Harry Houdini was so patriotic about the U.S. that he told people he was from Appleton, Wis., instead of his native Budapest, Hungary.
In colonial days, American bandannas were sometimes printed with maps as guides for travel.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, parents were encouraged to show their infants “Baby Einstein” videos to help them grow up to be wunderkinds. In a 2003 study, one-third of all American babies had seen at least one video. The videos were later recalled because they may have been more detrimental than educational.
Before the 1880 presidential race, both political parties recruited thousands of youths and ordered them to wear capes and march through American cities. Republicans and Democrats alike wanted to claim to represent a fresh movement, the true party for young Americans.
Democrats in the 2023 U.S. Senate represented 204 million people; Republicans represented 150 million.
This article appears in July 5 • 2024.