Code talkers were Native Americans who used their languages to help the United States military communicate in secret. This black-and-white photograph shows two Navajo code talkers operating a radio during World War II (1939-1945). The Navajo language was unknown to the Germans and Japanese and proved impossible for them to decipher.
Credit: NARA

On November 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I (1914-1918), the United States observes Veterans Day honoring men and women who have served in the United States armed services. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as Armistice Day to remember the tragedies of war and appreciate peace achieved by the armistice (truce). In 1938, Armistice Day was made a federal holiday. Congress renamed the day Veterans Day to honor all United States Veterans in 1954. Around the world, the anniversary of the end of World War I is a day to remember those who have died in war. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand observe Remembrance Day on November 11. The United Kingdom observes Remembrance Day on the Sunday closest to November 11.

November is also Native American Heritage Month, a time to observe the cultures, histories, and traditions of Native Americans. Many Native Americans have served in the United States armed forces, contributing to the United States’ success in World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). Most notably, Native Americans called the Code Talkers developed and used codes that enabled the United States and its allies to communicate globally without enemy interference.

The Code Talkers were small groups of Native Americans who served in the United States armed forces in World War I and World War II. Code Talkers developed and used codes in Native American languages to send secret messages, helping the United States and its allies win both wars.

The engineer Philip Johnston suggested the United States Marine Corps use Navajo language as a code during World War II. He grew up on a Navajo reservation and knew that the Navajo language is unwritten, difficult to decipher (decode), and unknown to most people who are not Navajo. In 1942, the United States Marine Corps recruited 29 Navajo men to develop the code. The code talkers used familiar wards to represent U.S. military terms. For example, bombs were called eggs in Navajo. They also created a new phonetic alphabet with Navajo words.

Similarly, in World War I, 19 Choctaw men had served in the U.S. Army, sending and receiving messages based on the Choctaw language. During World War II, 17 Comanche men used their language for code in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Mary Reibey, Australian convict and merchant
State Library of New South Wales

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

Mary Reibey was a famous woman convict in the history of Australia. A convict is a person found guilty of a crime. From 1787 to 1868, more than 162,000 convicts were sent from Britain (now the United Kingdom) to colonies in Australia. In Australia, Reibey became a successful merchant and trader.

Reibey’s parents died when she was young, and she was sent to live with her grandmother. At the age of 13, Reibey ran away from home. She dressed as a boy and gave her name as James Burrow. She was arrested for stealing a horse and sent to Australia for seven years. In 1794, at the age of 17, she married Thomas Reibey, an Irish trader with the East India Company. The Reibeys lived together along the Hawkesbury River near Sydney, New South Wales. Thomas was granted land and founded a trading estate named Entally House.

Reibey was born Molly Haydock on May 12, 1777, in Bury, near Manchester, England. Little is known about her childhood before she ran away. After her arrest, she arrived in Sydney on the Royal Admiral, a trading ship that also transported convicts, in 1792. She worked for two years as a nursemaid for Major Francis Grouse, the English lieutenant-governor of New South Wales, before marrying Thomas Reibey.

The Reibeys’ business interests expanded to include multiple farms and a cargo business. When Thomas died in 1811, Mary assumed all responsibility for the businesses. Mary had experience managing the businesses while Thomas was absent from Sydney for months on trips. She became known as a community role model and prosperous businesswoman. She was also respected for her interest in education and the church.

Mary invested in Sydney by building in Macquarie Place. In 1825, she was appointed one of the governors of the Sydney Public Free Grammar School, an early college-preparatory school. She expanded the family business and eventually retired in 1828. In 1835, Mary built a cottage outside Hunters Hill, New South Wales. She later built a house in Newtown, Sydney, where she died from pneumonia in 1855. Reibey is featured on the Australian 20-dollar note.

A diver swims over the two-masted schooner Walter B. Allen, which sank in Lake Michigan 1880.
Credit: Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society

Off the lakeshore in Wisconsin, dozens of ships lie under the surface. In October 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a new national marine sanctuary. In June 2021, the NOAA officially designated the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Michigan. Marine sanctuaries are protected waters, habitats, and archeological sites. In this case, NOAA’s sanctuary protects archeological, cultural, historic, and prehistoric artifacts, along with all historic shipwreck sites that served an important role in maritime heritage. The NOAA and the state of Wisconsin are co-managing the sanctuary.

