Why Interstellar Objects Like ʻOumuamua and Borisov May Hold Clues to Exoplanets
The detection of two celestial interlopers careening through our solar system has scientists eagerly anticipating more.
Two William McKinley Autopsies
The 1901 assassination of US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo revealed the abysmal state of race relations in America.
Land of the Free, Home of the Bootleggers
When technology made music mobile, the American South changed from one type of bootlegging industry to another: copying and selling records.
Bridging The Gap of War: Einstein’s Eclipse
Astronomer Arthur S. Eddington argued that astronomy should be above politics, even when politics leads to world war.
Reviving Chinese Festivals
The government of China has been working to revitalize traditional celebrations that were suppressed after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.
Mark Twain’s Obsession with Joan of Arc
Despite being famous for his witty analyses of the American South, Twain was proudest of the historical fiction he wrote about France’s legendary martyr.
Suppressing the Black Vote in 1811
As more Black men gained the right to vote in New York, the state began to change its laws to reduce their power or disenfranchise them completely.
From Jamaica to the World: Contextualizing Bob Marley
Bob Marley’s life and music intersected with Pan-Africanism, the Rastafari movement, and post-colonial politics around the globe.
100 Years after the “Great Debate”: How Edwin Hubble Expanded the Cosmos
In 1924, Edwin Hubble found proof that the Milky Way isn't the only galaxy in the Universe.
“Heed Their Rising Voices”: Annotated
In 1960, an ad placed in the New York Times to defend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights activists touched off a landmark libel suit.