Ruth Mazo Karras
Ask a Professor offers an insider’s view of life in academia. Up this month: Ruth Mazo Karmas, Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.
When Fireworks Told Stories
In Europe between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, fireworks displays were performances that told a story or symbolized real-world battles.
The Unexpected Impact of James Garfield’s Assassination
On July 2, 1881, less than a year after President James Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States, he was shot by Charles Guiteau.
Why Hot Air Balloons Never Really (Ahem) Took Off
More than two centuries after the invention of ballooning, Steve Fossett became the first person to solo circumnavigate the world in a balloon.
How Virtual Reality Could Change the Art World
Acute Art is a kind virtual reality marketed directly to artists. Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson, and Jeff Koons have been the first to try it out.
The Science of Ticks
A mild winter and abundant mice have led to a bumper crop of ticks this year, and with them tick-transmitted diseases including Lyme disease.
What’s So Bad About A Monopoly?
Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods has drawn the ire of a new antitrust movement, which argues against the dangers of industry monopoly.
How Women Crushed on One Another Back in the Day
Same-sex crushes and romantic friendships between college-age women were common throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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.
How the Victorians Went Camping
If you’re going camping this summer, will you rough it on a wilderness hike, or relax in a ...