Soccer and European Identity
Throughout Europe, soccer matches like the FIFA World Cup have become deeply significant, in part because that continent's identity is so complex.
“Saint” Anne Frank?
Pop culture has made Anne Frank into an icon, but one scholar notes that she was a terrified child trapped and killed by war, and should be seen as such.
The Marvelous Automata of Antiquity
Centuries before the computer, whimsical automata pushed the uncanny boundary between human and machine.
Pregnant Pioneers
For the frontier women of the 19th century, the experience of childbirth was harrowing, and even just expressing fear was considered a privilege.
Did Barack Obama Deserve the Nobel Prize?
Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. He took the award not as a reward for accomplishments but as a "call to action."
Susan Fenimore Cooper, Forgotten Naturalist
Susan Fenimore Cooper, known as her father James Fenimore Cooper's secretary, is now being recognized as one of the nation's first environmentalists.
Hidden Poisons of the Royal Court
How noble lords and ladies, terrified of poison, unknowingly poisoned themselves on a daily basis.
When Prison Time Meant Rhymes
The “gay, frolicsome and amusing" rhymes of 1970s American prison slang.
The Campaign for Child Labor
Why did David Clark lead a successful campaign to keep kids working in the early 20th century? For one thing, child labor benefited his interests.
Why the French Revolution’s “Rational” Calendar Wasn’t
What ever happened to "the most radical attempt in modern history to challenge the Western standard temporal reference framework?"