1

Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia

Image: The Silverdalex

Located in an area already filled with memorials, Arlington National Cemetery stands out as one of the nation’s most sacred landmarks. Established during the Civil War on land confiscated from General Robert E. Lee's estate, it became the final resting place for over 400,000 brave Americans, including casualties from WWII to the Vietnam War.

At its heart lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a continuously guarded monument that symbolizes the sacrifices of all unidentified fallen heroes. Notably, the graves of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy are among the most visited sites in the cemetery.

2

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Image: Ryan Stone

Popularly known as the Vietnam Memorial, this U.S. national landmark located in Washington, D.C., honors those who served during the Vietnam War. Its centerpiece consists of two imposing black granite walls, engraved with the names of over 58,000 individuals who died or went missing while serving their country in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Designed by architect Maya Lin, the monument is strikingly powerful in its minimalism, evoking deep emotions through its simplicity. The site also includes the Three Soldiers statue and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

3

Marine Corps War Memorial, Virginia

Image: Sal Cenicacelaya

Located in Arlington County, Virginia, this war memorial was inspired by the iconic 1945 photograph of six Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Standing 32 feet tall, the monument is an enduring symbol of courage and determination, honoring all Marines who have served since 1775.

Though the sculpture depicts a moment when the U.S. flag had 48 stars, the flag flown today is always the current version, symbolizing the memorial’s dedication to all Marines who have died in defense of the United States, regardless of the era.

4

Air Force Memorial, Virginia

Image: Yogi Panchal

Located near the Marine Corps War Memorial and Arlington Cemetery, this 270-foot-high sculpture features three stainless steel spires reaching toward the sky. It was the final project of American architect James Ingo Freed, renowned for his work with I.M. Pei and his contributions to various iconic U.S. public buildings.

The spires seem to evoke the contrails of a group of Air Force Thunderbirds performing a dramatic flight maneuver. Notably, only three of the typical four contrails are depicted, symbolizing the "missing man" formation traditionally used in Air Force funeral flyovers.

5

World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Image: Joshua Woods

Featuring 56 pillars adorned with bronze laurel wreaths, each symbolizing a U.S. state or territory, this memorial honors the 16 million Americans who served in World War II. It stands as a grand tribute to the "Greatest Generation," celebrating their victories and the sacrifices they made for their country.

Interestingly, the memorial includes two subtle "Kilroy was here" engravings, a nod to the iconic symbol that became a reassuring emblem for American soldiers during the war, marking their presence and protection wherever it appeared.

6

Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Image: Joe Richmond

Dedicated in 1995, this national memorial features a haunting image of nineteen steel statues of soldiers standing in silent patrol. The memorial honors the 1.5 million Americans who served in Korea, a conflict that is sometimes referred to as the "Forgotten War."

A granite memorial wall is also part of the site, engraved with the names of U.S. military personnel and South Koreans embedded in U.S. units who died in the conflict. The monument includes the Pool of Remembrance, a tranquil 30-foot-diameter pool lined with black granite, surrounded by a grove of trees and benches, offering a peaceful place for quiet reflection.

7

National D-Day Memorial, Virginia

Image: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain

This memorial pays tribute to the courage and sacrifice of all service members of the Allied forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The site prominently displays the inscription, "In Tribute to the Valor, Fidelity, and Sacrifice of Allied Forces on D-Day." Featuring a symbolic pool with a landing craft, an American soldier, and a German beach barrier, the memorial captures the essence of the immensely dangerous beach landings.

According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, the site is designed as a continuum of three distinct plazas, each representing a different phase of the operation—planning, execution, and victory. The centerpiece of the monument is a 44-foot-tall arch, symbolizing the triumph of the operation while surrounding elements evoke the soldiers' bravery under relentless fire.

8

U.S. Navy Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Image: Michael Afonso

The granite plaza of the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., is well known for its iconic Lone Sailor statue, which symbolizes all those who have served in the U.S. Navy throughout its history. The statue, crafted by sculptor Stanley Bleifeld, gazes over the Granite Sea—a map depicting the world's oceans, centered on Washington, D.C.

Flanking the memorial are two buildings, with the eastern one serving as a visitor center. This small museum often offers exhibits that explore the rich history of American sailors.

9

National Museum of the United States Army, Virginia

Image: Rob Martinez

More than just a museum, this site serves as a living memorial dedicated to the history of the U.S. Army. It honors the bravery, valor, and sacrifices of soldiers across America’s history while providing an in-depth exploration of the nation’s oldest and largest military branch.

