Signed on September 17, 1787--four years after the American War for Independence--the Constitution laid out the supreme law of the United States of America. Today it's easy for us to take this blueprint of our government for granted. But the Framers--fifty-five men from almost all of the original 13 states--argued fiercely for many months over what ended up being only a four-page document.

"On June 19, 1865, a group of enslaved men, women, and children in Texas gathered around a Union soldier and listened as he read the most remarkable words they would ever hear. They were no longer enslaved: they were free. The inhumane practice of forced labor with no pay was now illegal in all of the United States. This news was cause for celebration, so the group of people jumped in excitement, danced, and wept tears of joy. They did not know it...

Hear ye, hear ye! Get ready to learn all about the most powerful court in the United States.
Ever since it was established in 1789, the United States Supreme Court has had a major impact on the lives of all Americans. Some of its landmark decisions have helped end segregation, protected a person’s privacy, and allowed people to marry whomever they love. 
 
Best-selling author, former executive editor...

Gooaal! Soccer fans, get your game on with this book about one of the biggest tournaments in women’s sports.
The first international women's soccer match was in 1881, but the Women's World Cup didn't become official until 1991 — 110 years later! Read about the courageous, soccer-loving women who worked hard to have a World Cup of their own in this addition to the Who HQ series. Young readers will learn about the history of women's...

"In the winter of 1846-47, a group of eighty-seven pioneers heading from the Midwest to California found themselves snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with no way forward and no food or supplies. While forty-eight of the group members survived,the others perished due to extreme weather, starvation, and illness. To survive, the remaining people resorted to extreme measures . . . including cannibalism. Learn about the many miscalculations,...

"In 1914, the assassination of an Austrian archduke set off a disastrous four-year-long conflict involving dozens of countries with battles taking place in all parts of the world. World War I was the first to use planes and tanks as well as deadly gases that left soldiers blinded or "shell shocked" (a condition now called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome). There were battles that lasted for months with opposing troops fighting from rat-infested trenches,...

The panic-filled summer of 1916, when multiple deadly shark attacks shocked the nation, is chronicled in this gripping addition to the New York Times Best-Selling What Was? series.
On July 1, 1916, witnesses watched in horror as twenty-eight-year-old Charles Vansant was attacked and killed by a shark in shallow water off Beach Haven, New Jersey—the first recorded shark attack in American history. Scientists claimed a shark could...