One of Virginia’s most amazing architectural treasures wasn’t formed by the hand of man at all, and it’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Thomas Jefferson once owned it. George Washington is said to have surveyed its location as a young lad of 17—though he was fully commissioned as a surveyor with a…

Despite being a lifelong equestrian, I was greatly challenged by an early July horseback excursion into the Teton wilderness of Wyoming. Due to a connection with a pack-trip guide at the almost 100-year-old Triangle X Ranch, which overlooks the Grand Teton mountain range just outside Jackson Hole, Wy., I was asked to join what promised…

Parting from his wife and two sons was the hardest thing Tiberiu Czentye had ever done—harder than the upcoming 40-mile trek that would end with him crawling on the ground as he tried to evade armed guards near the Romanian–Yugoslavian border, harder than what would be months of hard labor in a Yugoslavian prison after…

July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence is signed, and the United States of America emerges as a free and independent country after years of conflict and turmoil. The birth of the American nation also heralded a new chapter in world history. These facts are rooted firmly in American history and inform our culture and…

Back in 1992, artist José-María Cundín, originally from the Basque Country, Spain, released a hand-engraved facsimile of the United States Declaration of Independence, after three years of hard work and collaboration with craftsmen from his homeland—a papermaker and a renowned metal engraver. But the project didn’t draw broader interest from the American public. Sara Fattori,…

Sally was a Dutch Shepherd dog who arrived at Laurie Dorr’s Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home in North Yarmouth, Maine, in 2019. Her owner was moving and was unable to keep her. At age 14, Sally would have been destined to live in a cage at a shelter, but the owner found…

Dorian Filip was a massage therapist in 2009, working aboard the Seabourn Odyssey on its maiden voyage around the Mediterranean. After some years in the industry, he had developed aches in his neck, shoulder, and hands that were increasingly painful, and thoughts of quitting were on his mind. “I said, ‘If nothing works, I’ll go…

Lewis Howes had a major breakdown about 13 years ago. He had just begun his career as a professional football player, playing in the Arena Football League. But a devastating wrist injury ended his prospects. “I felt like my life was over—my whole dream shattered,” he said in a recent interview. He was fresh out…

One Friday afternoon in December 2013, estate sales specialist Robin Psota got tipped off about a trove of collectibles in a house just north of the Los Angeles International Airport. She fought her way through traffic, donned gloves, and sifted through a pile of debris in an upstairs room. “I’d never seen such a hoarder…

If walls could talk, what stories would they tell? During the Civil War, Union soldiers occupied the region of Helena, Arkansas. They quartered inside a Greek Revival-style home that belonged to a local Confederate soldier. It was a stately mansion built in 1858, with a robust pediment and tall, elegant columns on its facade. Union…