The area is 726 square nautical miles (962 square miles or 2,492 square kilometers) along the coasts of Manitowoc, Port Washington, Sheboygan, and Two Rivers. The sanctuary protects 36 known shipwrecks. Of those, 21 are in the National Register of Historic Places. Because of Lake Michigan’s cold temperature and lack of salt, these shipwrecks are preserved with more integrity than usual, and some remain mostly intact. Researchers believe there are up to 59 shipwrecks in the sanctuary. Wisconsin spent three decades preserving historic maritime sites against human and natural activities. The sanctuary provides opportunities for archeological preservation, research, and education.

The shipwrecks have historical significance. They include the two oldest known shipwrecks in Wisconsin. From the 1800’s through the 1900’s, the Great Lakes were used to ship such goods as coal, grain, and manufactured goods. Hundreds of thousands of settlers used the lakes to move to the Midwest and West of the United States. Midwestern cities, farms, and industries grew as a result.

Credit: © Manny DaCunha, Shutterstock

The Fourth of July is Independence Day in the United States. The day marks the nation’s birthday, July 4, 1776, when delegates to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration of Independence.

The delegates represented the 13 British colonies, which had come to resent the ever-increasing taxes and restrictions that King George III sought to impose on them. In April 1775, British troops had clashed with colonial militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, in effect signaling the outbreak of the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence explained the reasons for the colonists’ rejection of British rule, detailed the ways in which the British government had violated American rights, and declared the freedom of the American colonies from Britain. The American Revolution ended in 1783 when Britain recognized the independence of the United States.

July 4 is traditionally a day of patriotism and celebration, including a full menu of picnics or cookouts and fireworks, with popular side dishes of baseball, fairs, parades, and parties. Last year, public celebrations of the holiday were largely absent, as people followed social distancing measures intended to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, with widespread vaccinations putting the disease in retreat in many areas, fireworks and other public displays have largely returned.

The Fourth of July isn’t just a day for celebration, however. It’s also a good time to reflect on the promise of freedom outlined in the Declaration of Independence and to think about how various groups are still struggling to achieve that freedom. In a year that followed worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, many people are choosing to make the Fourth not only a celebration of our nation’s history but a time of reflection and preparation for its future.

Lake Surprise fills a volcano crater at Budj Bim National Park in southeastern Australia.
Credit: Peter (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

The inactive volcano and cultural site Budj Bim made history when, in 2019, it became the first World Heritage site listed exclusively for its value to Aboriginal culture. Such sites are places of unique cultural or natural importance as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Budj Bim, once known as Mount Eccles, is located in southeastern Australia. The overlapping craters of Budj Bim hold lakes in which Aboriginal people maintained systems of aquaculture (the raising of water animals and plants) for thousands of years. Budj Bim means High Head in the language of the Gunditjmara people (also called the Dhauwurd Wurrung) of southwestern Victoria state. Budj Bim sits about 170 miles (270 kilometers) west of Melbourne. It is part of the 20,700-acre (8,370-hectare) Budj Bim National Park (formerly Mount Eccles National Park).

Gunditjmara tradition holds that Budj Bim is part of the body of an ancient creator being, who was revealed to Aboriginal people in an eruption around 30,000 years ago. The last known eruption of Budj Bim occurred about 8,000 years ago. Starting at least 6,600 years ago, the Gunditjmara people began creating a system of channels and dams to trap eels and other fish among the rock formations of Budj Bim. The result was an aquaculture system that provided plentiful food, and permanent Aboriginal settlements were established at nearby Lake Condah and Lake Gorrie. European settlers arrived in the area in the 1830’s.

Budj Bim—named Mount Eccles by European settlers—became a protected area in 1926 and a national park in 1960. Mount Eccles National Park was renamed Budj Bim National Park in 2017. The area is popular for camping, hiking, and picnicking.

A woman carries the Pan-African flag, a symbol of Black unity, at a Juneteenth parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Juneteenth celebrations commemorate the freeing of slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
Credit: © Tippman98x/Shutterstock

June 19 is Juneteenth, a festival held in many Black and other communities to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The name of the festival refers to the date, June 19—the day the last slaves were freed in the southern state of Texas in 1865. Juneteenth festivities often include plays and storytelling, parades, prayer services, and family reunions. Some communities hold longer Juneteenth festivals spanning several days as a celebration of civil rights and freedom.

