Is “Swatting” Rooted in a Prank Craze from the 1800s?
Why did Georgian-era England go mad for dangerous hoaxes, and what can that mania tell us about today’s volatile, content-hungry world?
Hocktide: A Medieval Fest of Flirtation and Finances
The springtime holiday of Hocktide not only allowed villagers to cross social boundaries in the name of fun, it helped them raise funds for nonsecular needs.
The Psychological Problems of Modern Warfare
As military technology improved in the nineteenth century, military strategists put heavy emphasis on “moral factors” in preparing troops for battle.
Webster’s Dictionary 1828: Annotated
Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language declared Americans free from the tyranny of British institutions and their vocabularies.
The Climate Canvasses of the Little Ice Age
Low Country artists of the late Renaissance and Early Baroque eras captured the happiness and hardships of snowy winters—an ever rarer phenomenon now.
Using Data to Discover and Explore the Stories of Enslaved People
Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade brings together datasets from multiple sources in a single free website that anyone can use.
John B. Cade’s Project to Document the Stories of the Formerly Enslaved
A recently digitized slave narrative collection consists of original manuscripts compiled by John Brother Cade and his students at Southern University.
How Crime Stories Foiled Reform in Victorian Britain
Harsh punishments were declining in the nineteenth century. Then came sensationalist news coverage of a reputed crime wave.
Abortion Remedies from a Medieval Catholic Nun(!)
Hildegard von Bingen wrote medical texts describing how to prepare abortifacients.