There are so many historical places around the globe that can capture one’s imagination and serve as testaments to human ingenuity and creativity.
By visiting these historical places, you’ll gain a window into the past that can give you a deeper understanding of both your country’s past and present culture.
1. Ford’s Theatre
Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC is best-known as the site of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Booth managed to sneak into Lincoln’s box during a performance of Tom Taylor’s Our American Cousin and shoot him with a single-shot derringer gun; Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House where he died later that morning.
Ford’s Theatre and Petersen House are National Historic Landmarks that welcome public visits for educational and entertaining experiences. Ford’s Theatre serves as an engaging portal into national history through inspiring performances, live interpretation and comprehensive education programs; serving also as a living memorial to Abraham Lincoln while upholding his ideals through art as transformative force.
2. Women’s Rights National Historical Park
This park, situated in New York’s Finger Lakes region, contains four historic sites that tell the tale of the first Women’s Rights Convention. These include Wesleyan Chapel and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s home where she wrote her Declaration of Sentiments.
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton anticipated that only around 20 to 25 women would attend their Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848, yet more than 300 attended this inaugural gathering which has become the cornerstone of equality movements since that day.
National parks provide Americans with an invaluable learning opportunity, and this one is no exception. NPF has supported this park through various projects – funding a purchase of property that belonged to Jacob P. Chamberlain – an influential suffragette convention organizer; as well as protecting Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s home which she considered the “Center of Rebellion”.
3. Easter Island
Isla de Pascua (Spanish for Easter Island) is one of the Pacific’s most remote archipelagoes and famous for its moai statues that depict ancestral figures of Rapa Nui people who once resided here. These towering figures may symbolize their heritage.
Early Polynesians who settled the island are thought to have arrived in organized groups between 11th and 12th century. They brought sugarcane, bananas, taro rootstock, paper mulberry and chickens as fare. DNA testing has confirmed that its inhabitants are Polynesians rather than South Americans as had been thought previously.
Europeans first arrived on Rapa Nui in 1722 and James Cook visited in 1774; at that time there was approximately 12,000 residents on the island. Unfortunately, due to overpopulation and resource depletion on Rapa Nui, widespread warfare arose as well as cultural breakdown and collapse; most moai fell from their upright positions due to war or neglect, though many have since been restored back into place.
4. Ephesus
Ephesus was one of the premier cities in Asia Minor. Over its long history, Ephesus has seen such notable figures as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony visit and take part in its life and activities.
Ephesus was home to St John the Evangelist, and its Basilica has now been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Paul also visited this ancient city; while in 431 the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place here.
Ephesus was an extremely wealthy city boasting the third biggest library of any ancient world – Celsus Library), an elegant theater which could seat 250,000 spectators, a grand temple to Hadrian, Terrace Houses that provide insight into everyday life for wealthy residents, religious activities and art centers; most significant temples included Artemis Temple as one of Seven Wonders of the World with only few columns remaining today but remaining part of an amazing structure which attracted crowds to Ephesus.