People wait for floats to pass by during a parade celebrating Juneteenth in the historically Black town of Bastrop, near Austin, Texas USA. Credit: © Bob Daemmrich, Alamy Images

Last year’s Juneteenth looked different than celebrations past, because of the ongoing pandemic (global outbreak) of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. This year, festive Juneteenth celebrations have resumed in many places. Parades and festivals throughout the country will commemorate and celebrate Black life in America. If attending crowded events does not yet feel safe to you, you can celebrate Juneteenth by supporting Black-owned businesses, including stores and restaurants.

One way the national government is celebrating Juneteenth this year and for years to come is by making it a federal holiday. This week, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to officially recognize Juneteenth each year.

Juneteenth originated in Texas at the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865). In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared freedom for the slaves in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union. However, many slave owners in Texas suppressed information about the emancipation even after the war ended in April 1865. On June 19, Gordon Granger, a Union general, entered Galveston, Texas, and ordered all slaves in the state to be freed. About 250,000 people, among the last slaves remaining in the United States, were freed.

Juneteenth celebrations were held only in Texas and a few communities in other southern states in the years following the Civil War. Blacks carried the celebration with them, however, as they migrated to other regions of the country. The push to make Juneteenth a federal holiday gained momentum in 2020, during the widespread Black Lives Matter protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd.

In the United States, June—the first month of summer—is celebrated as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning. The “+” represents other sexual identities. Transgender individuals are those whose identity or self-expression does not match the gender assigned to them at birth.

Throughout June, cities across the nation host concerts, festivals, colorful parades, parties, and other events that honor the identity, contributions, and historical impact of LGBTQ+ people. June is also the month in 2015 when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states could not ban same-sex marriage.

The rainbow flag has symbolized the LGBTQ+ community since the late 1970′s. Credit: © Natasha Kramskaya, Shutterstock

Historically, LGBTQ+ Pride Month commemorates the Stonewall uprising, a series of demonstrations for gay rights that took place in New York City in late June and early July 1969. The demonstrations were in response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. Following the raid, bar patrons and other supporters began a series of riots that lasted, on and off, for several days.

The Stonewall uprising was an important part of the change happening in the gay rights movement at the time. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, this movement grew in size and strength. Gay rights activists created new organizations and developed political strategies still used today. The Stonewall uprising also inspired gay rights activists in other countries. In 2000, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the Stonewall Inn and the surrounding streets a national historic landmark. In 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama designated the Stonewall Inn as a national monument.

An activist for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) rights waves a rainbow flag in front of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. The rainbow flag is a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride. Credit: © AP Photo

The early 2000’s saw significant advances in LGBTQ+ rights. For example, more than a dozen countries, including Canada, the United States, New Zealand, South Africa, and a number of European and South American nations legalized same-sex marriage. In 2010 and 2016, respectively, the U.S. government ended its ban on openly gay and transgender people serving in the military. And in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex spouses were entitled to receive the same federal benefits as heterosexual (different-sex) spouses.

LGBTQ+ Pride Month developed from LGBTQ+ Pride Day, celebrated on the last Sunday in June. In 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton proclaimed June Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Likewise, every year from 2009 through 2016, President Barack Obama officially proclaimed June LGBTQ+ Pride Month. From 2017 to 2020, President Donald Trump did not issue such a proclamation. In 2021, President Joe Biden proclaimed June LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

A thriving Black neighborhood known as “Black Wall Street” lies in ruin following the Tulsa race riot of 1921.
Credit: Library of Congress

May 31, 2021, marked 100 years since the start of the Tulsa race riot of 1921. It was one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in United States history.

From May 31 to June 1, 1921, groups of armed white men attacked Black residents in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The riot began after white vigilantes gathered to lynch (put to death without a lawful trial) a Black man who had been accused of attacking a white woman. The riot probably caused about 300 deaths and destroyed Tulsa’s Black business district.

On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner, entered an elevator in the Drexel Building in downtown Tulsa. He encountered Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white elevator operator. What occurred next is unclear. Many historians believe that Rowland may have either stepped on Page’s foot or tripped and grabbed Page’s arm to steady himself. Page screamed. A clerk from a nearby store, assuming that the girl had been the victim of an assault, called police. Rowland fled the scene and was arrested the next day.

Newspaper accounts and rumors about the incident led to widespread talk of lynching. On the evening of May 31, hundreds of white people, including many armed men, gathered near the courthouse where Rowland was held. Groups of armed Black men—many of them veterans of World War I—then arrived at the scene. They offered their services to the sheriff to help protect Rowland, but their offers were refused.

