Whether you’re interested in the CIA’s role in the Iranian coup of 1953 or just want the city to get around to fixing your sidewalk, public records can help shed light on the way your government is helping or hindering the world around you. MuckRock has five tips for instantly improving your early forays into the bureaucratic rabbit hole of FOIA

In honor of FOIA’s golden anniversary, we’re taking a look back along memory lane, at the victories, defeats, and rejections that brought it to where it is today.

For FOIA’s half-century celebration, MuckRock put together the largest collection of photos of presidents with cakes ever assembled. Guinness World Records committee, you know where to find us.