HISTORY

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.

A photo of Marsha P. Johnson from the 2017 documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.

New York Just Renamed Brooklyn’s East River State Park After LGBTQ+ Icon Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was present at the Stonewall Riots of 1969, but that’s just part of her very important legacy.

Sorghaghtani Beki, Genghis Khan's daughter-in-law, was a powerful ruler.

When Mongol Queens Ruled the Silk Road

The daughters of Genghis Khan ruled nations that controlled the Silk Road, the favored route for trading spices, cloth, pottery, and other goods between China, India, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

Anarchist Émile Chapelier teaches Esperanto to the members of his Libertarian commune.

Universal Soldiers: The Individuals Keeping the Esperanto Language Dream Alive

The universal language never quite changed the world, but enthusiasts and Duolingo users are doing their bit to change that.

Smooth Operator: How Con Man "Count" Victor Lustig Sold The Eiffel Tower—Twice

In 1925, an article appeared in a Paris newspaper about the decaying condition of the Eiffel Tower. There was a passing comment in the piece about how the French government had considered that it might be cheaper to tear down the Eiffel Tower than to fix

Benjamin Franklin left instructions in his will that had to be followed for 200 years.

How a 200-Year-Old Gift From Benjamin Franklin Made Boston and Philadelphia a Fortune

When Benjamin Franklin died in 1790, he left a small sum of money to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia with one condition: That they not spend it in full for 200 years.

Blood stars and Acadian redfish lurk near plates and a stove from the Portland.

New Expedition Will Explore the 1898 Shipwreck Known as ‘New England’s Titanic’—And You Can Livestream It

The SS 'Portland' vanished into the Atlantic during a storm of the century, but we still don’t know exactly why it sank.

You Can Now Read Thousands of Abraham Lincoln's Personal Letters Online

About half of the 40,000 documents in the Library of Congress's Lincoln Papers Collection are now available to search and read digitally online.

A gold-embossed religious text from the 15th century.

Rare 16th-Century Textiles and Manuscripts Pulled Out of Giant Rat Nests in English Manor House

“I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.” —Ariana Grande and also the avaricious rats of Oxburgh Hall.

Buckling up was once a political statement.

When a Radio Host Led an Uprising Against Massachusetts’s Seat Belt Law

“We are smart enough to buckle up without police, tickets, and Big Brother,” Jerry Williams said. But were they?

Jim Carrey, one hideous bowl cut, and Jeff Daniels star in Dumb and Dumber (1994).

The Unkindest Cut: A History of the Bowl Cut

While toddlers are often seen sporting this definite fashion don't, a number of adults have rocked the look—dating all the way back to the Middle Ages.

Rioters outside of San Francisco City Hall on the night of May 21, 1979, reacting to the voluntary manslaughter verdict for Dan White, which ensured White would serve just five years for the murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

10 Facts About the White Night Riots

In May 1979, one of the most violent protests in San Francisco history broke out when the lenient verdict for Dan White, the man who killed Harvey Milk, was revealed.

How 'Rumor Clinics' Fought Fake News 80 Years Ago

As the United States plunged into the second World War, newspapers fought fake news amid fears of Nazi propaganda efforts.

Who Was Jim Crow?

The name "Jim Crow" appears throughout many U.S. history books, but he was a caricature—not a real person.

An illustration depicting fugitives along the Underground Railroad in Maryland, taken from William Still's 1872 book The Underground Railroad.

9 Unsung Heroes of the Underground Railroad

You already know Harriet Tubman—here are nine other heroes who smuggled fugitives to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

A doctor draws blood from one of the study’s subjects.

Bad Blood: The Hidden Horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

In September 1932, Public Health Service officials recruited 600 Black men in Tuskegee, Alabama, to receive treatment for “bad blood.” The men had no idea they had become unwitting participants in one of the most controversial medical studies in recent ti

A wine window in Florence's Via Santo Spirito.

Florence’s Plague-Era Wine Windows Are Back in Business

Florentines understood that when the threat of infectious disease is omnipresent, easy access to wine is a must.

Who Were the Actual Brooks Brothers?

Four actual brothers formed the Brooks Brothers clothing brand after their father had started the menswear business in 1818. It survived scandal and changing styles—but the current economic downturn may be a different story.

13 Inventors Killed By Their Own Inventions

Get swept away in the tale of how Henry Winstanley was swept away in the lighthouse he designed (and other fascinating yet tragic tales).

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