The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial Thursday, having spent its first 100 years dedicated to preserving "unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values" of America's national parks. The first National Park was actually designated in 1871, and President Ulysses S. Grant signed the corresponding legislation in 1872 to preserve Yellowstone National Park. But the current iteration of the NPS was established by President Woodrow Wilson "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and ... wildlife therein" on Aug. 25, 1916:
Last year, more than 300 million people visited National Parks, and in honor of its 100th anniversary the NPS is offering free admission to all 412 parks from Aug. 25-28. Can't make it to a park this weekend? Read up on why National Parks are known as "America's best idea" here, or check out this animated tour of some of the sights and sounds from the nation's best parks, courtesy of Google, below. Kimberly Alters
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Netflix and Warner Bros: a Hollywood ending for streaming giant?Talking Point The deal, symptomatic of Silicon Valley’s ‘grasp’ on entertainment, could entirely ‘reshape’ the industry
-
Did Trump just end the US-Europe alliance?Today's Big Question New US national security policy drops ‘grenade’ on Europe and should serve as ‘the mother of all wake-up calls’
-
How the War Department became the Department of Defense – and back againIn Depth In 1947 President Harry Truman restructured the US military establishment, breaking with naming tradition
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
