HISTORY

7 Facts About Bertha Knight Landes, First Female Mayor of a Major American City

Landes thought women were better-suited than men to be mayor, and Seattle agreed, at least for a while.

Rare Pages From England’s Earliest Printing Press Found in Library Archives

The rare double-sided leaf is from one of the earliest works made by the pioneering printer William Caxton.

You Can Now View an Almost-8-Foot-Tall Atlas From the 17th Century Online

The Klencke Atlas is one of the biggest in the world.

J.M. Barrie’s Literary All-Star Cricket Team

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of the better players on team.

When the Liberty Bell Went on a National Tour

After Philadelphia Mayor Rudolph Blankenburg approved of the 1915 train tour, experts warned him the fragile Bell might not come back in one piece.

Crocker Land: The Legendary Arctic Island That Didn't Actually Exist

Crocker Land was all but a phantom—one that famed explorer Robert E. Peary had invented out of the thin Arctic air.

13 Things You Might Not Know About Eva Perón

There's much more to Eva than 'Evita.'

Watch and Listen to Rare Footage of Sigmund Freud

We only have one audio recording of the founder of psychoanalysis, in a message for the BBC in 1938.

On This Day in 1994, the Chunnel Opened

Queen Elizabeth II and François Mitterrand took their own trains, meeting nose-to-nose on the same track in Calais.

12 Scholarly Takes on Whether or Not the 13th Century Song "Sumer is Icumen in" Is About Deer Farts

Some scholars debate big, thorny questions: the ethics of human gene editing, the mind-body problem, God. Others rock the boat by probing more esoteric subjects, like the meaning of medieval song lyrics. Especially lyrics that may reference deer farts.

The Signed Lingua Franca That Once Spanned North America

A 1930 film of Plains Indian Sign Language captured the end of a once widely used lingua franca.

When the FBI Went After Mad Magazine

The magazine wasn't just polluting young minds. It had the gall to mock the honorable J. Edgar Hoover.

American Motorcycle Association Hall of Fame via Wikipedia (Augusta and Abigail) // Public Domain

The Bold Van Buren Sisters, Who Blazed a Trail Across America

One hundred years ago, two sisters ditched their gilded cages for a cross-country motorcycle adventure they hoped would change the nation for the better.

The Most Amazing Lie in History

How a chicken farmer, a pair of princesses, and 27 imaginary spies helped the allies win World War II.

French Painting Stolen by Nazis in WWII Finally Returned

The saga began in 1941, when Nazis raided the bank vault of a Jewish family living in Southern France.

Welikia's rendering of what Manhattan and the surrounding area might have looked like in 1609.

Virtual Reality Project Imagines What Manhattan Sounded Like in 1609

Calling Thunder juxtaposes the sounds of modern New York City with the sounds of the species that once roamed there.

The Shakespeare Fraud That Tricked Late 18th Century London

In the 1790s, a teenager fooled London into thinking he was Shakespeare.

How Guglielmo Marconi Cheated Death—Twice

How 'The Great Stink' Infiltrated London in 1858

The past was a truly smelly place.

Why Early America Was Obsessed With Wooden Nutmegs

Two hundred years ago, crafting fake spices out of wood was a popular pastime—or so the legends would have you believe.

The Man Who Built a 40-Foot Spite Fence Around His Neighbor’s Home

When Nicholas Yung wouldn't sell his land to railroad baron Charles Crocker, Crocker built a 40-foot fence around his house and blotted out the sun.

A Brief History of Soyuz 1, Russia's First Crewed Soyuz Spacecraft

Soyuz 1 was plagued with technical problems and ended in tragedy. But more 50 years later, we're still using descendants of the spacecraft to ferry people and supplies to and from space

On This Day in 1964, the Unisphere Was Unveiled

The stainless steel rings symbolize three orbital pioneers: Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn, and Telstar.

On This Day in 1978, the Blues Brothers Rocked SNL

They were on a mission from God.

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