Learning Network: Learn what happened ‘on this day’ with 175 years of The New York Times
Historic front pages
The Learning Network
September 23, 2026

Good morning! We’re bringing On This Day — a feature that had been popular on our site for decades — back to life this school year, one day at a time. Take a look, and enjoy the related teaching resources. — The Learning Network

On This Day: Teach with 175 years of Times archives

The front page of The New York Times from April 16, 1912
The New York Times

Each day, On This Day features a historic New York Times article alongside a scan of that day’s printed newspaper front page. We spotlight some of the most famous and consequential moments across the nation and around the world that The Times has published on the front page of its newspaper since 1851.

We restarted the feature earlier this month, and here are some examples we’ve published so far: on Sept. 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford granted former President Richard Nixon an unconditional pardon after Watergate; on Sept. 11, 2001, Al Qaeda hijackers crashed four airliners — two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and one in Pennsylvania; and on Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Interested in bringing On This Day into your classroom, whether as a daily “bell ringer,” a primary source activity or a research project? Here are five ways to get started, all free — just like everything else on The Learning Network.

This week on The Learning Network

Two sets of hands reach out toward each other against a backdrop of ocean waves.
Nyo Jinyong Lian

Your stories about teaching and learning with The Times

A black-and-white archival image of students seated at desks in a classroom. A partial quote appears above reads: “I began by pointing out an interesting article and discussing it with the class ... I read the article while they followed in their newspapers.”
An image from “Vitalizing the Curriculum With The New York Times,” a 1952 pamphlet given to schools. Sonny Figueroa/The New York Times

In August, we posted a call to readers: The Times Is Turning 175. What’s Your Favorite Piece You’ve Taught With or Learned From?

Right away we got over 60 thoughtful responses.

We’ll be spotlighting favorites both in this newsletter and on our site over the coming weeks, starting with this delightful contribution from David C. Greene of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.:

I was quoted by The New York Times in second grade. We had been reading articles in The Times about Little Rock, and wrote letters to President Eisenhower expressing our concerns and, in my case, a recommendation: “I think to make southern schools better, you should take matters into your own hands.”

When, in September of 1957, the president sent troops in to help integrate the schools, I thought it was because of me.

Obviously my mom kept that article by Leonard Buder and I still have it.

If you would like to contribute, the form is still open!

Recent Times reporting about education

Children lined up in front of a classroom, holding signs with the English words for various animals.
An English class at Gaopui Village Primary School in Liuzhou city, China, in 2023. CFOTO/Future Publishing, via Getty Images

See what teens are saying about their memorable summer moments.

An illustration of a juice box that says “Summer memories.”
María Jesús Contreras

Our weekly Current Events Conversation feature is back for the new school year, and we’re starting with a lively roundup of comments from teens about the many different ways they spent their summers:

I took my road test on the first day of June, and when I got news I had passed, I felt as if my whole life changed. I had unleashed a new era of freedom, where I could go anywhere I wanted without having to rely on someone else. Since I was one of the first few people in my friend group to get their license, every other day I would pick up my friends and try new places. — Maya, Glenbard West

My favorite part about summer was biking in the rain at night. Biking in the rain just calms me down, and I can really just escape from the world.Riley, Iowa

I work for my parents and uncle going around southern Minnesota shooting online auctions at farm places and estates in neighborhoods. Dad and I are usually the ones that go drive out to the offsite auctions to sort and shoot lots together. Sometimes it’ll be a week or so at the house of a deceased plumber-pianist, shooting endless filing cabinets overflowing with endless lifetimes worth of sheet music, and other times it’s Dad telling me to climb over a mountain of old farm equipment sheltered by a barn that’s been standing since they still called it “The Great War” just so I can “check the back door” (as if he isn’t just sending me in to scare off the critters that made a home back there).

It’s hard work with long sweaty days, where I often come home smelling like mouse house, but I wouldn’t trade that time with my dad doing what we love for anything in the world. Casper, Saint Peter Public Schools

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to LNfeedback@nytimes.com. More next week.

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

To stop receiving The Learning Network, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Subscribe to The Times

Connect with us on:

facebookxwhatsapp

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018