The Weed Scientist Who Brought Down the Wrath of Stalin
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov's hypothesis on the evolution of rye is now accepted. But in the 1930s, his research got him arrested.
Where Did Zip Codes Come From?
How a plan for getting the mail delivered faster allowed targeted marketing to grow.
In Han Dynasty China, Bisexuality Was the Norm
So tender was Emperor Ai’s love for his "male companion" that, when he had to get up, instead of waking his lover, he cut off the sleeve of his robe.
The History of Mourning in Public
After a massive factory fire in 1911, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to stage a "symbolic funeral."
Why Do Police Use Tear Gas When It Was Banned in War?
The development of chemical warfare around the time of World War I led to the use of tear gas as a weapon by civilian police forces.
From Gay Liberation to Marriage Equality
One scholar explains how the LGBT movement became focused on advancing the rights of a narrow set of people at the expense of its once-radical vision.
Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus
How can we help students understand George Floyd's death in the context of institutionalized racism?
Everyone in Pompeii Got Takeout, Too
Archaeologists have found that snack bars called tabernae fed much of the city in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
Martin Luther’s Monsters
Prodigies, or monsters, were opaque and flexible symbols that signaled that God was sending some message.
Walter Rodney, Guerrilla Intellectual
Walter Rodney’s radical thought and activism led to his eventual killing by a bomb in Guyana, in 1980.