A Mother Gets The Biggest Shock Of Her Life As She Prepares Dinner (BASE)

July 21, 2022

Like any other couple, Minni and Joel spend their free time together doing different hobbies. For them, it's cooking a delicious meal for their fam...

Swiss Army Knives Were Once Made In Germany

July 15, 2022

The original Swiss Army Knife that was made in Germany. (Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post via Getty Images) A favorite tool of survivalists, hunters, and Boy Scouts, the Swis...

Soapy Smith: When A Slippery Con Man Got His Comeuppance

July 8, 2022

Jefferson "Soapy" Smith stands at the bar of his saloon in Skagway, Alaska, shortly before being killed on July 8, 1898. (Photo by Peiser/Library of Congress/Corb...

Richard M. Johnson, The Most Colorful Vice President Of The 1800s

July 1, 2022

Richard M. Johnson (1781–1850), soldier and political leader, Vice President under Van Buren, 1837–1841. (Bettmann/Getty Images) The United States has ...

Why You Don't Know About The Deadliest Fire In U.S. History

June 20, 2022

People seeking refuge in the Peshtigo River, 1871. (G. J. Tisdale/Wikimedia Commons) The deadliest wildfire in U.S. history claimed approximately 2,500 lives...

Why You Don't Know About The Deadliest Fire In U.S. History

June 17, 2022

People seeking refuge in the Peshtigo River, 1871. (G. J. Tisdale/Wikimedia Commons) The deadliest wildfire in U.S. history claimed approximately 2,500 lives...

From Napoleon To Kate Middleton, The Breton Shirt Has A Long And Noble History

June 10, 2022

Breton shirt of the French Navy. (Claude TRUONG-NGOC/Wikimedia Commons) It's rare for a garment of utilitarian origin to become something ...

The Homestead Act Of 1862 And The Failure Of Free Land

May 20, 2022

Covered wagon and settlers crossing the West c. 1850 (Apic/Getty Images) On May 20, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862 into law, essentially...

Kit Carson: Hero Of The Old West

May 18, 2022

American scout, trapper and Indian agent, Christopher 'Kit' Carson (1809–1868). (MPI/Getty Images) If you remember your grade school geography drills, you know the capital of Nevada is...

This Day In History: The Debut Of A Shocking And Scandalous New Dance

May 11, 2022

Wilhelm Gause (1853-1916), Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830-1916) at the Annual Viennese Ball. (DEA/A. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini via Getty Images...

No Mercy For Mercy Brown, Rhode Island's Resident Vampire

April 30, 2022

You probably associate vampire hysteria with 15th- and 16th-century Europe, but the U.S. had its share of vampire scares back in the witch trials days. The st...

George Ferris's Invention Was A Big Wheel

April 8, 2022

View of the Ferris wheel on the Midway Plaisance at the World's Columbian Exposition world's fair, Chicago, Illinois, 1893. (Chicago History Museum/Getty Images) George Ferris...

"Catch 'Em Alive" Jack's Strange But Lucrative Old West Occupation

April 4, 2022

Jack Abernathy, standing in coat holding hat. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons) Homesteading on the Oklahoma prairie in the 1890s was difficult,...

Establishing The Prime Meridian: Time To Talk About Time

March 11, 2022

People looking at the Shepherd Gate Clock on the wall outside the gate of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in south London. (The Print Collector/Getty Images) ...

Anne Sullivan: The Miracle Worker

March 3, 2022

Helen Keller, age 13, with Anne Sullivan in 1893. (Bettmann/Getty Images) Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller shared the most famous student-teacher relationship of all time, dramatized in...

The Exploited Life Of Joice Heth

February 27, 2022

Poster advertising Joice Heth. (Somers Historical Society/Wikimedia Commons) Joice Heth, a black slave, was well into old age when she was purchased by the Greatest Showman in 1835 but...

Weird Things Happened During The New Madrid Earthquake Of 1811

February 21, 2022

Drawing of the New Madrid Earthquake. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) Starting on December 16, 1811, the region of New Madrid in the Louisiana Territor...