Historical Facts
History Of Space Travel: From Science Fiction To Scienc...
July 23, 2021
Humans have been dreaming of visiting the stars for over a millennium, with ancient Sanskrit writings dating back to 300 C.E. telling of mythological flying ...
The Affair Of The Diamond Necklace, Or How A Queen Lost...
July 11, 2021
Marie Antoinette's execution on October 16, 1793. (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons) The Affair of the Diamond Necklace reads more like a farce than a factual...
Saint Pierre and Miquelon, A Bit of France Just Ten Mil...
July 5, 2021
Saint Pierre and Miquelon. (DeAgostini/Getty Images) The last remaining vestige of France's colonial empire is a couple of small islands just a quick ferry ri...
What's A Shibboleth? Origin And Meaning Of The Biblical...
May 30, 2021
Antique Bible texts in exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum. (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) "Shibboleth," when translated directly from Heb...
Parade History: When Did We Start Doing This All The Ti...
March 15, 2021
The word "parade" usually evokes a feeling of excitement and celebration, the deep urge to celebrate a person, idea, or event above the everyday humdrum of l...
Doughboy Prophylactic: A Full History of Condoms And Pr...
March 7, 2021
Condoms may seem like a no-brainer when it comes to protected sex, but that hasn't always been the case. Despite the earliest birth control dating back to A...
A Full History Of Eyelashes And Their Place In Culture:...
March 6, 2021
Ancient Egyptian women wearing kohl, from a tomb mural in Thebes (1420–1375 B.C.E.). (British Museum/Wikimedia Commons) Artistic and sensual or barely there, ...
The History Of The U.S.'s Peaceful Transition Of Power
January 19, 2021
The "President's House" in 1807. (White House/Wikimedia Commons) For as long as the U.S. has had a government, a peaceful transition of power has been fundamental...
Senate Sergeant At Arms: History Of The Police Officer ...
January 15, 2021
You may not realize it, but the sergeant at arms and doorkeeper of the United States Senate has one of the most important jobs in the country. The person in ...
Where Does The Term 'Redneck' Come From? How Redneck Cu...
January 10, 2021
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy is shown performing on stage during a "live" concert appearance on April 12, 2014. (John Atashian/Getty Images) The term "redneck" has...
The History Of Sriracha: How The Famous Vietnamese Cond...
January 2, 2021
A man dresses up with his hot dog with Huy Fong Sriracha Hot Sauce. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images) As the hottest (literally) hipster condiment in Am...
The History Of Food Delivery: How Fast Takeout Became A...
January 1, 2021
Whether you've got a craving for pizza, pot stickers, or pho, there's probably a restaurant that's willing to deliver that scrumptious treat to your door for...
A Brief History of Champagne: Where Did Champagne Come ...
December 31, 2020
In a celebratory setting, a man's hands pour champagne into a glass slipper, while bubbles float in the background, ca.1970s. (Photo by Tom Kelley/Getty Images)...
Cultures That Don't Celebrate New Year's Day On January...
December 28, 2020
Performers take part in the traditional dragon-and-drums Chinese new year parade. (Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images) As midnight approaches on December 31, the...
The History Of Why We Leave Milk And Cookies Out For Sa...
December 24, 2020
The Norse god Odin or Wotan, ruler of Asgard. He is holding the spear Gungnir and accompanied by the ravens Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory) and the wolve...
Scotland Banned Christmas For 400 Years: Became A Publi...
December 16, 2020
The war on Christmas didn't start with holiday coffee cups and the phrase "season's greetings." It goes back to at least 16th-century Scotland, when the coun...
4 Times The United States Was More Divided Than It Is R...
November 25, 2020
(Boston Athenæum/Wikimedia Commons) If it seems like the United States has always been divided, that's likely no accident. The purposeful separation of Church...
History of the Democratic Party: The Evolution of U.S. ...
November 17, 2020
When George Washington resigned as President of the United States in 1796, he published a farewell address in the popular American Daily Advisor for the nati...
History of the Republican Party: The Evolution of U.S. ...
November 16, 2020
1874 Nast cartoon featuring the first notable appearance of the Republican elephant. (Thomas Nast/Wikimedia Commons) Whether you call it the G.O.P., the conse...
Bikini Laws: When Women Could Be Arrested For Wearing T...
