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The human history of the United States begins with Native Americans. After stewarding the land for generations, Indigenous peoples introduced Europeans to “new food plants, new drugs, new dyes, tobacco, unheard-of languages, novel modes of life,” and much more, as the historian A. Irving Hallowell wrote back in 1957. Here’s a look at just a few of the ways Indigenous peoples impacted American culture.

Powhatan and Patuxet: Aided in the Survival of Early Settlers

The survival of America’s first white settlements hinged on the knowledge of the native population. The settlers at Jamestown would have likely perished during the brutal winter of 1609-1610 were it not for the help of Powhatan captives, who managed 40 acres of maize. The same was true of the Mayflower pilgrims in Massachusetts, who learned how to plant corn thanks to the teachings of the famed Patuxent interpreter, Squanto. The settlers, however, did not return the favor, and continued to take more and more of the natives’ land.

Iroquois: Influenced Federal Power

Today, students are often taught that American democracy has its roots in ancient Rome or Greece. But the American republic also took cues from the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Philosophers like John Locke, whose writings influenced the creation of the United States, wrote with amazement about how the Iroquois Confederacy vested power in people, not a monarch. Meanwhile, Benjamin Franklin wrote letters to the Iroqouis, seemingly calling out how people incorrectly viewed them as “ignorant savages,” and spent significant time learning about their federal-style government. In 1751, Franklin wrote, “It would be a strange thing if Six Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such an union, and be able to execute it in such a manner as that it has subsisted ages and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies.”

The idea that the American republic was influenced by the Iroquois can be polarizing, and is often over- or understated. Some argue that American democracy was copy-and-pasted from the Six Nations. Others argue that the Iroqouis had no influence at all. Most historians, however, occupy a middle ground. “It is a fairly important idea that a great many societies and networks influenced American constitutional thought, the Iroquois among them,” historian Gautham Rao tells Politifact.

Pima: Developed Farm Irrigation

Without water, there can be no agriculture — and no civilization, for that matter. The Pima understood this challenge intimately. Around 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, the nation developed sophisticated irrigation systems across the arid deserts of Arizona, making the region habitable. (And establishing life in what is now Phoenix.) Those technologies paid off. Today, agriculture first cultivated by Native Americans makes up 60% of the world’s food supply, including pumpkins, cranberries, squash, pineapple, avocados, peanuts, and, of course, corn.

Plains Indians: Initiated Early Sign Language

Native Americans communicated through sign language centuries before the development of ASL. First recorded in the 1520s, the system — now called Plains Indian Sign Language — was used as a lingua franca by dozens of native nations across the American continent, including the Navajo, Cree, and Crow. The system allowed disparate tribes — many of which spoke completely foreign languages — to communicate and trade. While American Sign Language would later take inspiration from multiple language systems, the sign language developed by Native Americans remains one the world’s oldest and most widespread.

Algonquin: Created Lacrosse

First played in southern Canada more than 200 years ago, early lacrosse games were a chaotic ballsport consisting of hundreds — and sometimes thousands — of participants at one time. When Europeans began settling on North America, some tribes used the game to win the newcomers’ trust. In 1763, the Ojibwa people of Michigan used lacrosse as a Trojan Horse. With the British troops watching in the audience, the native athletes slowly worked their way to Fort Michilimackinac, and once they got close enough, they took the fort.

Native Nations: Promoting Conservation

Writers often attribute the rise of the American conservation and environmental movement to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring. However, Native Americans have been promoting conservation since the beginning of time. In fact, some tribes, like the Anishinaabe, don’t have a word for “conservation” because, to them, it’s much more than a political philosophy — it’s simply a fact of life. A 2019 U.N. report found that land managed by Indigenous populations had stronger biodiversity than land managed through modern agricultural methods.

Native Nations: Shaped Modern-Day Words

You cannot drive around the United States or speak English without bumping into a Native American contribution. At least 26 state names have native origins, including Arkansas (“downstream people”), Mississippi (“great water”), and Ohio (“beautiful river”). English words that have native origins include “chipmunk,” “hammock,” “chocolate,” “tequila,” “canoe,” and “opossum.”

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On June 19, 1865, some 250,000 enslaved people in Texas gained their freedom, ending slavery in one of its last major outposts in the United States. Today, this momentous event is marked by a federal holiday known as Juneteenth, which is sometimes referred to as the U.S.’s second Independence Day. Although a new holiday for many Americans, Juneteenth has a long history. These six facts show why the day more than deserves a hallowed spot among the nation’s holidays.

Juneteenth Commemorates a Proclamation — But Not Lincoln’s

Most Americans are familiar with the Emancipation Proclamation — President Abraham Lincoln’s famous 1863 declaration that freed all enslaved people in the Confederacy — but the proclamation itself didn’t guarantee those freedoms. In fact, it would be a couple of years before Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House to General U.S. Grant. Although the surrender was the last nail in the Confederacy’s coffin, many Texas enslavers still resisted emancipation. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger issued General Orders, No. 3, stating that “the people of Texas are informed, that in accordance with the proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” Backing up that order with 2,000 federal troops in Galveston, Granger ensured the freedom of a major portion of the last remaining enslaved people within the borders of the U.S.

