London’s Railway for the Dead
As London's graveyards overflowed, a private company proposed a remarkable new way to bury the dead.
How the Railways Killed a Medieval Law
Deodands put a price on objects that caused death, sometimes providing compensation to bereaved families.
Where Did All the Public Bathrooms Go?
Nineteenth-century Paris tackled public urination with ornate pissoirs. American reformers later turned toilets into a temperance cause.
Life Inside Icelandic Turf Houses
Grass roofs may look enchanting today, but living beneath them was another story.
The Ghost Roads of Ireland’s Great Famine
Starving families were forced to earn aid by carving roads through rock, fields, and mountainsides.
The Golden Age of the American Soapbox
Across the country, impromptu speakers drew crowds and arrests alike, turning public oratory into a defining feature of civic life.
Souvenir Hunting on the Battlefield of Waterloo
At Waterloo, a site of immense bloodshed, tourists quickly turned the aftermath of war into collectibles.
Tutivillus Is Watching You
For medieval scribes, mistakes couldn’t be easily shrugged off, as Tutivillus, the stickler demon, was always looking over their shoulders.
Christopher, the Dog-Headed Saint
Although the tradition has largely faded in the Western church, Saint Christopher sported a canine head through much of Christian history.
Tavolette: Paintings to Comfort the Condemned
Charged with saving the immortal souls of the condemned, comforters held tavolette showing the Crucifixion in front of the eyes of those facing execution.