November 15, 2020
We've come a long way, baby. Considering all the barely there string bikinis on display at every public beach and pool these days, it's hard to imagine there...
Concession Speech History: How U.S. Presidential Candid...
November 14, 2020
William Jennings Bryan speaking at the 1908 Democratic National Convention. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons) One of the most important parts of the ele...
When the Supreme Court Decided The Election Through His...
November 12, 2020
You've got to hand it to the Founding Fathers. When they wrote the U.S. Constitution, they put some clever rules in place to ensure a fair election process i...
The History Of Post-Election Riots: Should We Expect Ci...
November 5, 2020
Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861. (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons) Nothing has defined the modern era of presidential elections like fear...
Dictators Who Kept Their Dire Health Scares Secret From...
October 9, 2020
(Warren K. Leffler/Wikimedia Commons) Whether they're ruthless warlords or seemingly benevolent monochrome jumpsuit enthusiasts, all dictators want to be seen...
Every Time A Sitting U.S. President Has Ever Hidden The...
October 8, 2020
(N. Currier/Wikimedia Commons) No matter the era, the well-being of the U.S. president has global ramifications. If the commander-in-chief knows the state of ...
How The Electoral College Was Created To Give The South...
October 1, 2020
(Howard Chandler Christy/Wikimedia Commons) To paraphrase the Insane Clown Posse, "The electoral college—how does it work?" We all more or less know that a ca...
Black And Mexican Cowboys Made Up At Least 25% Of The A...
September 13, 2020
When you think of the Wild West, you probably think of a lonesome cowboy who maybe looks a bit like John Wayne, out on his own, fighting the elements and str...
What Was Life Like In Russian Gulags? The Horrors, Expl...
July 23, 2020
Beginning under the leadership of dictator Vladimir Lenin, the Soviet Union established a forced labor camp system that soon earned a reputation for brutalit...
Bastille Day: Storm The Prison, Revolutionize The Count...
July 14, 2020
(Bibliothèque nationale de France/Wikimedia Commons) On July 14, 1789, A.K.A. Bastille Day, a crowd of Parisians stormed the Bastille and demolished the forme...
The History Of Peaceful Protests in America
June 10, 2020
Throughout history, protests have been used by regular people who want to have their voices heard. Civil unrest has been whipping around humankind since the first rule was ...
How The U.S. Police Service Was Founded As A Slave Hunt...
June 7, 2020
It may seem like police have been around since the first caveman stole a rock from another, but they've actually only been patrolling since just before the C...
Humans In Dark Isolation Develop 48-Hour Sleep Cycles, ...
April 3, 2020
Isolation messes with our heads. Humans who lose contact with other people and the normal stimuli that occurs during the day react in strange ways. One of the wei...
Smoking On Airplanes: Unreal Facts And Stories About Wh...
November 21, 2019
Air travel has seen many changes since the days of Mad Men, getting on a plane meant getting suited and booted for the occasion. Today, we're lucky if people...
The Elizabethan Era's Most Horrifying And Disgusting Re...
November 17, 2019
The Elizabethan era began on November 17, 1558, when Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne. The era is remembered as a time of beautiful clothing, luxurious h...
Charles Henry Dow: The Man Who Created Modern Economics
October 8, 2019
The day's numbers for the Dow Jones Industrial Average are displayed on a screen at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square. Source: (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Ima...
The Edelweiss Pirates Fought Back Against The Hitler Yo...
October 6, 2019
Edelweiss Pirates youth group in Nazi Germany. They emerged in western Germany out of the German Youth Movement of the late 1930s. Source: (Universal History Ar...
Rock, Paper, Scissors Goes Back To Ancient China
September 24, 2019
Can't decide where to have dinner? Need to determine who will take out the trash? Battling over who gets the front seat? All of these disputes can be easily solved by ...
Abraham Lincoln's Jokes: The 16th President's Forgotten...
September 22, 2019
Abraham Lincoln stands as one of the most revered and respected Presidents in U.S history. Though the 16th president of the United States is most remembered ...
Protection Against Witches: How Ornaments Used To Ward ...
September 12, 2019
It's mostly reserved for quiet nights following horror movie marathons these days, but most people in 17th- and 18th-century England and the United States tr...
Frank R. Beckwith: The First Black Presidential Candida...
