Snake oil wasn't always a scam.Chinese immigrants who came to the United States brought with them actual snake oil to help with the pains and inflammation brought on by strenuous railroad construction.

Incredibly enough the mayor of New York City, Fernando Wood, suggested in 1861 that New York City secede and declare itself a free city because of its lucrative ties to the cotton industry.

There's much about the events leading up to and the Boston Tea Party itself that is misunderstood.

If all other manners of conflict resolution are exhausted a duel is the last resort.

Many know the research conducted around the first atomic bombs as the "Manhattan Project," but was it really based in New York City?

Did you know that NASA went out of its way to embrace the unlucky number thirteen?

The two-day weekend wasn't always the case. What caused the 20th century weekend we've all come to know and love?

In 1932 Rear Admiral Harry Yarnell mounted a simulated attack on Pearl Harbor utilizing carrier-based airplanes to expose how vulnerable it was to a carrier-borne attack. The Japanese took notice.

In the fourth century A.D. Christmas supplanted the Roman Saturnalia festival, but the tradition of wild celebrations continued.

Before it was a federal penitentiary Alcatraz housed a military prison, and it was a lot easier to escape. Learn more about Alcatraz including how some prisoners made it off The Rock.

There are many myths surrounding the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic, in particular with regards to the ship's captain, Edward Smith.

From the War of 1812 to the renovation of 1948, the White House underwent several dramatic changes, but can you separate its facts versus fiction?

Many myths and confusion surround the history and our understanding of slaves' flight from the South.

The United States Bullion Depository, or the more commonly-referred to Fort Knox, is filled with as many misconceptions as it is gold.

It wasn't John Glenn's reentry into the Earth's atmosphere in Friendship 7 that caused the most concern for his Earth-orbiting mission but liftoff in the surprisingly fragile Atlas rocket.

Many myths endure about Pocahontas, mainly because of the tales told by her contemporary, colonist John Smith.

In the fourth century A.D. Christmas supplanted the Roman Saturnalia festival, but the tradition of wild celebrations continued.

Harry Houdini was not only known for his illusions but also his myth busting, particularly when it came to the popular spiritualist movement of the 1920s which came about because of the end of World War I and the global influenza pandemic.

Incredibly enough the mayor of New York City, Fernando Wood, suggested in 1861 that New York City secede and declare itself a free city because of its lucrative ties to the cotton industry.

Before it was a federal penitentiary Alcatraz housed a military prison, and it was a lot easier to escape. Learn more about Alcatraz including how some prisoners made it off The Rock.

Some of the most noteworthy photographers from the Civil War would move bodies around on the battlefield in order to achieve dramatic effect.

Many know the research conducted around the first atomic bombs as the "Manhattan Project," but was it really based in New York City?

When it comes to the myths of Thanksgiving, they are plentiful, yet not nearly as interesting as the facts behind the first gathering.

Due to their inexperience many airborne troops including those of Fox Company loaded themselves up too much for their jump into Normandy on D-Day.

Eugene Sledge recounts in his diary how he and his fellow soldiers were being trained in subhuman slaughter before their landing at hellish Peleliu.

Unaware that the NVA was about to launch a new offensive around Dai Do a group of 250 Marines launch their attack against what would be 10,000 NVA.

As part of their effort to put down the Iraqi insurgency in Fallujah, in some of the heaviest urban combat since Hue, Marines had to cross the very wide and perilous Highway 10 to reach a key objective.

With only 79 men Charlie company finds itself in a precarious position surrounded by a vastly superior NVA force in the dense jungle in Vietnam.

The only thing holding up Hitler's plan to divide and send General Patton's 3rd Army back to the sea was a group of 150 National Guardsmen occupying the crucially important Hill 314 in the village of Mortain, France.

Canadian George Beurling broke every rule in the book yet became one of the greatest fighter pilots of World War II. A loner and a social misfit, Beurling's disdain for protocol branded him an outcast.

During one of the final battles over Malta, George Beurling might have been in his last dog fight.

Despite engine failure and no radio from being shot up over Berlin the crew of this Lancaster bomber defy the odds and make it back home to England.