Victorian eclipse

Solar Eclipse Tourism: The Victorians Were the Pioneers

People have been planning for this month's total solar eclipse for years. They aren't the first to do so: the Victorians pioneered eclipse tourism.
NYC intersection

“Jay Walking” and the Fight for the Streets

Debates over the priorities of cars, public transit and "jay walking" are nothing new. There has long been a story class buried within the disagreements.
Water carrier

The Story Behind “The Parisian Water-Carrier”

Who was the "Parisian water-carrier" depicted in eighteenth-century French sculptor Edme Bouchardon’s sketches, and how did he earn his living?
Brain illustration

Are Male and Female Brains Actually Different?

No study, even those finding strong differences, has ever found differences in cognitive ability between male and female brains.
Clarence Darrow

How African Americans Supported Evolution in the 1925 Scopes Trial

Dayton, Tennessee has a new statue of Clarence Darrow, the evolutionist and criminal defense attorney of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial.
Jupiter great red spot

The Secrets of Jupiter’s Incredible Great Red Spot

Astronomers have worked out that Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a massive storm system, but what keeps a storm going for hundreds of years?
charlottesville syllabus: history of hate in america

Charlottesville Syllabus: Readings on the History of Hate in America

The history of racism and ethnic hate in America is long and deep. What are the cultural, economic, and political currents that led us here?
Chautauqua

The Forgotten Movement That Changed American Women’s Lives

Chatauquas changed the lives of Midwestern women between 1878 and 1900, setting the stage for new gender roles in the twentieth century.
Boy biking

How World War I Put Boys on Bikes

The first modern bicycles were for adults. Ads for boys’ bikes drew from, and fed into, a changing vision of boyhood during World War I.
Cahokia mounds

The Mysterious Pre-Columbian Settlement of Cahokia

Cahokia was the largest pre-columbian settlement north of Mexico. It collapsed centuries before Europeans arrived in the region. What happened?