1

The American Revolution

We weren’t always the United States of America. One of the very first turning points in our history was the American Revolution, when the 13 colonies fought to become a new independent nation free from the control of the British Empire.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4 , 1776, though the Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783, when American forces finally defeated Britain. This pivotal moment influenced political movements around the world and spread new ideas about representative government and individual rights.

2

The Civil War

The deadliest conflict in U.S. history, the Civil War was a devastating yet defining event that changed the way Americans lived and worked, bringing about the abolition of slavery . The conflict lasted from 1861 to 1865, during which the Union fought the Confederate states that had seceded from the United States.

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared enslaved people in the Confederate states to be free. This didn’t immediately end slavery everywhere in America until the war officially ended and the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, abolishing slavery throughout the country.

3

World War II

Many chilling stories have been written about how the world would be if Nazi Germany had won World War II. But in actual history, Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, followed by Japan on September 2, 1945, officially ending the war and setting the stage for the world we grew up in .

In the aftermath of such a devastating and bloody war, the United Nations was created in October 1945 with the goal of preventing future conflicts and promoting cooperation among nations.

4

The Moon landing

"Reach for the moon" was just a rhetorical expression until 1969, when NASA’s Apollo 11 mission put humans on the lunar surface. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon in an unparalleled historical event, with an estimated 600 million people watching on television.

Such an unthinkable achievement demonstrated what was possible for humanity and opened up a whole new horizon of possibilities for science, engineering, and technology.

5

The Great Depression

Everyone knows about the infamous stock market crash of 1929 and the start of what became known as the Great Depression. A time when banks failed, businesses shut down, and millions of Americans were left in dire straits.

This event directly led Franklin D. Roosevelt to introduce the New Deal to provide relief and economic recovery. After the Depression and these reforms, there was a new understanding of the federal government’s role in the economy that would shape American politics from then on.

6

Columbus's 1492 voyage

What happened after October 12, 1492, when Christopher Columbus reached an island in the Caribbean after sailing from Spain, defined the history of the Americas and the world as we know it today.

It opened the door to European exploration and conquest in the "New World" as well as the exchange of plants, animals, people, technologies, and even diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Columbus's landing kicked off a chain reaction that unfolded over the following centuries, which also came with negative repercussions like population collapse in the continent, forced labor, and the transatlantic slave trade.

7

The Wright Brothers' first flight

These days, hopping on a plane is no big deal. You can move around the country and the world fairly easily, and roughly 100,000 flights take off worldwide daily. But getting off the ground was a monumental achievement when Orville and Wilbur Wright did the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft on December 17, 1903.

This turning point planted the seed of modern aviation , and within the next decades, airplanes and air travel transformed the world.

8

The Industrial Revolution

Today’s modern industry began taking shape in Britain in the late 18th century, thanks to a series of new technological advancements which saw factories and mass production take over small workshops and handcrafting.

Besides changing the way we produced goods, the Industrial Revolution redesigned the way society was structured, as millions of people moved from rural areas to cities in order to work at the new factories, causing profound changes in where and how people lived.

9

The invention of the printing press

Copying books by hand wasn’t just time-consuming; it was expensive, too. Until 1440, that is, when German inventor Johannes Gutenberg created the first printing press using movable metal type.

Imagine the tremendous impact this had on religion, science, philosophy , and any other field where ideas could now circulate much more widely and quickly, expanding access to information, accelerating literacy and education, and ultimately transforming the entire world.

10

The French Revolution

Far beyond France’s borders, the French Revolution was a game-changing moment that made waves across the world, replacing the notion that government power comes from divine right with the new understanding that it actually comes from the people.

It began in 1789 when the French people rebelled against the monarchy, proclaiming the motto liberté, égalité, fraternité, and became a republic before executing King Louis XVI by guillotine in 1793.

1

Woolworth’s

Woolworth’s was the place to buy everything from school supplies and toys to household goods and candy—or even to grab lunch. The first store opened its doors in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1879. It was a five-and-dime shop, and the chain soon became one of America’s most recognizable retail names, with over 3,000 stores nationwide at its peak. So, why did it disappear?

