Curated playlist
Former state capitals in the United States
- Huntsville, AlabamaOn January 31, 1958, a rocket from Huntsville, Alabama's army complex put America's first satellite in orbit.
- DetroitDetroit, Michigan, counted 1.85 million residents in the 1950 census and 639,111 in the 2020 census. Among large American cities that have shrunk, none has lost more people in raw numbers over those decades. The city stands on the Detroit…
- San Jose, CaliforniaFrom 1950 to 1969, San Jose's city manager annexed property 1,389 times. The city grew from 17 to 149 square miles.
- Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New Jersey, spent most of its history as two towns, with one wrapped completely around the other. The 2020 United States census counted 30,681 residents in the municipality. That was an increase of 2,109, or 7.4 percent, over…
- New OrleansIn 1768, New Orleans residents briefly seized their own city to make France take it back.
- Wheeling, West VirginiaIn 1904, Wheeling became the first city to refuse a free library from Andrew Carnegie. It cited his labor record.
- HoustonHouston voters rejected zoning in 1948, 1962 and 1993, so it is the largest U.S. city without it.
- Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah lost three squares to 1950s development, and one became a parking garage.
- Macon, GeorgiaMacon, Georgia, sits on land people have lived on for roughly 13,000 years.
- PhiladelphiaIn 1777, the Liberty Bell was hidden under a church floor for nine months.
- Natchez, MississippiAn 1840 tornado killed 317 people in Natchez, Mississippi, and the true toll is almost certainly higher.
- New York CityAn estimated 800 languages are spoken in New York City, more than in any other city on earth.