HISTORY

A lithograph of Sequoyah by John Guss after an original painting by Charles Bird King.

Sequoyah: The Man Who Saved the Cherokee Language

His innovative alphabet brought literacy to a nation.

A dreidel and pile of chocolate gelt are a common sight during Hanukkah celebrations.

The Surprising History of the Hanukkah Dreidel

It’s often said the dreidel was a way Jewish people communicated their faith during ancient times of oppression. But the Hanukkah game is actually a lot more recent.

A Tlingit boy wears a traditional woven red cedar hat.

7 Things to Know About Native American Heritage Month

November has been proclaimed Native American Heritage Month for more than 30 years, but the movement to honor Indigenous cultures started long before that.

A hearse with S-shaped bars in place of back windows.

Why Do Hearses Have Metal S-Shaped Scrolls Where the Back Windows Should Be?

A brief history of landau bars.

A lithograph of the 1889 Johnstown Flood made in the 1890s shows the debris caused by the flood in flames.

10 Things You Need to Know About the Johnstown Flood

The Great Flood of 1889 killed more than 2000 people, swept away 1600 homes, and caused $17 million in damage. And it wasn’t the last time Johnstown would flood.

Ambrose Bierce, the Dark Humorist Who Disappeared

"Bitter Bierce" had a sharp sense of humor. It may have gotten him killed.

10 Regional Names for the Night Before Halloween

Whether you call it Mischief Night, Devil's Night, or something else, it all means one thing: wanton destruction of property.

From the Pragmatic to the Cruel: 7 Ways King James VI and I Changed Society

From uniting the Crowns to whipping witch hunters into a frenzy, King James VI and I left his mark on history.

Mantle Piece: You Can Own Shares of Mickey Mantle’s Boyhood Home for $7

The baseball icon’s modest Oklahoma home is getting the fractional ownership treatment.

A detail of the Chi Rho monogram in the Book of Kells, a priceless illustrated manuscript from the Middle Ages.

5 Misconceptions About the Middle Ages

The medieval era wasn’t just a bunch of flat Earthers feasting and jousting.

Sugar skulls are just one part of Día de los Muertos.

12 Facts About Día de los Muertos

In Latin America, el Día de los Muertos is a celebration of life and death, and an invitation for the deceased to return home once again to those who love them.

Why Is Opening an Umbrella Indoors Supposed to Be Bad Luck?

When it comes to superstitions about bad luck, indoor umbrellas are right up there with broken mirrors and black cats.

How One Grieving Father Got Lawn Darts Banned

Lawn darts were banned in 1988, but not before seriously injuring many children and killing at least one.

Museum visitors admire Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss.’

15 Things You Should Know About Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’

Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ is a deceptively simple portrait of lust and love. But beyond that glittery gold leaf, the work is full of fascinating facts.

12 Novels Inspired by Real Events

Novelists have used everything from real killers to newsworthy hostage situations to literal white whales to craft their fiction.

The Backstreet Boys in a late ’90s portrait session.

“I Want It That Way”: How Max Martin’s ‘Melodic Math’ Led to This Enduring (and Confusing) Backstreet Boys Hit

The Backstreet Boys’ 1999 smash “I Want It That Way,” which celebrates its 25th anniversary in April 2024, is among the definitive songs—if not the definitive song—of the ’90s teen-pop explosion.

An aerial view of icebergs in Greenland.

10 Fascinating Facts About the Arctic

It’s more than ice and polar bears.

The humble bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich is a more recent phenomenon than you might think.

The Delicious History of the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

‘New York Times’ restaurant critic Pete Wells once said the humble bacon, egg, and cheese was “designed to satisfy practical needs rather than voluptuary desires.“ But is that selling the sandwich short?

11 Fascinating Facts About Jackson Pollock’s ‘No. 5, 1948’

Even if you can’t appreciate this masterpiece's aesthetic, it has a history that’s worth its weight in house paint and stacks of cash.

8 Historical Accounts of Werewolves

Turning into a werewolf was a popular pastime in 16th-century France.

Sometimes a picture doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Stories Behind 8 Famous Photos

From Elvis Presley wearing a velvet suit to meet Richard Nixon to the migrant mother who unwittingly became the face of the Great Depression, these are the true stories behind a few iconic photographs from history.

The OED features 600,000 words over a thousand years of the English language.

13 Fascinating Facts About the Oxford English Dictionary

It took more than 70 years and tons of volunteer labor to create “the definitive record of the English language”—including an assist from a murderer. Get to know the Oxford English Dictionary better.

Never underestimate the power of belief.

‘Dogged by Death’: The True Story Behind the Bizarre Syndrome That Inspired ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’

Here’s how a wave of mysterious deaths in the late 1970s and early 1980s among Southeast Asian refugees living in America inspired Wes Craven to pen his 1984 horror classic, “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

A freaky downspout carved in the form of a gargoyle on the Church of Saint Severin in Paris, France.

10 Fanciful Facts about Gargoyles

Technically, only the figures that function as water spouts are actual gargoyles.

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