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When Mount St. Helens erupted on this day in 1980, it was the deadliest and most destructive volcanic event in American history. Two years later, Congress established the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

More than four decades later, the ecosystem is healing, showcasing the resilience of the natural world. The mountain is a popular destination for visitors looking for both history and outdoor recreation. Tap the link in our profile to discover why it's one of our 250 places to celebrate America.

📸: U.S. Geological Survey
📸: ZY / Getty Images

When Mount St. Helens erupted on this day in 1980, it was the deadliest and most destructive volcanic event in American history. Two years later, Congress established the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

More than four decades later, the ecosystem is healing, showcasing the resilience of the natural world. The mountain is a popular destination for visitors looking for both history and outdoor recreation. Tap the link in our profile to discover why it's one of our 250 places to celebrate America.

📸: U.S. Geological Survey
📸: ZY / Getty Images

For years, this peculiar machine sat in storage at the Dorchester County Historical Society in Maryland, baffling historians and sparking public curiosity. With its ceramic countertop and dual rollers—one smooth, the other studded with nubs—it defied easy identification.

What was its purpose?

📸: Dorchester County Historical Society

Depicted from the legs up, the sculpted woman emerges from the slanted face of a boulder on the forest floor. What did officials say about the sculpture?

📸: Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation

Today, if you need to make a last-minute birthday cake, you can grab a box of Betty Crocker cake mix, whisk it with some oil and eggs, and pop it in the oven. In early America, making a cake was an ordeal. In the 18th century and earlier, most baking was dictated by the delicate whims of respiring yeast. So what changed? In a phrase, baking powder.

Tap the link in our profile to see how the introduction of this ingredient made baking a piece of cake.

📸: IFMC / Alamy

For 15-year-old Minnijean Brown, the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlawing segregation meant she could now attend the school just nine blocks from her home. But that could only happen after the federal government emerged victorious from a confrontation with Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus.

Check out the site where history was made at the link in our profile.

📸: New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)

The moment you step into the dance hall, the sound envelops you. A fiddle erupts; an electric guitar wails; a keyboard drives out steady chords. Close your eyes and you might think you were somewhere in Appalachia, where fiddling is a bedrock tradition. But this is interior Alaska, thousands of miles away. For more than four decades, the Athabascan Fiddle Festival has filled community halls in Fairbanks with a sound that is both global and distinctly Native, a blend of Irish, Scottish and French reels layered with the cadence of the boreal forest and the Yukon River.

How did the sound arrive in Alaska?

📸: Marc Brown

Age-related macular degeneration is a common but untreatable eye condition that usually impacts people over 50. The progressive disease happens when aging causes damage to the photoreceptors in the central part of the retina. Recently, researchers announced that they restored some vision to elderly patients with the disease, thanks to an electronic retinal implant.

How does the device work?

📸: Zorica Nastasic / Getty Images

If any gastronomical treat could give the proverbially American apple pie a run for its money, it might just be barbecue. The culinary tradition of cooking meat low and slow over indirect flame has become so prevalent over the years that BBQ itself represents a sort of pop culture, spawning TV shows, historically focused road trips, and even fusion dishes like BBQ tacos.

But where did the tradition originate?

📸: Public Domain

For many people, leaping into a body of water on the edge of a major urban area might spark revulsion. But Swimmable Cities aims to get people to do just that. The group brings together stakeholders and experts from all over the world to share knowledge about making urban waterways clean enough to swim in. They reflect a wider global movement to improve water quality in urban rivers. Improving water quality looks a little different for every city around the world, but the concept of “swimmability” is something anyone can relate to.

Beyond making them swimmable, how else would cleaning up waterways benefit your local community?

📸: Dimitar Dilkoff / Getty Images

Happy National Barbecue Day! When it comes to this dining delight, people have strong opinions on which state does it best. We have two favorites on our map that celebrates America's 250th: B's Barbecue in Greenville, North Carolina, and Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas. Two spots that are serving up some of the tastiest barbecue in the country.

Which state gets your vote for best BBQ around? North Carolina or Texas? Let us know below. And check out all the foodie destinations and more at the link in our profile.

📸: City of Greenville
📸: Visit Austin

Happy National Barbecue Day! When it comes to this dining delight, people have strong opinions on which state does it best. We have two favorites on our map that celebrates America's 250th: B's Barbecue in Greenville, North Carolina, and Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas. Two spots that are serving up some of the tastiest barbecue in the country.

Which state gets your vote for best BBQ around? North Carolina or Texas? Let us know below. And check out all the foodie destinations and more at the link in our profile.

📸: City of Greenville
📸: Visit Austin

Happy National Barbecue Day! When it comes to this dining delight, people have strong opinions on which state does it best. We have two favorites on our map that celebrates America's 250th: B's Barbecue in Greenville, North Carolina, and Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas. Two spots that are serving up some of the tastiest barbecue in the country.

Which state gets your vote for best BBQ around? North Carolina or Texas? Let us know below. And check out all the foodie destinations and more at the link in our profile.

📸: City of Greenville
📸: Visit Austin

The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona was officially founded on May 15, 1975. The 55,000-square-foot museum holds more than 110,000 works from photographers including Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Margrethe Mather, W. Eugene Smith and Paul Strand. Adams was also one of the center’s co-founders.

Who is your favorite photographer?

See this pin and more on our map of 250 places to celebrate America at the link in our profile.

📸: Oliver Strewe / Getty Images

Conservationists are feeling cautiously optimistic after spotting a critically endangered bird in the wild in Samoa. During a recent field survey, experts with the Samoa Conservation Society recorded numerous sightings of the manumea, also known as the tooth-billed pigeon. They’re hopeful they can still save the elusive bird from extinction.

What bird that famously went extinct during the late 17th century is a close relative of the manumea?

📸: Michael Rothman / Rothman Natural Science Illustration