With the steady rise of suburban shopping centers and large discount stores, Woolworth’s couldn’t keep up and began a slow decline in the 1960s that culminated in 1997, when it closed its final stores for good.

2

A&P

A&P used to be the spot to get everyday groceries. It began as a tea and coffee business in 1859 and later evolved into one of America’s biggest supermarkets with more than 16,000 stores in the country at its peak. But despite pioneering high-volume retailing, A&P couldn’t stick around.

Over the decades, newer competitors entered the market, and grocery shopping became more and more competitive. Walmart, Target, Aldi, Whole Foods—A&P failed to adapt and filed for bankruptcy twice, first in 2010 and again in 2015, and finally shut down in November 2015.

3

Blockbuster

Blockbuster was the go-to for movie rentals . It dominated the market with 9,100 stores worldwide by 2004, about $6 billion in revenue, and thousands of movies to choose from—it was hard to imagine Blockbuster ever falling, but it did.

The rapid advancement of technology hit Blockbuster hard, with newer options like DVD-by-mail services, Redbox kiosks, and the final blow: streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and more. All Blockbuster corporate-owned stores closed by January 2014; however, you can still visit one holdout location in Bend, Oregon.

4

Montgomery Ward

Long before Amazon, consumers could buy almost anything from Montgomery Ward from the comfort of their homes , and the company would ship it directly to them. It felt like online shopping before the internet. So why did it vanish?

To adapt to newer shopping habits, Montgomery Ward opened physical stores and started competing with brands like Sears; but once suburban malls and discount stores became widespread in the 1980s, Montgomery Ward couldn’t keep pace and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and again in 2001.

5

Circuit City

Circuit City started in 1949 and quickly became the source for TVs, stereos, VCRs, video games, and just about every kind of electronics , especially during the 1980s. The company continued growing by the early 2000s, expanding to more than 600 stores, though one controversial decision made it trip and fall.

Circuit City was already struggling to compete with Best Buy and Walmart. And in 2007, it replaced its commissioned sales staff with low-paid hourly workers, damaging customer service—often considered one of Circuit City’s biggest strategic mistakes. By March 2009, the chain was gone.

6

Caldor

There was a time when one trip to Caldor could cover almost everything on your shopping list. Founded in 1951, it became a major one-stop discount department store . By the 1990s, it had grown to more than 150 stores across New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, but in 1995 it filed for bankruptcy. What happened in between?

Big box stores like Walmart and Target were expanding rapidly, and Caldor simply fell behind as people moved toward newer retail formats that combined department stores and supermarkets. Plus, the company took on a lot of debt in 1991, which only made things worse. Caldor finally closed for good in 1999.

7

Borders

Borders is a reminder of a time when buying a book was an experience, rather than just clicking a few buttons online. It opened in 1971 and set itself apart from other modern bookstores. At Borders, you could spend an entire afternoon browsing not just books, but music and DVDs or even grabbing a coffee.

Around 2003–2004, Borders had more than 1,200 stores worldwide , but it failed to adapt to an inevitable growing trend: online book sales. Amazon eventually took over, and Borders couldn’t stay in the game, closing its final location in September 2011.

8

G.C. Murphy

Much like Woolworth’s, G.C. Murphy was a five-and-dime store that sold a little bit of everything and had lunch counters or snack bars where people would hang out. The company opened in 1906, and it operated more than 500 stores by 1976.

But once the traditional five-and-dime model came under pressure from discount giants, G.C. Murphy was forced to adapt. The chain did make some efforts and experimented with bigger stores and different formats, but it wasn’t enough, and G.C. Murphy filed for bankruptcy in 1985.

9

Zayre

Zayre entered the market in 1956 as a classic discount department store that looked more like a warehouse . It was a no-frills, self-service shopping experience with massive stores, wide-open interiors, and exposed ceilings where you could find lots of everyday items like clothing, household goods, or appliances at low prices.

While it was pretty successful, especially across the Northeast and Midwest, Zayre struggled to keep up with giants like Target. It tried to reinvent itself by founding TJ Maxx in 1977, but eventually sold the remaining Zayre stores to Ames in 1988, and the Zayre name vanished by 1990.

