A statue of Maya and Merit displayed in part in the permanent Egyptian collection at the National Museum of Antiquities or Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands.

Hair, Gender, and Social Status in Ancient Egypt

Egyptian tomb chapels depict men, women, and children of different ranks in society. What can their hairstyles tell us about their lives?
People visiting the morgue in Paris to view the cadavers

The Paris Morgue Provided Ghoulish Entertainment

With its huge windows framing the corpses on display, the morgue bore an uncomfortable resemblance to a department store.
A still from "Are You Popular?"

“Are You Popular?”

Mental hygiene films of the postwar era gave advice to American teens—and parroted specific cultural values.
"Nixon Tearing the Heart out of Indochina" by René Mederos

Anti-Imperialist Propaganda Posters from OSPAAAL

OSPAAAL, the international, pro-communist organization formed in 1966, decried American imperialism with powerful propaganda.
Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys

From La Jetée to Twelve Monkeys to COVID-19

If the pandemic has you wishing for yesteryear, watching 12 Monkeys—and the time travel art film that inspired it—is just the thing.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett

The Alpha Suffrage Club and Black Women’s Fight for the Vote

Black women's experiences in the suffrage movement show that the Nineteenth Amendment marked one event in the fight for the vote, not an endpoint.
Tattoos on a person's knuckles

Punctuation, Vikings, and COVID’s Long Shadow

Well-researched stories from Aeon, Slate, and more great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A man swinging a woman on roller skates, Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois

The History Behind the Roller Skating Trend

Since its invention in 1743, roller skating has been tied to Black social movements.
A hand holding a corn cob with a spray nozzle on its top

Corn Is Everywhere!

Two educators use the history of corn, from the domestication of maize 10,000 years ago to today's ubiquitous "commodity corn," to teach about biodiversity.
ctor preparing the coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine

9 Reasons You Can Be Optimistic That a Vaccine for COVID-19 Will Be Widely Available in 2021

Experts are confident that there will be a vaccine next year.