The name Shaker originally comes from the insult “Shaking Quakers,” which mocked the sect’s use of their bodies in worship.

Blake’s works offer an alternative to the failures of the Enlightenment, which couldn’t muster a consistent argument for abolition.

James Graham, founder of the Temple of Health, benefitted from his undeniable flair for showmanship and his talent for leaping on trends.

Meet the original Bluestockings, a group of women intellectuals. Their name would eventually become a misogynist epithet -- but it didn't start that way.

Letters reveal how language changes. They also offer a peek into the way people--especially women--have always constructed their private and public selves.

Though he was once dismissed as a dilettante, naturalist Francis Willughby was in fact part of the vanguard of observation-based modern science.

May of 1568 was a fateful month for Mary, Queen of Scots. She managed to escape prison, but only to be being defeated in battle soon after. Then she made the fateful decision to run to England.

London's winters used to colder—and a bit more magical, thanks to chilly conditions on the Thames River. "Frost fairs" were popular public celebrations.

Fake news has plenty of precedents in the history of mass media, and particularly, in the history of American journalism.

If we'd listened to Ben Franklin back in 1766, would we be listening to Ted Cruz in 2016?