Winston Churchill’s Love-Hungry Childhood
Winston Churchill started life as a love-starved child whose lonely childhood set the stage for his almost fanatical need for influence and power.
The History of the History of American Slavery
In an age when the White House is being asked if slavery was a good or bad thing, perhaps we should take a look at the history of the history of slavery.
The Age of the Bed Changed the Way We Sleep
One historian reconstructs what nighttime was like in early modern Europe, and how the darkness affected people's sleep patterns.
Punch vs. Tea in the 18th Century
In the 18th century, whether a person drank punch or tea revealed a lot about gender, stereotypes, sociability, and domesticity.
A Puritan War on Wigs
In colonial New England, moral quandaries were everywhere. A surprisingly big one in the 17th and 18th century was whether it was okay to wear a wig.
War Has Made Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion in Minerals Worthless
Developing rare earth mining in Afghanistan has been a potential objective since the USGS estimated the country had $1 trillion in mineral ore deposits.
The Delicious Democratic Symbolism of…Doughnuts?
Doughnuts became popular during World War I, when Salvation Army volunteers—most of them women—made and served the soldiers million of doughnuts.
The “Sob Sisters” Who Dared to Cover the Trial of the Century
The term “sob sisters” was used in the early twentieth century to make fun of women journalists who dared cover the first trial of the century.
Black Organizing and White Violence
In 1919, armed posses and federal troops killed as many as one hundred African-Americans in one of the worst instances of mass violence in U.S. history.
How the Sun Conned the World With “The Great Moon Hoax”
The birth of the penny press, the first mass media, was very much mixed up with fake news, including the Great Moon Hoax of 1835.