At around 10 p.m., shots were fired during a commotion near the courthouse. The Blacks who had gathered there were outnumbered, and they retreated. They went to Greenwood Avenue—the heart of the Black business district known as “Black Wall Street.” A white mob followed.

Scattered shootings then occurred near Greenwood Avenue in the early hours of June 1. Groups of armed Blacks assembled to hold off the white mob. Many Black residents fought to protect their businesses or families, while others fled to the countryside. Law enforcement officials deputized (appointed as agents of the law) hundreds of members of the mob. Members of the Oklahoma National Guard—all of whom were white—gathered near boundaries of Black and white neighborhoods. Among some whites, rumors attributed the violence to a “Negro uprising.” The mob grew to more than 5,000 white men.

Around 5 a.m., a whistle sounded, and thousands of armed white men marched into the Black business district. They burned and looted homes and businesses. National Guardsmen led thousands of Blacks at gunpoint to makeshift detention centers. Many who resisted were shot. Police did little to stop the arson and violence, and they spent most of their resources protecting white neighborhoods. In many instances, local members of the state National Guard joined in the attacks. Black eyewitnesses recalled white pilots firing on Black neighborhoods from airplanes above.

Thousands of armed white men burned and looted Black homes and businesses during the riot.
Credit: Library of Congress

Around 9 a.m., members of a National Guard regiment from Oklahoma City arrived in Tulsa. Locals called them the “state troops.” Order was restored around 11:30 a.m., when Governor James B. A. Robertson declared martial law (emergency military rule) in Tulsa County. By the time the riot ended, more than 1,200 structures—nearly the entire “Negro Quarter”—had been destroyed by fires.

There is documented evidence of at least 40 deaths in the Tulsa riot. Of this number, about two-thirds were Black. However, many historians estimate that around 300 people were killed. Some unidentified Black victims may have been interred in mass graves.

Authorities never brought criminal charges against Rowland. Authorities also brought no charges against white rioters. Neither the City of Tulsa nor insurance companies compensated Black property owners for losses. The Greenwood business district was eventually rebuilt, but many of its residents remained homeless for months.

Rebuilding begins in the Black neighborhood destroyed by the riot.
Credit: Library of Congress

Newspapers reported on the riot in the days and weeks after the event. Over time, however, the incident received little coverage. The riot was omitted from most Oklahoma history books and classroom lessons.

Blacks displaced by the neighborhood’s destruction line up outside a refugee camp at the Tulsa fairgrounds.
Credit: Library of Congress

In 1997, state officials formed the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. The commission released an extensive report about the event in 2001. Tulsa’s John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park commemorates the victims of the riot. The park, named for a leading Black scholar whose own father survived the riot, officially opened in 2010.

This rock, called “Máaz” (the Navajo word for “Mars”), is the first feature of scientific interest to be studied by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

When you’re exploring a planet, you have to name things. It’s a great way to memorialize your discoveries, but it also prevents confusion: are you going to study This Rock, That Rock, or The Other Rock?

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission Mars 2020 is hard at work exploring Mars. The mission’s rover, Perseverance, landed on Feb. 18, 2021, in Jezero Crater. The mission planners have been naming important surface features in the Navajo language. This decision wasn’t planned before the rover landed, but came about by happy circumstance.

Landing on another solar system body is tough. Mission planners can guide a lander to a general destination, but they cannot pinpoint an exact landing site. Mars 2020 mission planners could guide Perseverance to Jezero Crater, but they could not know where in the 28-mile (45-kilometer) wide crater the rover was going to land. Therefore, mission planners studied the entire crater to prepare for landing. They divided the crater into several sections, naming each after a place on Earth—including U.S. national monuments—that the section resembled in some way.

Perseverance landed within the section that planners had named after Canyon de Chelly National Monument. This national monument, known for its huge, colorful, steep-walled canyons, lies entirely within the Navajo reservation. The Navajo are one of the largest Native American groups in the United States. The Navajo reservation, which covers 16 million acres (6.5 million hectares), is the nation’s biggest reservation. It includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (“Tséyi’” in Navajo) in Arizona is located on Navajo Nation land. Members of NASA’s Perseverance rover team, in collaboration with the Navajo Nation, has been naming features of scientific interest with words in the Navajo language.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars mission scientists informally name important features to make them easier to identify. Mars 2020 mission scientists were inspired by the name of their landing site to nickname features in the Navajo language. They teamed up with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientist Aaron Yazzie, who is Navajo, to seek permission from the Navajo Nation. The nation’s government approved the idea and developed a list of potential names. The first name to be used was Máaz, the Navajo word for Mars, for a rock near the landing site. Navajo officials also included the translation for Perseverance: Ha’ahóni.

