When Captain Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition went awry, clairvoyants claimed to be able to contact the crew members. Why did people believe them?

For a brief period of time in the 19th century, doctors used "mesmerism" for pain-free surgery.

In nineteenth-century New England, it was held to be essential to whisper to beehives of a loved one’s death.

During the Second Great Awakening of 1830, science and religion were seen as “two aspects of the same universal truth.”

In 1854, Elizabeth Jennings rode the streetcar of her choice, in an early civil rights protest that led to desegregating public transportation in NYC.

Sunday mail delivery was hugely controversial in the early 19th century, inspiring one of the U.S.'s first efforts to rally public opinion around a cause.

The first baths weren't about getting clean or relaxing. In the 1860s, experts agreed that the best kind of bath was a brief plunge in cold water.

Historian Robin Veder explains that the way we associate female nurturing with gardens goes back to the way ideas about gender and work changed in the mid-nineteenth century.

Giving children toys for Christmas first became a thing in early nineteenth century England.

Online publications that offer clickbait and easy entertainment mirror some of the most popular nineteenth century British magazines.