The Bayonet: What’s the Point?
According to one scholar, the military sees training in this obsolete weapon as helpful on the modern battlefield.
Library Fires Have Always Been Tragedies. Just Ask Galen.
When Rome burned in 192 CE, the city's vibrant community of scholars was devastated. The physician Galen described the scale of the loss.
Uplifting the Masses with Public Parks
Created in Victorian England, the earliest public parks were on a civilizing mission.
Community Cookbooks and the Women Who Wrote Them
Before "local" became a foodie obsession, small groups of women published collections of their own recipes. And still do!
The Idea of “Good Nutrition” Has Changed Over Time
But one thing has been constant: the tendency to call some foods better for you than others.
The Greenhouse Gas That’s More Potent Than Carbon Dioxide
Emitting just 1 ton of nitrous oxide—a common ingredient in synthetic fertilizer—is roughly equivalent to emitting 300 tons of carbon dioxide.
Out of Black Liberation, Asian American Jazz
Inspired by Black artistic and political movements, musicians from diverse communities began expressing pan-Asian cultural belonging and freedom.
Recipe for an Ancient Roman Glow Up
Start by saying yes to antioxidant-rich barley pap, and avoid wine tainted with newts.
Yaks in Tibet
As China tried to expand into Tibet in the late 1930s, it looked to the yak as a way to "modernize" Tibetan culture.
Banks’ Own Private Currencies in 19th-Century America
Before the Civil War local banks issued their own money. It was totally legit, too.