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Black and white headshot of author Matthew Wills

Matthew Wills

Matthew Wills has advanced degrees in library science and film studies and is lapsed in both fields. He has published in Poetry, Huffington Post, and Nature Conservancy Magazine, among other places, and blogs regularly about urban natural history at matthewwills.com.

Stiff clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum) in summer

The Many Unexpected Jobs of the Clubmoss Spore

The first working internal combustion machine debuted in 1807, powered by lycopodium powder, which is made of explosive plant spores.
Andrew Johnson impeachment trial

Impeaching History

Got impeachment? Not much. In American history, there have only been a total of 19 impeachment trials in the U.S. Senate.
Joyce Appleby

Historian Joyce Appleby Remembered

Historian Joyce Appleby, a major contributor to our understanding of early American history, passed away last month. We remember her.
Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke and the Birth of Traditional Conservatism

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) is one of the philosophical fountainheads of modern conservatism. But he didn't start out that way.
Russian oil

When Russia Conquered the World with White Oil

Russia was the first source of white oil, a Vaseline-like mix of hydrocarbons used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and plastics.
John Berger

John Berger, 1926-2017

John Berger has died at the age of 90. Famous for his television series and book Ways of Seeing, he was a critic, artist, novelist, poet, and radical.
Pocahontas and John Smith

The Real Pocahontas

Pocahontas, Matoaka, and Lady Rebecca Rolfe were all the same young woman, who died in 1617, a long way from home.
First Ellis Island wooden structure

The Curious History of Ellis Island

Ellis Island celebrates its 125th anniversary as the federal immigration depot. From 1892-1954, more than 12 million immigrants passed through the island.
Katz's Deli

The Genealogy of the Jewish Deli

The Jewish deli is a New York City tradition that has spread far beyond the city's limits. It's a tradition worthy of its own history.
Poinsettia

What Poinsettias Have to do with U.S.-Mexico Relations

Poinsettias were named for the first US diplomat to Mexico. The flower was more successful than he was. How it went from Aztec dye to Christmas decoration.
George Washington inauguration

Why the Presidential Inauguration is in January

The Presidential Inauguration is January 20th as a result of a twentieth century change to the U.S. Constitution. Originally, it was March 4th.
Marquis de Lafayette

Foreign Intervention… in the American Revolution

Foreign powers have been interfering in our politics since day one, when we welcomed it from France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
Santa at chimney

What Santa Claus Looks Like

Where does the figure of Santa Claus come from? Turns out the answer is not "the North Pole." And he's not just about Christianity, either.
2012 Cartogram

Time for Reform of the Electoral College?

Is it finally time to reform the Electoral College after 2000 and 2016? If so, how could this be done?
USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor at 75

Seventy-five years ago on the morning of December 7th, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaii Territory.
NSA operations center

The National Security Advisor: A Primer

Presidents have appointed National Security Advisors since 1953. Since the 1960s, they've become increasingly powerful within the Executive Branch.
Fidel Castro

Why Did Fidel Castro Infuriate the U.S. So Much?

Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary and leader who dominated his small island nation's history for half a century, is dead at 90.
Kirchner, Berlin Street Scene

The Weimar Republic: Gone But Not Forgotten

The Weimar Republic is famous for failing, but considering its turmoil and crisis, it's surprising how long it actually lasted.
Hasty Pudding

Hasty Pudding: The Original American Comfort Food

Puddings can be surprisingly nationalistic.
Margaret Fuller

How Early Feminist Writer Margaret Fuller’s Memoirs Were Rewritten

Margaret Fuller was one of the most-read Americans of the mid-nineteenth century, but then men started to edit her for posterity.
Couple at Niagara Falls

Falling for Niagara Falls

How did Niagara Falls become the Honeymoon Capital of the World?
Benjamin Franklin

How Benjamin Franklin’s Almanac Appealed to the Common Man

Why did Benjamin Franklin become an American patriot when he was such a loyal son of the Crown for so long?
Old Books

Melvil Dewey’s Attempt at a Spelling Revolution

Melvil Dewey, of the Dewey Decimal system, thought we should have spelling reform.
Hannah Höch. German, 1889-1978 Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany

DADA at 100, or, I Zimbra!

The anti-art art movement Dada was born in 1916 in Zurich's Cabaret Voltaire. 
Piltdown man

Whatever Happened To Piltdown Man?

Piltdown Man was once considered the missing link between apes and humans. What happened?