September 11, 2019
Long before the historic presidency of Barack Obama, one man cut himself off a little slice of that history by becoming the first African-American candidate ...
The History Of The Real-Life Death Ray
September 8, 2019
In science-fiction, death rays are defined as weapons that shoot beams of energy to conveniently kill the enemy without bullets or bombs. Because of this, death rays are a stapl...
Cruise Control's Humorous And Unbelievable History
September 7, 2019
An automobile cruise control system is an outer control loop that "takes over" control of the throttle - normally exercised by the driver through the accelerator peda...
Dr. William Halstead: The Cokehead Who Fathered Modern ...
September 4, 2019
By now, you have probably heard many stories of how cocaine was used in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was used in quack medicines, cocktails, stimulants...
So That’s Why They're Called Hookers!
August 25, 2019
There are a surprising number of nicknames for the oldest profession in the world---call girls, streetwalkers, strumpets, ladies of the night---but the term you've probably hea...
Drink in the Past: Prehistoric Yeast Extracted Jurassic...
August 19, 2019
Remember that iconic scene in Jurassic Park in which scientists extract dinosaur DNA from a mosquito that became encased in amber millions of years ago? This...
What You Didn’t Know About the Practice of Neck Elongat...
August 15, 2019
Human beings, it seems, have always practiced some sort of body modification or another. Piercings, tattoos, foot binding, and skull flattening are practic...
Wedding Traditions: Why Bridesmaids, Veils, and Bells? ...
August 14, 2019
Wedding ceremonies are steeped in tradition, and let's face it, some of them are rather odd. A quick look into the origins of many of today's wedding traditi...
Trees of the Gods: Worshiping The Mighty Oak Tree
August 11, 2019
The Forest Scenery Of Great Britain Oaks In Needwood Forest, UK, Britain, British, Europe, United Kingdom, Great Britain, European. Source: (Photo by: Universal History ...
Carpathia to the Rescue: The Ship That Saved Titanic
August 10, 2019
Survivors of the sinking of the Titanic on April 18, 1912, aboard the RMS Carpathia the ship that rescued them. Washington, Library Of Congress. Source: (Photo by DeA...
Extra Bread: The Origins Of The Baker's Dozen
August 9, 2019
An itinerant baker's cart. Source: (Photo by: Leemage/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Many times, when you order a dozen rolls or loaves of bread at a bakery, you...
The Spy Who Hung Her Laundry
August 8, 2019
The most effective spies are the ones that don't appear to be doing anything suspicious at all. They look as though they are going about their normal lives. During the Revolutionary War, ...
Air Travel Before the Jet Age
July 27, 2019
Love it or hate it, commercial air travel is a staple of modern life. Even small and medium-sized cities around the world enjoy direct flights that can connect them to distant family and...
Childless Presidents
July 25, 2019
When we elect a president to lead our country, we are also, indirectly, electing a first family that includes presidential children ... usually. Nearly all of our former presidents balanced the d...
The Dog Days of Summer: Less About Hot Dogs and More Ab...
July 24, 2019
When the heat of July hits like a blanket fresh from the dryer, the old-timers like to say that we are in the dog days of summer. If you are like most people...
Bald Eagle Versus the Turkey
July 21, 2019
A bald eagle sits on a perch in front of an American Flag. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) The majestic bald eagle—the symbol of the United States—has a reputati...
Timeless Beauty: Skincare Through The Ages
June 20, 2019
A detail of a painting from the tomb of Nakht depicting three ladies preparing for a feast by using skincare products. Source: (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Ge...
The History of Ship Figureheads
June 18, 2019
Nautical figurehead of Norwegian sail training ship Christian Radich, a tall ship participating in the Tall Ships Races 2016 arrival day on July 22, 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal. Source: (Pho...
Hunting Down an Assassin: The Manhunt for MLK’s Killer
June 16, 2019
American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968) speaks at Quinn Chapel on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, 1960s. Source: (Photo by Robe...
The Evil Eye
May 27, 2019
Nearly every ancient culture has had some sort of superstitions about evil eyes and curses. The curse of the evil eye hasn’t changed a wink over the years. It is basically the belief that someone could s...