Opened on November 11, 2020, the museum’s mission is to honor America’s soldiers, preserve Army history, and educate the public about the Army's role in American history. The facility also includes spaces for ceremonies, reenactments, lectures, educational programs, and reunions, making it a dynamic hub for both remembrance and learning.

10

USS Arizona Memorial, Hawaii

Image: Tim Mossholder

This solemn memorial rests above the sunken remains of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, a pivotal site in American history. It honors the 1,177 crew members who lost their lives during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.

The majestic white structure symbolizes peace and remembrance, while the wall of names reminds us of the individual stories of bravery and sacrifice of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. A profoundly evocative monument, it stands as a testament to national resilience and unity in the face of adversity.

1

Yale

Image: Pixabay

One of America’s most illustrious universities, Yale has been creating stories and forging traditions for more than three centuries. Being one of the oldest universities in the country means you can claim a couple of "oldest". For example, Yale is home to the earliest collegiate daily newspaper still in existence. The Yale Daily News has been around since 1878, reporting consistently five days a week. Also, the Whiffenpoofs, Yale’s oldest a capella group, has been singing every Monday night since 1909 .

Another fun fact? They may not teach magic at Yale, but theuniversity’s residential college system is very similar to the Hogwarts house system portrayed in the famous Harry Potter series . Each year, Yale freshmen are treated to a formal holiday banquet at one of the 17 extravagant Gothic dining halls on campus.

2

Stanford

Image: Jason Leung

The campus of Stanford University spans 8,180 acres in the center of the San Francisco Peninsula. It includes 630 buildings, 49 miles of roads, 3 dams, more than 40,000 trees , 25 fountains, a biological preserve, and a historic equestrian barn, among many other special features. It’s so big that it even has its own special zip code!

Perhaps one of the most relevant facts about Stanford is that it is considered the birthplace of Silicon Valley . In the 1930s, the university's Dean of Engineering, Frederick Terman, encouraged his students to stay in the area to develop a high-tech hub. This is how Bill Hewlett and David Packard ended up creating Hewlett-Packard in a garage in Palo Alto not far from campus.

3

MIT

Image: Ana GG

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was founded on April 10, 1861, just two days before the start of the Civil War. MIT’s official colors are Cardinal Red and Silver Gray and, in 1914, the beaver was chosen as the university’s formal mascot due to its "engineering and mechanical skill and habits of industry."

This distinguished university currently counts 98 Nobel Laureates among its alumni, faculty, and staff. But the nerdy ways of the MIT crowd don't end there.Did you know that acceptance letters for undergraduates are sent out every March 14, in commemoration of Pi Day? Admissions are even delivered at exactly 6.28 pm, which is known as "Tau time" (πx2). No wonder MIT’s motto is mens et manus , Latin for "mind and hand".

4

UCLA

Image: tommao wang

The University of California is synonymous with excellence and innovation, but there are a lot of tidbits about it that even graduates don’t know about. UCLA’s football team has had many nicknames over the years : they were known as the "Cubs", the "Grizzlies", and finally the "Bruins". A live bear even used to take the field at some games until it was banned!

UCLA was also home to some of America’s most prominent cultural icons : James Dean majored in drama, Francis Ford Coppola earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film, NASA astronaut and first mother in space, Anna Lee Fisher, graduated as a doctor and mastered in chemistry, and neuroscientist Dr. Mayim Bialik popularised this field of science with her character in the famous TV series The Big Bang Theory . Can you name any other stars who went to UCLA?

5

Brown

Image: Keming Tan

Founded in 1764, Brown is a leading American research university, the first Ivy League school to accept students from all religious affiliations . Located in Providence, Rhode Island, this school has a bear mascot named Bruno and a library with no windows that resembles a tomb —in fact, rumor has it, that Rush and Annmary Brown Hawkins are buried here. Another one of its libraries, The John Carter Brown Library, holds an invaluable treasure: seven 15th-century letters from Christopher Columbus proclaiming his "discovery" of the Americas.

But perhaps Brown’s most curious feature is Carberry Day. Every Friday the 13th, students celebrate Josiah S. Carberry, a legendary fictional professor of "psychoceramics" who was created as a joke in 1929. Since then, every Carberry Day all students and faculty spread the campus with brown jugs filled with change they donate to the professor and his ‘future late wife Laura’. Have you ever heard of this traditional Brunonian holiday?

