Mother's Day began as one woman's quest to have a public observance of the anniversary of her own mother's passing.

Prostitution and sex work are useful metric for historians seeking insight into the American West.

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

The 125th anniversary of the opening of Carnegie Hall on May 5th provides an opportunity to examine Andrew Carnegie's legacy and philanthropy.

More than two thousand years ago, the Mayans of eastern Guatemala used ceramic teapots to pour themselves hot ...

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

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

Physicians and family members still have trouble talking candidly about dying and what it means to die well.

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.

Victorian anti-Mormonism meant 19th-century Americans were both fascinated and frightened by Mormons' marriage and sexual practices.