HISTORY

Halloween will be even spookier this year.

A Rare Blue Moon Will Light Up the Night Sky This Halloween

A blue moon on Halloween only happens once in a blue moon (once every 19 years or so, in this case.)

A vintage postcard of San Pedro, California.

San Pedro, California Is Home to the Country’s Only Volunteer-Run Post Office

A group of retired volunteers are responsible for keeping the lights on at the Assistant League Post Office in San Pedro, California.

Warren G. Harding looking dapper in June 1920.

The Grandson of Warren G. Harding's Mistress Wants to Prove His Presidential Lineage—By Exhuming Harding's Body

For the record, other DNA tests have already proven that Warren G. Harding’s grandson is, in fact, Warren G. Harding’s grandson.

An 1864 illustration by William Waud of Union soldiers voting in Pennsylvania.

The Civil War Beginnings of America’s Absentee Ballots

Abraham Lincoln was up for reelection in 1864, and Republicans thought soldiers’ absentee ballots could help.

Columbus Day 2020: What’s Open? What’s Closed?

Columbus Day is a federal holiday, which means many places will be closed on Monday, October 12 2020.

Weekend at Errol Flynn’s: When John Barrymore’s Friends Stole His Corpse From the Morgue for One Last Prank

Drew Barrymore recently corroborated this epic Hollywood legend, but it’s still highly questionable.

The 1851 Christiana Riot put the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 on trial.

The 1851 Christiana Resistance: The Forgotten First Shots of the Civil War

On September 11, 1851, a small farming in Pennsylvania united against slavery and fought what many consider the first battle of the Civil War.

9 Travel Tips from Classical Europe

Travel writing from classical antiquity overflows with pearls of wisdom both relatable and wildly exotic.

A fallen statue of Lenin next to the Mogoşoaia Palace.

What Happens to the Racist Statues and Monuments That Are Removed? Many Find Their Way to Germany’s Citadel Museum

At the Citadel Museum in Germany, monuments to oppressive figures and regimes are displayed in a different context than what was originally intended.

"What did I tell you about the elbows, Susie?"

Why Is It Considered Rude to Eat With Your Elbows on the Table?

Even Emily Post, the queen of table manners, sometimes graced the tabletop with her elbows. What gives?

Put your worries in Zozobra, and watch them go up in smoke.

Zozobra: The Quirky New Mexico Tradition That Promises to Take Your Gloom Away

At the annual burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a 50-foot-tall marionette is stuffed with parking tickets, divorce papers, calendars, and notes, and set aflame, taking people’s worries with him as he goes up in smoke.

Kenya's Wangari Maathai isn't a household name, but she should be.

Meet Nina Chhita, the Artist Celebrating Diverse Female Scientists With Her Instagram Illustrations

From ‘Hidden Figure’ Katherine Johnson to female Nobel Laureates you may not have heard of, Nina Chhita's Instagram is giving us some important history lessons.

Recently Declassified Soviet Video Shows the Biggest Nuclear Explosion in History

Tsar Bomba—the biggest hydrogen bomb ever—detonated in October 1961, and the Soviet Union caught it on tape.

Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

5 Unique Currencies From Precolonial Africa

Many fascinating forms of money were used across precolonial Africa. These currencies are just as unique and diverse as the people who used them.

NTNU archaeologist Astrid Kviseth digs up a viking sword in Norway.

A Left-Handed Viking’s 1200-Year-Old Sword Discovered in Norway

Archaeolgists in Norway recently uncovered a sword buried on a Viking’s left side, indicating that the Viking likely wielded it with his left hand.

History Vs. Bonus Episode: Theodore Roosevelt and the Perdicaris Affair

How Theodore Roosevelt used his big stick diplomacy to make the most of an international incident in an election year. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

A photograph of Alexandre Dumas by Nadar, circa 1855.

Google Pays Tribute to Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo With Doodle

Alexandre Dumas’s action-packed adventure novel is definitely a classic, but the inspiration behind it isn’t very well-known.

The HearHere app offers audio stories that relate to the things and places you see during a road trip.

Taking a Road Trip? This App Will Tell You the History of the Places You're Passing

HearHere is a new app backed by Kevin Costner that offers short audio stories of the places and landmarks you're curious about.

Goldfish crackers have nothing on this guy.

Amezaiku: The Nearly Lost Japanese Art of Candy Sculpture

For anyone who’s used the phrase “too pretty to eat,” we have a new benchmark for you: amezaiku, the ancient Japanese art of sugar sculpture.

The tunnels around Chicago's Green Mill Lounge are rife with Prohibition lore.

The Facts and Fiction of Chicago's Prohibition-Era Bootlegging Tunnels

When people think of 1920s Chicago, stories of bootleggers, speakeasies and Al Capone naturally come to mind. The Uptown tunnels are just part of the roaring ‘20s Chicago story.

Facing History and Ourselves students visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

This Organization Designs Resources to Help Educators Teach Difficult Parts of History in Sensitive, Constructive Ways

Topics include global immigration, race in U.S. history, justice and human rights, genocide and mass violence, and more.

7 Best-Selling 19th Century Female Novelists You've Never Heard Of

Few people today know the names Mrs. Henry Wood, Charlotte Riddell, or Maria Edgeworth—yet these women all wrote immensely popular, best-selling Victorian novels that allowed them to command top dollar.

Stories of important and influential women will be given more visibility thanks to grants from the National Park Foundation.

The National Park Foundation Will Spend Nearly $500,000 to Elevate the Stories of Pioneering Women Throughout History

The National Park Foundation is using 23 grants to give influential women and their stories a place of prominence at National Park Service sites across the country.

The cover of the English edition of the book.

Zabiba and the King: The 2000 Romance Novel ... Written by Saddam Hussein

It’s literally about a mighty king’s love affair with a commoner, but it’s figuratively about Operation Desert Storm.

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