6

Johns Hopkins

Image: Falkenpost

This university named after the 18th-century Quaker entrepreneur and philanthropist Johns Hopkins was the first research university established in the United States . Johns Hopkins has a long and fascinating history, including mutant rabbit-related mysteries and famous alums: President Woodrow Wilson, Wolf Blitzer, Mike Bloomberg, Tori Amos, and Wes Craven, just to name a few.

Johns Hopkins is also home to some important events in literary history . In 1932, Zelda Fitzgerald was admitted to the university’s hospital and treated for schizophrenia. Soon after, F. Scott Fitzgerald, moved across the street to be closer to his wife. While in Baltimore, they wrote two novels: Save Me the Waltz and Tender is the Night .

7

UPenn

Image: Dyana Wing So

"Here’s a toast to dear old Penn", sing students at the University of Pennsylvania during home football games. Originating in the prohibition years, this tradition of throwing pieces of toast on the field seems to have taken the expression rather literally. Another popular myth at UPenn indicates that freshmen should never cross the compass embedded into the center of Locust Walk if they don't want to risk failing their first exams.

But serious things also happen at this legendary Philadelphia university. For example, it was founded by none other than Benjamin Franklin , the first general-purpose electronic computer was created here in 1946, has 38 Nobel laureates, and many other prominent Americans attended the school, such as Noam Chomsky, Ezra Pound, Warren Buffett, Tory Burch, and John Legend.

8

Caltech

Image: LisetteBrodey

Since its founding in 1891, the California Institute Of Technology has made significant contributions in various scientific fields. It has produced 39 Nobel Laureates and operates the world’s largest optical telescope , located at the Palomar Observatory. Caltech’s most popular major is Computer Science and it also has numerous groundbreaking space-related discoveries under its belt —as a matter of fact, the campus is home to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

While academic excellence is what makes Caltech unique, they also have some quirky traditions. For example, pranks are common practice, often involving rivalries between student houses , especially during Halloween. And it's not all about using their brains, Caltech students put their bodies to work as well. Ditch Day, a celebration whose origins date back to 1921, is said to resemble, wait for it, The Amazing Race .

9

Princeton

Image: jplenio

The Princeton campus is so picturesque that it has been used as a set for numerous Hollywood productions , including films like A Beautiful Mind and Across the Universe , among others. This renowned Ivy League university also houses the oldest college literary and debating club in the United States , whose graduates include two U.S. presidents, two U.S. vice presidents, and four U.S. Supreme Court justices.

There are more than 60,000 senior theses stored at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, for example, those of Michelle Obama, Ethan Coen, Sonia Sotomayor, and Maria Ressa. Princeton University is not only famous on Earth but also in outer space . In November 1969, Charles "Pete" Conrad, a former student and the commander of the Apollo 12 mission, took a Princeton flag to the moon.

10

Harvard

Image: Tamás Mészáros

Harvard University was founded as early as 1636, which makes it the oldest institution of higher education in the United States . With almost 400 years of history, it is not surprising that this prestigious university houses several interesting stories and curious facts to discover. Named after John Harvard, who donated half of his estate and his library of more than 400 books, the school currently has 79 libraries holding about 20.4 million items in 150 miles worth of shelves.

But there’s more! Did you know that eight Harvard alumni signed the Declaration of Independence? Also, Harvard had the first native Chinese instructor to teach Chinese in America, former students won 110 Olympic medals —including 46 gold—, 51 of its affiliates are Nobel laureates, 48 hold a Pulitzer Prize, and 10 won Academy Awards. Not bad, huh?

1

The Everest

Image: Martin Jernberg

James Whittaker made history as the first American to achieve one of the most difficult things in the world.

In 1963 , Whittaker, then 34 years old , became the first American to reach the summit of the highest mountain on the planet, Mount Everest , as part of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth.

Facing challenging weather and low temperatures, Seattle-born Whittaker conquered the summit of the Himalayan giant, which stands at 29,035 feet high! Can you picture yourself on such an expedition?

2

The astronauts

Image: NASA

The 1960s definitely transformed history, marking a period when humanity first traveled into outer space. The first American to reach space was Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961 . After a successful flight of 15 minutes and 22 seconds, Shepard's spacecraft splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. Shepard didn’t complete an orbit of Earth on that trip, but John Glenn arrived and became the first American to orbit our planet on February 20, 1962 .