The First Juneteenth Was Celebrated One Year After the Civil War

It didn’t take long for Juneteenth (originally known as “Emancipation Day” or “Jubilee Day”) to become a beloved celebration. One year after Granger’s General Orders, No. 3, the newly freed people of Texas celebrated the very first Juneteenth with community gatherings throughout the state that included sports, cookouts, dancing, prayers, and even fireworks. Over the years, celebrations became ever more elaborate — and more resilient, as racist Jim Crow laws took hold of the South. To continue celebrating the holiday, some freedmen even bought land in 1872 in Houston as a place to celebrate Juneteenth every year (today, that land is known as Emancipation Park; Juneteenth is still celebrated there). One by one, freed Texans traveled to other parts of the United States, and brought their Juneteenth customs with them. By the 1920s, the holiday was unofficially celebrated around the country.

The Color Red Is Prominent in Juneteenth Celebrations

For more than a century, Juneteenth celebrations have been accompanied by red velvet cake and red-hued refreshments, whether strawberry soda or red lemonade. There are a few theories behind this color-specific culinary tradition. One is that the color red is a significant hue in West African cultures, often symbolizing strength and spirituality. Another theory is that red featured prominently in the enslavement narratives of Yoruba and Kongo people forcibly brought to Texas in the 19th century. Other historians argue that the color is tied to special occasions dating back to ancient African traditions.

As for red drinks specifically, the tradition is likely linked to two West African plants — the kola nut and hibiscus — which can be used to make a variety of red-hued teas and refreshments. After the Civil War, newly freed Black folks also often infused lemonade with cherries or strawberries to make a cheap, refreshing drink. With the advent of food dyes and the arrival of the Texas-made Big Red soda in the 1930s, red foods and drinks were solidified as a staple of the Juneteenth menu.

Juneteenth Was Revived During the Civil Rights Movement

At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the early 20th century, Black people living in Texas — along with the rest of the American South — were victimized by Jim Crow laws and a surging white supremacist movement. Many Black families left Texas during the Great Migration, and the holiday seemed doomed to be stamped out by this new wave of virulent racism. During World War I, some even viewed Juneteenth as unpatriotic, as it focused on a “dark chapter” of U.S. history. But the holiday found new life — nearly a century after it was first celebrated — during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s. The Poor People’s March on Washington, occurring only months after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, was specifically organized to coincide with Juneteenth in 1968. By the 1970s, major cities around the U.S. were holding large Juneteenth celebrations, and in 1980 Texas became the first state to officially make Juneteenth a holiday.

Juneteenth Has Its Own Flag

Created in 1997, the Juneteenth flag is full of symbols — some more obvious than others. Starting with the most basic, the date June 19, 1865, running along the flag’s outer edge, represents the date of Granger’s General Orders, No. 3. The single star in the flag’s center represents Texas (aka “the Lone Star State”) as well as symbolizing the freedom of all Black Americans in all 50 states. Around the star is a “nova” (a kind of starburst), representing the birth of a new beginning for African Americans throughout the country, while the arc across the flag’s center represents a new horizon. Finally, the red, white, and blue color scheme tells us that enslaved people were and forever shall be remembered as Americans.

It’s the U.S.’s Newest Federal Holiday

Although the celebration of slavery’s end stretches back more than 150 years, Juneteenth didn’t become a federal holiday until 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Prior to that, the last holiday to be recognized by the federal government was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, back in 1983. Before Juneteenth became a federal holiday, all but one state (South Dakota) recognized it as a holiday, though only six states — Texas, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Washington, and Oregon — made it an official paid day off (that number has since grown). In 2023, more than 25,000 people will attend Philadelphia’s Juneteenth Parade & Festival, museums across Alexandria will organize Juneteenth events in Virginia, and citizens living in a free nation will return to Galveston, Texas, to once again celebrate the end of this great injustice.

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Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most widely influential women of the 20th century — so much so that serving the longest-ever term as First Lady (1933 to 1945), during World War II no less, is only one bullet point on her resume. As an educator, activist, political adviser, and journalist, Roosevelt touched lives all over the world, helped change the course of history, and clearly spoke her mind, even when her views were bolder than those of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

After her death in 1962, she left behind an incredible legacy of social justice, taking forward-thinking stances on issues such as school integration, women in the workplace, and immigrants’ rights. Her personal life is almost as interesting, including her untraditional marriage to FDR.

What was her first connection to the Roosevelt family? How did she enter social service? Just how thick was her FBI file? These six facts about Eleanor Roosevelt might teach you something new about the national icon.

