Did Caterina Sforza Flash an Army?
According to legend, Sforza lifted her skirts to show her adversaries that she had the body parts to make more children. But why?
The Shameless City
The discourse around police raids of so-called molly houses reflected the fear that London was a new Sodom where anonymity allowed people to be shameless.
Tenzing Norgay: The Mountaineer Who Refused to be Categorized
By remaining vague about his own biography, Norgay called into question the idea of nationhood and made a deafening point about actions speaking louder than words.
How Books Taught Europeans to Smoke
The printed word helped spread the inhaling habit across the continent.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Sandy beaches and luxury hotels seem to define this Caribbean nation, but it’s the music and architecture that truly speak to its complicated history.
The Complicated History of Pointy Hats
What do sorcerers, bishops, and garden gnomes all have in common? Pointy hats that share a common story deeply enmeshed in European antisemitism.
We Dream of Genie
In antebellum America, the voyages and adventures of Sinbad and Aladdin in the Arabian Nights nourished a young nation's dreams.
Inventing an American Indian Rebellion
False rumors of an alleged Wampanoag uprising on Nantucket Island in 1738 were turned into a story of an Indian rebellion thwarted via a Boston newspaper.
The Post-Civil War Opioid Crisis
Many servicemen became addicted to opioids prescribed during the war. Society viewed their dependency as a lack of manliness.
The Asian American History of Silicon Valley Shopping Malls
Shopping centers in East San Jose that originally served working-class immigrants have been transformed by the influx of transnational tech professionals.