10

Service Merchandise

Service Merchandise was founded in 1934 and, unlike typical retail stores, it introduced a strange new concept called the " catalog showroom " in 1960, where display floors showcased single working samples of products, and the actual inventory was stored in an adjacent backroom warehouse. Customers would look at a catalog, place an order, and an employee would bring it to them.

The concept proved successful, and Service Merchandise operated more than 400 showrooms by the mid-1990s. But Service Merchandise’s model meant longer waiting times, and traditional discount stores began offering a faster and easier shopping experience. The company tried to modernize by introducing electronic inventory systems, but it didn’t work out. By 2002, Service Merchandise was gone.

1

Measuring

This is a difference most Americans are aware of: most countries use the metric system rather than U.S. customary units, and most use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. Countries such as the UK and Canada still use some imperial units in everyday life, but they mainly use the metric system. Another measure that confuses foreigners is the particular way ingredients are measured in American recipes, which often use cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons rather than measurements by weight.

Fun fact: The only other countries that use the Imperial system officially are Liberia and Myanmar.

2

Sales tax

Do you find having to calculate sales taxes annoying? That’s a unique American experience. In the majority of the world, the price you see is the price you pay , because it has the sales tax already added.

Why is it different in America? Sales taxes vary across states , so retailers find it easier to showcase the base price and then calculate the total at checkout.

3

Cutlery use

Many Americans abroad are surprised by the realization that not everyone uses a knife and fork in the same way they do . In fact, no one else does. While most Americans have learned the American style —also called the zig-zag or fork switching method— that involves using the fork in the left hand for cutting and then changing it to the right to pick up the food, European and Latin American countries don’t do this . It might seem like a small difference, but it completely changes the way you eat.

4

Iced drinks

Do other countries not have ice? They do, but they don’t necessarily assume everyone will want it. While serving water and other beverages with ice is customary in America, in many other countries, you need to request it —even during the hottest of summers.

But even if you get ice, many times you will need to specify the amount : the same drink that would be filled with ice cubes in America might come to you with just two or three cubes elsewhere.

5

Date formatting

The U.S. is not completely alone on this one, but there’s a difference big enough to be worth mentioning. The standardized way of recording the date in America is month-day-year , a convention also followed by some Caribbean and Asian countries. But in the rest of the Western world, the conventional format is day-month-year , which can lead to confusion for Americans. In most Asian countries , the most commonly used format is year-month-day .

6

The word ‘American’

In the English language, ‘American’ is the only way to refer to people with U.S. citizenship . Other words, such as ‘Usian’ or ‘Unitedstatian’ have been proposed, but never stuck. This is why many Americans are surprised when other countries —Latin American countries in particular— use ‘American’ for anyone in the American continent , or continents, another big difference. In most European and Latin American countries, there is a different word for U.S. citizens, such as the Spanish ‘estadounidense’ or the Portuguese ‘estadunidense’ .

7

Moving out at 18 years old

This one is not so black and white, but more like a general tendency. Compared with most of Europe, Latin America, and Asia, Americans give serious consideration to the possibility of moving out after high school. Not everyone does, and not everyone can afford it, but it's fairly common.

In other countries, young adults generally move out if their job or education requires it , but they tend to stay at home a few more years if they can.

8

Driving a car as a teenager

America is quite car-centric , especially if you live outside of the big cities. While not everyone can afford to have a personal car —even a second-hand one—, it is common for 16 and 17-year-olds to legally drive their parents’ car, or save for their own.

In the rest of the world, the chances of high schoolers driving themselves to school are much lower, as most countries don’t allow underage kids to get a driving license .

9

Solo cups

Do plastic cups exist outside of the U.S.? They do, but they are not as iconic or as widely used as Solo cups, introduced in the 1970s as a disposable but sturdy cup for parties and events. Many foreigners visiting America are surprised when they realize that solo cups are a real thing , and not something that just happens in movies.

10

Filing taxes

Taxes in the U.S. are not that different from taxes in other countries, except for how they are filed . During tax filing season, thousands of Americans direct their efforts to ensure they have properly reported their income and that their return will match the IRS’s data.

In other parts of the world, however, the one responsible for calculating and filing taxes is the government , while citizens merely corroborate that everything is in order.