1901 poster for Cinco de Mayo: "May 5, 1862 and the siege of Puebla"

On Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Thinking of celebrating Cinco de Mayo at your school this year? Learn from history about some of the potentially insensitive pitfalls.
Carnegie Hall

A Critical Look at Gilded Age Philanthropy

The 125th anniversary of the opening of Carnegie Hall on May 5th provides an opportunity to examine Andrew Carnegie's legacy and philanthropy.
Sherd of the Geometric period. Sifnos, 8th century BC. Archaeological Museum of Sifnos (in Kastro).

Complexity in Simplicity: The Three Technologies Behind Ceramics

More than two thousand years ago, the Mayans of eastern Guatemala used ceramic teapots to pour themselves hot ...
Mr. Bumble, full-length, standing, facing left, pointing with right hand. Illus. in: The Characters of Charles Dickens pourtrayed (sic) in a series of original water colour sketches by "Kyd", color lithograph, Raphael Tuck & Sons, London, ca. 1899.

Charles Dickens and the Linguistic Art of the Minor Character

Charles Dickens' characters are famous for their elaborate, often hilarious names. Even for bit parts, Dickens' naming conventions were linguistically rich.
Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs and the American City

Jane Jacobs, who would have been 100 today and is the focus of the Google Doodle , was a big part of why cities like New York City and Toronto look and feel
Elder care

Let’s Talk About Dying Well

Physicians and family members still have trouble talking candidly about dying and what it means to die well.
Cormorants on a Guano Island

Are We Entering a New Golden Age of Guano?

A history of civilization could be written in fertilizers. And the history of guano—bird poop—tells us a lot about slavery, imperialism, and U.S. expansion.
anti-Mormon illustration

How Victorian Writers Eroticized Mormons

Victorian anti-Mormonism meant 19th-century Americans were both fascinated and frightened by Mormons' marriage and sexual practices.
Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton (the specimen AMNH 5027) at American Museum of Natural History.

An Asteroid Killed the Dinosaurs. Right?

What killed the dinosaurs? An asteroid wiped them out, right? New research suggests that even before that cataclysm, dinosaurs weren't doing so well.
Jim Bauer, via Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7562/15566635873_27d7dc07fe_o_d.jpg, https://www.flickr.com/photos/lens-cap/

Happy Mother’s Day: Kids’ Screen Time is a Feminist Issue

Portable electronics like smartphones and tablets are indispensable tools for mothers and caregivers. Why do we shame them for allowing kids screen time?