On Feb. 4, 1846, a year and a half after the deaths of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, the first families left Nauvoo, Illinois ...

On Dec. 26, 1846, some members of the ill-fated Donner Party are believed to have turned to cannibalism in order to survive during a Sierra Nevada snowstorm. The information below originally ...

On August 10, 1846, the U.S. Senate passed the act organizing the Smithsonian Institution, which was signed into law by President James K. Polk. Congress authorized acceptance of the Smithson bequest ...