HISTORY

Do We Actually Know What Shakespeare Looked Like?

Even 400 years after Shakespeare's death, scholars are still debating.

7 Other Great Fires of London

Throughout history, the city of London has been all but destroyed by fire on more than a dozen different occasions—usually accidentally, sometimes deliberately.

Read One of the First Eyewitness Accounts of Antarctica

Joseph Dalton Hooker ate penguins and discovered volcanoes on the 1840s expedition.

Everything you need to know about this most beloved of school supplies.

The History of the Trapper Keeper

Here's how your favorite old-school school supply became an icon.

10 Shipwrecks You Can Visit

These shipwrecks all have intriguing stories, and they’re all places where you can step foot, although in some cases a boat (and possibly scuba gear) may be necessary. Just remember: Look, don’t touch.

8 Surprising Facts About the Presidential Yacht

From hosting JFK's last birthday party to becoming a raccoon habitat, this boat has seen it all.

Levi’s Acquires the Oldest Known Pair of Women’s Jeans

The pants date back to the early 1930s.

John T. Daniels, Wikipedia // Public Domain

How the Wright Brothers' Plane Compares to the World's Largest Aircraft

Size doesn't always matter.

How Austin's Neighborhoods Got Their Names

Jollyville got its name from a person, not a state of mind.

Keystone Features / Stringer / Getty Images

10 Surprising Facts About Alfred Kinsey

Alfred Kinsey forever changed the way we think, and talk, about sex—partly by asking more than 18,000 men and women deeply personal questions about their most intimate habits.

You Can Now Read More Than 850 of Alexander Hamilton's Papers Online

The newly digitized letters span from his days as a clerk in St. Croix to the eve of his death.

7 Things Historical Women Wore Under Their Skirts

A brief history.

Courtesy of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Baltimore, MD

Frances Glessner Lee's Crime Dioramas Are Getting Their Own Smithsonian Exhibition

The "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" were used to train investigators to solve murders, suicides, and other mysterious cases.

148 Lost Alan Turing Papers Discovered in Filing Cabinet

They have not been seen in at least 30 years.

Photo illustration by Lucy Quintanilla // Alamy (Holman); iStock (background)

The Blind Traveler: How James Holman Felt His Way Around the World to Become History's Most Prolific Explorer

By his death at 70 in 1857, Holman had walked, climbed, ridden, hiked, and sailed a total distance equal to traveling to the moon. So why haven't you heard of him?

8 Things We Know About The Crown Season 2

Television's most expensive series will make its royal return on December 8, 2017.

Watch How Victorian Hard Candy Was Made in the 19th Century

Lofty Pursuits, a shop in Florida, makes cinnamon candies on a press from 1871.

Hulton Archive (left), Bruno Vincent (right) // Getty Images

How Superman Helped Foil the KKK

A real-life hero who infiltrated the Klan in the 1940s teamed up with a fictional one to expose their corrupting influence.

A Brief History of DayGlo

In the midst of the Depression, the world turned brighter when brothers Bob and Joe Switzer began developing a dazzling new fluorescent color palette.