In 1916, an act of Congress, signed by President Woodrow Wilson, created the National Park Service. In 1944, Allied troops liberated Paris after four years of German occupation. In 1967, American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell was shot dead in Arlington, Virginia, by a former aide. In 1975, Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run was released. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 in southeastern Texas, unleashing 130 mph gusts and record rainfalls.

Allan Pinkerton (1819-84), detective; Van Johnson (1916-2008), actor; Leonard Bernstein (1918-90), conductor/composer; Monty Hall (1921-2017), TV personality; Althea Gibson (1927-2003), tennis player; Sean Connery (1930- ), actor; Regis Philbin (1931- ), TV personality; Tom Skerritt (1933- ), actor; Martin Amis (1949- ), writer; Elvis Costello (1954- ), musician; Tim Burton (1958- ), film director; Billy Ray Cyrus (1961- ), singer/songwriter; Jeff Tweedy (1967- ), musician; Rachael Ray (1968- ), TV personality; Blake Lively (1987- ), actress; Justin Upton (1987- ), baseball player

In 2003, tennis champion Pete Sampras announced his retirement.

The National Park Service now oversees more than 85.1 million acres of land and 418 sites.

"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead." – Aldous Huxley