The Self-sacrifice of a Father by Jacques Sablet, 1784

The Flour War

In eighteenth-century France, the scarcity and price of flour was the base ingredient for what would become one of history’s bloodiest revolutions.
An illustration of bundling

Bundling: An Old Tradition on New Ground

Common in colonial New England, bundling allowed a suitor to spend a night in bed with his sweetheart—while her parents slept in the next room.
Artist's impression of ʻOumuamua

Why Interstellar Objects Like ʻOumuamua and Borisov May Hold Clues to Exoplanets

The detection of two celestial interlopers careening through our solar system has scientists eagerly anticipating more.
Portrait of James B. Parker

Two William McKinley Autopsies

The 1901 assassination of US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo revealed the abysmal state of race relations in America.
A vintage reel tape recorder on a pirate flag

Land of the Free, Home of the Bootleggers

When technology made music mobile, the American South changed from one type of bootlegging industry to another: copying and selling records.
Groundhog in Quebec, Canada

Woodchucks, Silk, and American Divorce

Well-researched stories from ARTNews, Nautilus, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
From the cover of the newspaper El Grito del Norte, July 1973

Chicanx Studies: A Foundational Reading List

The field of Chicanx studies continues to expand, embracing analyses of racialization, gender, sexuality, Indigineity, and trans-ethnic identity.
Total solar eclipse, May 29, 1919, at Sobral, Brazil

Bridging The Gap of War: Einstein’s Eclipse

Astronomer Arthur S. Eddington argued that astronomy should be above politics, even when politics leads to world war.
Chinese people perform Dragon Dance during a worship ceremony of Qingming Festival, also known as the "Tomb Sweeping Day" on April 2, 2005 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province, China.

Reviving Chinese Festivals

The government of China has been working to revitalize traditional celebrations that were suppressed after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.
Poster and art for Mark Twain's Joan of Arc

Mark Twain’s Obsession with Joan of Arc

Despite being famous for his witty analyses of the American South, Twain was proudest of the historical fiction he wrote about France’s legendary martyr.