Eleanor Roosevelt Was Teddy Roosevelt’s Niece

Eleanor had presidential connections far before her marriage to FDR, and when the time came, she didn’t even have to worry about taking his last name (she was born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt). She was Theodore Roosevelt’s niece; her father was Teddy’s younger brother Elliott.

In case you’re wondering, FDR comes from a different branch of the Roosevelt family. He was Teddy’s fifth cousin (and fifth cousin once removed to Eleanor). The family was split into two distinct clans, both based in New York and each with its own distinct culture and ethos; FDR came from the Hyde Park Roosevelts, while Teddy (and Eleanor) came from the Oyster Bay Roosevelts.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s First Career Was Teaching

Public service was deeply meaningful to Eleanor throughout her life, including in her younger days. Not long after turning 18, she started teaching at the Rivington Street Settlement House, a social services facility serving New York City’s Lower East Side, particularly its immigrant population.

She continued teaching even as her family’s political responsibilities increased. In 1926, she, along with suffragist Marion Dickerman, bought a K-12 private school for girls called the Todhunter School, also in New York City. Eleanor was a popular teacher, and covered a variety of subjects: history, current events, literature, and drama. After her husband was elected governor of New York in 1929, she continued to teach, even though the position required living in Albany. She commuted back and forth between the capital and the city several days a week.

Her Marriage Wasn’t Strictly Monogamous

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s marriage started out, at least from the outside, as pretty ordinary. They were married in 1905, and had six children between 1906 and 1916. In 1918, however, Eleanor found out that Franklin was having an affair with Lucy Mercer, her former social secretary, which was devastating — at least, at first. The pair remained married as close, supportive partners — Eleanor was hugely supportive of Franklin’s continued political career after he was stricken with polio, and the pair even retained their pet names for one another — but pursued romantic relationships elsewhere, although biographers aren’t sure how physical those relationships got. Franklin continued seeing Mercer, and was even with her when he died in 1945. Eleanor, meanwhile, found relationships with both men and women.

She Wrote a Newspaper Column for Nearly 30 Years

Starting at the very end of 1935 and continuing until her death in 1962, Eleanor kept a regular, nationally syndicated newspaper column called “My Day.” Eventually, it appeared in 90 different U.S. newspapers, detailing both her actions of the day and causes she supported — including ones that perhaps diverged a little from FDR’s views. After her husband’s death, she spoke even more freely about her viewpoints, and chose to keep advocating through her writing instead of running for office herself. Some newspapers dropped her column after she advocated for the election of Adlai Stevenson II in his run against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, leading United Features Syndicate to instruct her to limit her support for candidates, which she did not do.

For the majority of the run, Eleanor published six columns a week; only after her health began to decline in the last couple of years of her life did she cut that down to three.

She Publicly Resisted Racial Segregation

Eleanor’s lifetime overlapped with some particularly dark chapters in America’s treatment of its Black citizens, and by 1939, she was using her platform to loudly and publicly speak against racism and segregation. In 1939, she resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution, announcing her departure in her column, after the group refused a venue to prominent African American musician Marian Anderson. She and some other presidential advisers, as well as NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White, took the issue to FDR, and Anderson eventually appeared at a much bigger venue — the Lincoln Memorial — performing for a crowd of 75,000.

Even as FDR remained more tepid in opposing segregation, Eleanor kept swinging. When she learned in 1938 that a series of public meetings in Alabama called the Southern Conference for Human Welfare was split down the middle and segregated by race, she tried to sit in the Black section. When a police officer threatened to remove her, she moved her folding chair to the center of the aisle between the white and Black sections, where she stayed for the rest of the conference. Even after facing staunch criticism from conservatives after the Detroit Race Riots of 1943 — she had supported integrating the local housing project at its center — she kept going, and even led civil rights workshops in schools.

She was far from perfect, and even opposed a proposed 1940s march on Washington for racial equality, although she did arrange a meeting between organizers and FDR. But she continued to speak out against segregation for the rest of her life, including strongly advocating for school integration in both her column and in person, especially around the time of Brown v. Board of Education. Her last column before her death emphasized the connection between school integration and aggressive police tactics.

The FBI Investigated Eleanor Extensively for Communist Activity

Between her support for civil liberties and doing stuff like inviting a student advocacy organization accused of communist connections to crash at the White House while they waited to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Eleanor was pretty unpopular with J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. It didn’t help that she called Hoover’s tactics “Gestapo-ish,” either.

She was the subject of one of the largest single files from the era, adding up to around 3,000 pages. In addition to investigating her friends, family, and colleagues, the FBI tracked the existence of supposed “Eleanor clubs,” which white Southern segregationists claimed were secret organizations planning uprisings that would cause their Black domestic employees to turn against them. It turned out that, of course, they were just rumors started by segregationists, who expressed fear of having to work in the kitchen or pay higher wages.