Of course, these amazing achievements were necessary for Neil Armstrong to take his historic step onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969 , becoming the first American -and the very first human- to do so.

Want to know who was the first American woman in space ? The title went to Sally Ride , who reached outer space in 1983 .

3

The Skyscraper

Image: Pedro Lastra

Yes, skyscrapers dominate the skyline of many cities in our country today. However, there was a time when there were none. And the title of America's first skyscraper went to the Home Insurance Building in Chicago.

Designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney and completed in 1885 , it was the first to use a structural steel frame. Although iconic and unique in its time, it was demolished in 1931 to build what is now the Bank of America Building.

4

The Nobel

Image: caleb weiner

You'll be happy to know that the first Nobel Prize won by an American was in the Peace category. It was awarded to none other than Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for his role and contribution to ending the Russo-Japanese War.

Roosevelt stood out precisely for inviting representatives from Russia and Japan to a peace conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1905. Of course, the task was not an easy one, but Teddy was determined. His efforts ended in a historic peace agreement known worldwide as The Treaty of Portsmouth.

5

The flight

Image: History in HD

The Wright brothers ' story is one of the most famous. Coming from Dayton, Ohio , these two brothers are credited with inventing the first powered airplane and making the world's first successful flight with it.

But which of them was the first American to fly? Well, it seems Wilbur Wright, the older of the two, gave the honor to his younger brother. So, it was Orville who made history as the first to pilot the successful aircraft.

Orville piloted the first sustained flight of a powered aircraft in December 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina . His flight lasted 12 seconds and flew a distance of 120 feet. True pioneers!

6

The University

Image: Somesh Kesarla Suresh

388 years is a really long time, right? Well, that's the amount of time that has passed since the first university was founded in the territory of what would eventually become the United States of America.

We are talking about the prestigious Harvard University , born in 1636 in what was then the Massachusetts Bay Colony , with the aim of training clergy. Originally called "New College," the institution was later renamed Harvard College in honor of John Harvard , its first major benefactor.

7

The baseball team

Image: Caitlin Conner

Whether you prefer football, ice hockey, baseball, or basketball, it's undeniable that these four sports best represent our nation.

But only one has earned the title of "America's pastime." Of course, we're talking about baseball . One of the most popular sports today, it was also the earliest to establish a professional team.

The Cincinnati Red Stockings , established in 1869 , were the first professional baseball team in our country. When all the teams were still amateur, the Red Stockings became the first team with paid players, leading the way for the rest of the teams and for the eventual establishment of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in 1871.

8

The Flag

Image: Samuel Branch

Every independent country needs a flag to symbolize its identity and ideals. The US flag , in particular, has gone through a series of changes that show the nation's journey through history. First hoisted by George Washington on January 1, 1776 , at Prospect Hill in Somerville, Massachusetts , our first National Flag was born during the years of the Revolution .

Known as the "Continental Colors," this unofficial flag was adopted in 1775 as a symbol of the Continental Army . Its design had 13 red and white stripes , symbolizing the 13 original colonies, and the Union Jack in the upper left corner.

As the Revolutionary War progressed, the Continental Congress considered a series of changes to our flag to better represent the united colonies and their desire for independence. Thus came the "Stars and Stripes" new design on June 14, 1777 , which replaced the Union Jack with 13 white stars, initially often arranged in a circle.

9

The Oscar

Image: Mirko Fabian

If you are a movie enthusiast , this fact is probably already in your memory. And if you're not, it's still a good fact worth knowing.

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929 , and featured nominations for classic films like The Racket and Seventh Heaven , both released in 1927.

But the movie that stole the show was Wings , also from 1927 , directed by William A. Wellman and starring Clara Bow, Charles Rogers, and Richard Arlen. This silent film about WWI was the very first to win the category then known as "Outstanding Picture," which today we call "Best Picture." It was notable for its realistic aerial battles and special effects of excellent quality for its time. If you haven't seen it yet, this is your cue to do so!

10

The National Park

Image: Austin Farrington

From expansive deserts to dense forests, and from delightful beaches to impressive mountains, our country's landscapes and biodiversity are truly amazing.

Many of these natural sites have earned the title of National Parks , which guarantees their protection and conservation for the joy of locals and tourists. And while today we have many national parks to visit, there was once a first.

The very first was the great Yellowstone National Park , designated by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872 . Located in the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, this natural site set a precedent for the conservation of our land's natural areas. Have you already visited it?