The 1970s were a time of contradictions in the United States. The fallout from the ongoing Vietnam War and Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal led to widespread cynicism, but that tension was cloaked in polyester and mirror balls. Sandwiched between 1960s idealism and 1980s ex...
English has always been the dominant language of United States presidents, but many have also spoken other languages. Some presidents were well versed in classical tongues such as Latin and Greek — a standard component of education in colonial America for those who could acc...
The 1920s were a transformative decade: A convergence of economic prosperity, technological and industrial advancements, and flourishing artistic movements led to a cultural transition from the reserved social mores of previous eras to a modern age. In the United States, the...
Britain is a land of countless myths and legends, including King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, and King Canute commanding the tide not to rise. Many of these staples of British folklore mix fact and fiction, blurring actual ...
The term “Dark Ages” conjures images of a bleak, backward world, a period of human history marked by ignorance, barbarity, and intellectual stagnation. The term is typically used to refer to the era spanning roughly from the fifth to 10th centuries, but at times has referred...
Endlessly scrolling through Netflix without being able to decide what to watch is an all-too-common problem, but it’s easier to solve if you have a specific genre in mind. And while most of the history dramas streaming on the platform aren’t exactly historical themselves (as...
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt found himself at the center of an unexpectedly fierce national debate. The issue wasn’t war, trust-busting, or foreign policy — it was spelling. That year, Roosevelt endorsed a movement to simplify hundreds of English words, hoping to ma...
Sleeping in a cupboard sounds more like a punishment than a good night’s rest. But in parts of Europe in the medieval and early modern era, people often slept on beds inside wooden cupboards. Built right into house frames or crafted as freestanding pieces of furniture,...
In 1962, while Americans anxiously followed escalating Cold War tensions, witnessed the violent racial integration of the University of Mississippi, and mourned the tragic death of Marilyn Monroe, a quiet but monumental shift was occurring in the way people shopped. In...
Today, most Americans can rattle off their ZIP code without a second thought. But when the five-digit system debuted in 1963, many people weren’t thrilled about adding yet another string of numbers to their lives. The ZIP code — short for “Zone Improvement Plan” — was create...
Crossing your fingers for luck is one of the most familiar gestures in the English-speaking world. We nervously do it before a big moment, ask friends to keep their fingers crossed for a specific outcome, and use the crossed fingers emoji as a shorthand for hope. But where d...
As America marked its 250th birthday, you likely heard plenty about the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers, and the birth of a nation. But what was everyday life like for ordinary Americans? Throughout the week, we explored what the country looked, sound...
Movies about history aren’t always known for their historical accuracy, which isn’t really a problem unless you’re basing all your knowledge of Napoleon on Napoleon. Some are especially egregious in their departures from the historical record, however, and the tension betwee...
In the 17th century, the population of the American colonies was largely British, and English — while certainly not the only tongue spoken — became the predominant language throughout what is now the eastern U.S. It raises the question: Did early Americans speak with a...
More than 160 years after vanishing beneath the waves of the Atlantic, the wreck of French steamship Le Lyonnais was discovered off the coast of Massachusetts. The ship’s demise in November 1856 was a bit out of the ordinary. Le Lyonnais didn’t topple in a storm or suffer an...
There’s a reason we typically receive X-rays only in a medical setting: Without the proper precautions, radiation is extremely dangerous. But for several decades following the discovery of X-rays in 1895, most people didn’t think twice about sticking their feet inside unregu...
Elsie Mitchell had baked a chocolate cake for the picnic that day on May 5, 1945. The young pastor’s wife, five months pregnant with her first child, accompanied her husband and five children from their congregation as they set off for a sunny day of eating and fishing on Ge...
There are many ways to display your patriotism on the Fourth of July, one of which is to “mind your business.” That, at least, is what the first official U.S. coin, minted in 1787, had written on the obverse (front side). Inspired by a design from Benjamin Franklin, it...
Before he emerged as a military hero and the envy of Roman senators who feared his popular reach, Julius Caesar demonstrated his ability to manipulate minds during a reported encounter with pirates around 75 BCE. Although the tale varies based on the historian who relayed it...
As part of an extensive tour of the United States that encompassed most of the first half of 1842, English author Charles Dickens earned an invitation to meet President John Tyler at the White House. However, this visit left a lot to be desired on the part of the author, beg...
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