Geography Story Briefs

Geography provides a sense of place. What a country has, in terms of strategic location and natural resources, can determine its role in the world. See why geography matters in this collection of stories.

In 1925, Parisians - depicted here in the Montmartre area of the city - were recovering from the impact of WWI.

During America's Civil War, one of the country's most-famous writers penned a poem about ... the Revolutionary War.

On the 8th of October, 1871, Peshtigo was a mill town in Wisconsin.

Peter Minuit was 46 years old when he arrived in "New Netherland" on the 4th of May, 1626. He was the colony's first official director general and "p...

Russia rose as a mighty power following the Middle Ages, but after Ivan IV (also known as Ivan Grozny - "Ivan the Terrible") died, the country was thr...

During the late spring of 1776, Tom Jefferson traveled to Philadelphia as a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

How does photosynethesis work?

When the Pilgrims left Leiden, they began their journey to America on the Vliet Canal (sometimes referred to as the Vliet River).

When Florence Bascom (1862-1945) attended Johns Hopkins University, to pursue a doctorate in geology, she had to sit behind a screen so male students ...

This map illustrates the plan of siege for Yorktown and Gloucester Point.

This map, engraved by Francis Shallus, depicts British and American-French positions for the Battle of Yorktown during October, 1781.

No one can be totally sure that the rock depicted in this image - known as Plymouth Rock - is really the stepping stone on which William Bradford (and...

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