How Masks of Mutilated WWI Soldiers Haunted Postwar Culture
In the age before plastic surgery, masks were the best option for veterans with faces scarred by war. The end results, however, were somewhat uncanny.
Building Colonies for WWI Veterans
After World War I, policymakers seriously considered the idea of setting up farming colonies for returning veterans.
When America Incarcerated “Promiscuous” Women
From WWI to the 1950s, the "American Plan" rounded up sexually-active women and quarantined them, supposedly to protect soldiers from venereal disease.
The Camouflage That Dazzled
During WWI, artist and British naval officer Norman Wilkinson came up with an idea so crazy it just may have worked: Dazzle Camouflage.
The Unlikely Spy Alliance Behind the 1916 Black Tom Explosion
German imperialists teamed up with Irish republicans and Indian nationalists during World War I; the resulting conspiracy trial ended in a courtroom assassination.
How WWI Made the Zipper a Success
A money belt with a zipper became an instant success among WWI U.S. sailors, whose uniforms did not have pockets. Almost all initial zipper sales were for the money belts.
The Flu Pandemic of 1918, As Reported in 1918
The Spanish Influenza pandemic 100 years ago was the most lethal global disease outbreak since the Black Death. What were people thinking at the time?
How World War I Put Boys on Bikes
The first modern bicycles were for adults. Ads for boys’ bikes drew from, and fed into, a changing vision of boyhood during World War I.
Does Political Violence Generate Real Change?
U.S. law prohibits American leaders from assassinating their counterparts in other nations. But targeted assassination has long been a part of history.
“Give Us Bread!”
In 1917, a food riot erupted in Brooklyn over the prices of staples. These forms of protest, sadly, are not quite yet ready for the dustbin of history.