Well-researched stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. Brought to you each Tuesday from the editors of JSTOR Daily.

Anna Atkins reportedly created the first photographically illustrated and printed book in response to another monograph she thought was shoddily done.

The battle of Stalingrad was the first major defeat of the Nazis in World War II, and presented the Nazis with a propaganda quandary.

The average 1930s American woman bought up to 15 pairs of silk stockings a year—until, that is, women boycotted the fabric behind an essential garment.

The Pacific Northwest is particularly known for their sea monsters, largely because of the continuity of stories about unidentified sea creatures.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler imagines the museum as a site of hands-on learning and intimacy with the past.

Unlike other laborers, who toiled anonymously on bridges and buildings throughout the city, the sandhogs had an iconic status in New York City.

Charles Sumner Eaton's “Temperance Spa” served alternative adult beverages like coffee, egg phosphates, and "Moxie Nerve Food," all in the name of health.

Learn more about Cheng I Sao, a female pirate who dominated the coast of the Kwangtung Province between 1795-1810.

When it comes to nuclear power, one word in particular instills fear: meltdown. But what is a meltdown? Can one be avoided?