In the 18th century a new trend in women's underwear sparked public scandal: the hoop petticoat. How the world became obsessed with what was under women’s skirts.

By virtue of pure chance, a monkey can come up with Romeo and Juliet. This suggests that we can circumvent comprehension and skip straight to competence.

2018 marks the 150th anniversary of a number of constitutional conventions in Southern states during Reconstruction. One lasting achievement was creating universal education systems.

In the late 1800s, American women began to move more freely in public. In response, public libraries created sex-segregated reading rooms, intended to keep women in their proper place.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rey and Kylo Ren share a telepathic bond forged by the Force, brilliantly illustrating Douglas Hofstadter's "Strange Loop" theory of the self.

A look at the RV community, where retirees support one another in the face of illness, mechanical breakdowns, or sudden financial shortfalls.

Elizabeth Ann Seton is known today as the first American Roman Catholic saint. Her road to canonization was no easy path.

For Puritan New England, picture books were dangerous. But the Enlightenment, by way of John Locke, made illustrations more acceptable in the classroom.

On a diet or cleanse in the new year? You're continuing in the very American tradition of self-perfection.

Debates about the moral value of biodiversity are longstanding in the world of environmental ethics, and the issue is far from settled.