects in the Library of Congress (including the hair cuttings) are available for viewing in digital format, although most are not digitized –&nbsp;understandably –&nbsp;because the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/about/fascinating-facts/">Library adds about 12,000 items each day</a>.&nbsp;So, what's the strangest thing in the Library of Congress? It's too hard to choose, but&nbsp;here are&nbsp;some of the lesser-known and downright weirdest artifacts in the Library of Congress.

16 Fascinating Historical Artifacts Stored In The Library of Congress

The 16 Weirdest Artifacts Stored In The Library of Congress

Karen L Lindell

It&#39;s hard to truly define what a person means when they say the old west, the wild west, or the American frontier. There is a curious mingling of history, folktale, Hollywood, American individualism, and the worst of expansionism that fuels our collective imagination when picturing this short historic period.&nbsp;

People&#39;s attention turned to the southwestern and western&nbsp;area of the United States from the 1850s to the 1910s as the US government began granting land, sometimes in territories not even under their control, and as mining towns formed around gold and silver finds. The communities that sprang up and the people that inhabited them fueled&nbsp;popular culture through novels, radio, TV, and films. Real historians of Reddit have answered questions about what life&nbsp;was really like in the old west.

Real Historians Answer Questions About The Wild West We Wish We'd Asked Sooner

Will Morgan

It's always made the world go-round, but how did people of the past let others know how much they had before the days of fast, shiny cars and cheesy name brand apparel? And why do economies keep collapsing? Study up to see why history repeats itself.

Money Matter$

While many of us stress about rent or mortgage, medical bills, and whether or not we can swing a vacation, the titans who erected the most unbelievably excessive homes in US history&nbsp;couldn&rsquo;t imagine such trivialities. Their over-the-top homes easily rival any <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-beautiful-castles-in-europe/ranker-travel?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">castles in Europe</a>, and many in the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/unbelievable-gilded-age-excesses/cheryl-adams-richkoff" target="_blank">US Gilded Age</a>&nbsp;tried&nbsp;to do exactly that with&nbsp;features ranging&nbsp;from six separate swimming pools; a full zoo;&nbsp;8 acres of terraced, exquisitely manicured gardens; or an in-house chapel with a mosaic ceiling of medieval-era tiles.

US history has been peppered with magnates who lord over the masses, and they do so with unbelievably outlandish&nbsp;mansions, castles, and chateaus. Their creations are truly a sight to behold, the likes of which are seemingly unimaginable.&nbsp;

The Most Unbelievably Excessive Homes In US History

Location

The Most Excessive, Over The Top Homes In US History

Erin Cody

US History lists at Ranker - The ultimate source for hundreds of US History lists and rankings