Perseverance has to be “taught” the language, since the computer languages the rover uses cannot process the special characters and diacritical marks used in the written Navajo language. Mars 2020 team members are working to develop better transliterations using the English alphabet.

This is not the first time the Navajo language has played an outsized role in United States history. During the United States’ involvement in World War II (1939-1945), Navajo radio operators sent secret messages using a code based on the Navajo language. At the time, Navajo was an unwritten language known to few people outside of the Navajo Nation. Its complex structure, difficult pronunciation, and singsong qualities made it nearly impossible to decipher. Although Imperial Japanese forces could overhear the messages, they never managed to decode them. The Navajo radio operators, called code talkers, have been honored for their service in the war.

Mars 2020 has shed its proverbial training wheels and is breaking new ground in the exploration of the Red Planet. The helicopter Ingenuity, another part of the mission, conducted its first flight on April 19. Engineers are now pushing Ingenuity further, conducting longer, more challenging flights. The craft’s performance will gather valuable information for future Mars flyers. Perseverance’s robotic arm began conducting science on May 11. As the mission continues to explore, planners will continue to nickname features in the Navajo language—a tribute to the Navajo people, their culture, and the land they call home.

A new archaeological discovery is seen in Luxor, Egypt.
Credit: © Zahi Hawass Center for Egyptology

In early April 2021, Egyptian archaeologists announced their discovery of a previously unknown ancient city that had been buried largely intact for thousands of years. The city, given the name Aten or The Rise of Aten, was built around 3,500 years ago near Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, a narrow gorge that was used as a cemetery by the pharaohs (kings) of ancient Egypt.

Egyptologists (scholars who study ancient Egypt) compared the importance of the discovery of Aten to the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (sometimes called King Tut) in 1922. Others compare this site to Pompeii, an ancient city in Italy that disappeared after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Like Pompeii, Aten promises to give scholars a rare and relatively complete view of the daily life of ancient Egyptian commoners. Most other important discoveries in Egyptology involve tombs of pharaohs and other wealthy Egyptians.

The remarkable site of Aten preserves the ruins of many homes built of mud brick walls about 9 feet (3 meters) high. Archaeologists also found the remains of tools and other utensils used in the daily life of ancient Egyptians along with jewelry, scarab charms, pottery, and tools for making bread, yarn, cloth, and glass. The number of homes and workshops at the site shows that the city had a large population. The archaeologists have discovered a number of burials that preserve the skeletons of some of the city residents. Unlike wealthy people in ancient Egypt, the burials of these commoners were not preserved as mummies.

Pottery found at the site bore an inscription that allowed scholars to determine it was manufactured during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten. He ruled ancient Egypt from about 1353 to 1336 B.C. His wife, Queen Nefertiti, was famous for her great beauty and her dedication to her husband’s teachings. Akhenaten was originally known as Amenhotep IV. He was the son of Amenhotep III, one of the most powerful pharaohs of ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom period (1539-1075 B.C.). During the New Kingdom, Egypt became the largest and strongest empire in the ancient world.

As pharaoh, Amenhotep IV was a religious reformer. He chose Aten as the only god of Egypt and dismissed the many gods and goddesses of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Aten had been a little-known sun god worshiped mainly in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Amenhotep was so devoted to the worship of Aten that he changed his own name to Akhenaten, meaning servant of Aten. Akhenaten’s religious reforms, known as the Amarna Revolution, led to an outpouring of art and sculpture that glorified the Aten. But the changes angered many Egyptians who wished to continue worshipping the old gods.

After the death of Akhenaten, his successor Tutankhaten removed -aten from his name and became Tutankhamun. He restored the old state religion, allowing the worship of the many old gods as well as Aten. Later pharaohs destroyed or removed all monuments built by or in honor of Tutankhamun and others who had accepted Aten as Egypt’s chief god. The city of Aten was abandoned and eventually became buried in the desert sand for more than 3,000 years until its rediscovery this year.