Italian Food Before the Tomato
May 25, 2019
We all know Christopher Columbus, our elementary school teachers taught us that he sailed the ocean blue in 1492. He also began an important process of knowledge and material transfer b...
8 Things You Didn't Know About Real-Life Covered Wagons
May 24, 2019
Conestoga Wagon. Source: (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images) Every movie and television show about the old west and the pioneer days include...
Hitting the Rails: Hobo Life
May 12, 2019
When the Great Depression hit, jobs dried up and families lost their houses and farms. In desperation, many hard-working, able-bodied men left home in search of any work they could get. T...
Folktale Origins Of Wishing Wells
May 6, 2019
Wishing well at Ramona marriage place old town, San Diego, California, 1930. Source: (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) In the mall, in the park, or in your neighbor’s fron...
How Did Werewolf Legends Start?
April 26, 2019
American actor Glenn Strange (1899 - 1973) is transformed into a werewolf in the film 'The Mad Monster', 1942. Source: (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images) Most myths and legends have...
The Incredible Saga of the Crown of Thorns
April 21, 2019
Earlier this week, the eye of the world watched in horror at the televised footage of the devasting fire that swept through the historic Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The a...
The Bob: A Revolutionary And Empowering Hairstyle
April 14, 2019
American actress Louise Brooks, shown here in 1929, was known for her daring short bobbed hair. Source: (John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images) Prior to the 20th century,...
The Mysteries Of Outer Space – How Far Science Has Adva...
April 6, 2019
For years and years, people have asked the age-old questions about outer space. Is there life on other planets? What does the moon look like? How far away ...
Things You Didn’t Know About The Spring Equinox
April 2, 2019
On Wednesday, March 20, at exactly 12.15 p.m. Eastern Time, the Spring, or Vernal, Equinox will occur. This is the precise moment when winter ends and spring begins a...
Toilet Tales: The John Versus The Crapper
March 29, 2019
When it comes to indoor plumbing, two names stand out—the John and the Crapper. Please understand that when we say this, we are not being crude or impolite by using these inf...
The Legend Of The Dream Catcher
March 28, 2019
Dreamcatcher In Anishinabe Community Of Kitcisakik, Abitibi, Quebec, Canada. Source: (Photo by David DUCOIN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) A Native American item that has achieved widesp...
Things You May Not Know About Women Rulers In History
March 24, 2019
Queens of the Nile Exhibition At Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Source: (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) For centuries women have been in leadership roles as...
Historical Figures Who Suffered From Diseases or Disord...
March 23, 2019
There are numerous diseases and disorders that average people suffer from every day with no respecter of persons. These diseases can come upon anyone at any ...
Rum Runners: A Short, But Profitable Prohibition-Era Ca...
March 6, 2019
When the United States Congress finally caved to pressures from temperance groups and passed the 18th Amendment in 1920, the country went dry. Alcohol produc...
When Texas Was Its Own Country
March 1, 2019
1839: The flag of the Republic of Texas, the 'Lone Star' state was admitted to the Union in 1845. Source: (Photo by MPI/Getty Images) Today, it seems strange to think that Texas could st...
Thanks to These Ladies, Women Have the Right to Vote
February 25, 2019
On May 3, 1916, Suffragettes carry a banner announcing that 'Women have full suffrage in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho' at the Women of all Nations Parade in New ...
Native Americans: Top Ten Famous Native Americans From ...
February 23, 2019
Many Native Americans helped to shape the history of the United States. Some of them lost their land as well as their heritage while others thrived and beca...
“Happy Birthday To You”: The Celebratory Song With the ...
February 21, 2019
Finally, in 2015, more than 90 years after it was first published, the song everyone sings before blowing out their birthday candles, the ditty “Happy Bi...
The True Story of the Essex, the Inspiration for "Moby ...
February 13, 2019
Gregory Peck in a scene from the 1956 movie “Moby Dick'' Source: (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images) In 1851, Herman Melville published hi...
The Underground Railroad
February 10, 2019
Fugitive slaves fleeing from Maryland to Delaware by way of the 'Underground Railroad', 1850-1851. Engraving. Source: (Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images) Slavery, in any form, is an abomination of...
Hudson Bay Point Blankets: Important Trade Good or Gift...
February 8, 2019
We might not think that a common, household object like a blanket could have an impact on history, but that has happened with the iconic Hudson’s Bay point b...
