The Breast Tax: Imposed On Women Who Chose To Cover Their Breasts
1800s | April 15, 2021
Lithograph from L'Inde Français, 1828. From the collection of Jean Claude Carriere. (Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images) The breast tax, or the mul...
How The New York City Subway Came To Be
1900s | April 14, 2021
The City Hall station of the I.R.T. Lexington Avenue Line, sometime between 1900 and 1904, part of the first underground line of the subway that opened on October 27, 1904. (Libra...
Who Assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.?
1960s | April 13, 2021
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking before crowd of 25,000 Selma To Montgomery, Alabama civil rights marchers, in front of Montgomery, Alabama state capital building. On March 2...
Kamikazes: What Were They? Who Were They And How Did They Sign Up For This?
World War II | April 12, 2021
Japanese kamikaze putting on his forehead bandeau with rising sun, Pacific war, 1944–1945 colorized document. (Apic/Getty Images) By fall 194...
1797: First Ever Parachute Jump Is Made Over Paris
Military History | April 11, 2021
Schematic depiction of Garnerin's first parachute used in the Parc Monceau descent of October 22, 1797. Illustration dates from the early nineteenth century. (Library o...
The History Of The Getaway Car And Where It Started
1900s | April 10, 2021
1912 Stanley steam car. (Stephen Foskett/Wikimedia Commons) Before the advent of the automobile, bank robbers, rustlers, and no-goodniks of all stripes fled the scen...
The First Barrel Ride Down Niagara Falls Happens In 1901
1900s | April 9, 2021
Annie Edson Taylor, first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive (cat in photo is likely the same cat that went over the falls in a test run). (L...
Dizzy Gillespie: Trumpet Player, Jazz Legend, And Jimmy Carter's Friend
People | April 8, 2021
American jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie performing at the Meridien Hotel in Paris, France. (Thierry Orban/Sygma via Getty Images) For more than ha...
P.T. Barnum: Circus Magnate And Entertainer Extraordinaire, Truth & Myths
People | April 7, 2021
Phineas Taylor "P. T." Barnum (July 5, 1810–April 7, 1891). (Harvard Library/Wikimedia Commons) Called "The Greatest Showman on Earth," P.T. Ba...
A History Of Post-It Notes: When Were They Invented And Why?
1980s | April 6, 2021
Post-it Notes manufactured by 3M. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Want to remind yourself to pick up your dry cleaning? A visual brainstorming tool for your next...
When Winston Churchill Retired: And The Queen Broke Protocol At His Funeral
1960s | April 5, 2021
Winston Churchill beams down upon Princess Anne as she waited with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles at Waterloo Station to welcome home th...
The Rock Springs Massacre Of 1885: When 28 Chinese Miners Were Slaughtered, Homes Burned
1800s | April 4, 2021
Barely past the crack of dawn on September 2, 1885, an argument broke out between the Chinese and European immigrant workers of...
Jane Goodall: The Famous Anthropologist/Primatologist’s Journey
1960s | April 3, 2021
British primatologist Jane Goodall visits a chimpanzee rescue center in Entebbe, Uganda. (SUMY SADURNI/AFP via Getty Images) Renowned primatologist Jan...
The Three Fates: 3 Goddesses Of Greek Mythology Who Control All Mortal Life
Ancient History | April 2, 2021
The Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, 1558–59. After Giulio Romano. Artist Giorgio Ghisi. (Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Ima...
1970: Cigarette Advertising Is Banned By Congress
1970s | April 1, 2021
Lillian Eggers, television queen of 1940, advertising for cigarettes in Philadelphia. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images) It's no joke. Until 1971, tobac...
John Keats: Poet, Father Of Romanticism Who Peaked When He Was Young
Literature | March 31, 2021
Posthumous portrait of John Keats by William Hilton. (National Portrait Gallery/Wikimedia Commons) During his life, John Keats was far from the most...
Pinkertons: The Old West's Secret Police That Still Exist Today
1800s | March 30, 2021
Pinkerton on horseback on the Antietam Battlefield in 1862. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons) The Pinkerton National Detective Agency is one of the...
China Ends Their One-Child Policy In 2015 After 35 Years
1970s | March 29, 2021
A child hugs a red lantern in China. (Zhang Yin/China News Service via Getty Images) In the late 1970s, China was a mess. The population was growing out of cont...
Jonas Salk: Inventor Of The Polio Vaccine (Life, Bio, & Stories)
People | March 28, 2021
Poliomyelitis, A.K.A. polio, is a viral infection which damages neurons, specifically motor neurons, weakening the infected's muscles and sometimes res...
1977: The Worst Accident In Civil Aviation History Where Two 747s Collided
1970s | March 27, 2021
Wreckage on the runway of Los Rodeos after the Tenerife airport disaster of March 27, 1977. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) On March 27, 19...
Guccio Gucci: Founder Of Gucci And Its Complicated History
People | March 26, 2021
Guccio Gucci c. 1940. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) His name is now synonymous with style, luxury, and haute couture, but what do you know about Guccio G...
The Very First Easter Was Today In 31 AD, According To Dionysius Exiguus
Ancient History | March 25, 2021
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, fresco by Piero della Francesca, 1463. (Museo Civico di Sansepolcro/Wikimedia Commons) Pretty much every cultu...
1837 Canada Gives Black Citizens Right To Vote, Though Tumultuously
1800s | March 24, 2021
The path to equal voting rights in Canada is a long and winding road. While Europeans have inhabited the land since the 1400s, the actual origin of...
The History of the Word "Okay/OK" And Why The World Uses It
Weird History | March 23, 2021
Chou "An" Chun-An makes an "okay" sign with his hand at the League of Legends World Championship in San Francisco. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games via G...
Abortion-Performing Doctor Is Murdered: The First Time It Made National News
1990s | March 22, 2021
Dr. Barnett Slepian wasn't the first doctor to be killed for performing abortions, but his death in 1998 was the first one that made nation...
The Black Death Massacres And Persecutions Against Jews
Medieval History | March 21, 2021
Burning of Jews during the Black Death epidemic, 1349. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) The 14th century was a dangerous time to be Jewish in Europe. Well, it ...
Cotton Eye Joe: The History Of The Rednex Classic Based On A Pre-Civil War Folk Song
Civil War | March 20, 2021
The Rednex are a Swedish band obsessed with American folk tunes. (Photo by Reiche/ullstein bild via Getty Images) Everyone hits the ...
The Rebecca Riots Of The 1830s And 1840s (When Welsh Peasants Revolted Tolls)
1800s | March 19, 2021
During the Rebecca Riots in Wales, men and boys, dressed as women, attacking a turnpike gate in protest at charges at tollgates on public roa...
A History Of Tavern Names And Their Clever Wordplay
Medieval History | March 18, 2021
The White Hart, the Pig N' Whistle, Ye Old Fighting Cocks: Whether it's the liquid courage or the desire to stand out from the crowd, it seems that pub owners have ...
The Phoenician Alphabet: History Of Where Your Language Comes From
Ancient History | March 17, 2021
Cadmus introducing the original Alphabet or Phoenician alphabet to the Greeks. According to Greek mythology, Cadmus was the first king of Thebes. From H...
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