This Isn’t the First Baby Bust
And it's unlikely to be the last. One scholar looks at the factors that contributed to the increase in childlessness at the turn of the twentieth century.
The Highest Flood in Italy This Century
Recent flooding in Venice has revived memories of a record-setting 1966 flood, which sparked an international rescue program for art and architecture.
Why the Pilgrims Were Actually Able to Survive
If you were reading Bradford's version of events, you might think that the survival of the Pilgrims' settlements was often in danger.
America, Where the Dogs Don’t Bark and the Birds Don’t Sing
The Comte de Buffon's thirty-six volume Natural History claimed that America was a land of degeneracy. That enraged Thomas Jefferson.
Talk about This, Not That
Looking to avoid politics at the holiday dinner table? Food trivia, ground-up mummy pigment, and snake jaws ought to do the trick.
Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dates Back to the 1900s
Tofu Turkey was created in 1990, but some Americans celebrated Thanksgiving with veggie dishes over a century ago.
When and Where Did Abraham Lincoln Write the Gettysburg Address?
Theories abound. Historian William H. Lambert considers the origin of the address and the mythology surrounding its composition.
The Lavender Scare
In 1950, the U.S. State Department fired 91 employees because they were homosexual or suspected of being homosexual.
Ch’arki: The First Jerky
Ch'arki is made in the high-altitude Andes by alternately drying the meat in the hot sun and freezing it during the cold nights.
The X-ray Craze of 1896
For many science-obsessed Victorians, X-rays were not just a fun novelty, but a potential miracle cure.