Letters

384-Year-Old Shopping List Found Under Floorboards of Historic English Home

February 16, 2017

Archaeologists who are helping restore a historic country home in Kent, England have discovered a 17th-century shopping list hidden under its flo...

Former Slave Sent This Letter to His Old Master

February 16, 2017

By August of 1865, Jourdon Anderson was able to receive a letter from his previous owner. Within the letter, Colonel P.H. Anderson was asking Jourdon Anderson to go back to ...

Here's Some of the Most Romantic Love Letters From Famous People in History

February 8, 2017

Here's some of the most romantic love letters from famous people in history... 1. Johnny Cash wishes wife June Carter Cash a happy 65th birthday ...

Love Lost: World War II Soldier Expresses His Love in a Heartbreaking Letter

February 6, 2017

If you need a reminder of just how far we've come with LGBT rights in the military and larger American culture, a love letter penned from one so...

FDR Wanted a Simple Funeral and Burial

December 7, 2016

In December, 1937, Franklin Roosevelt wrote out instructions for his funeral and burial in a four-page document. It was kept folded in an envelope in Roosevelt’s personal safe in his...

Ayn Rand's Letter to Her 17-Year-Old Niece Who Wants to Borrow $25 for a Dress

May 24, 2016

This letter is one of many in the collection Letters of Ayn Rand. I invite you to read this letter she sent to her 17-year-old niece, Connie, ...

10 Of The Most Ancient Pieces Of Literature Ever Found

May 24, 2016

While many of humanity's early writings are lost, never to be seen or read by anyone, there are some that have luckily been discovered and preserved, giving us a rar...

1969 Somber Memo In Case Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Don't Make It

April 3, 2016

On July 18 of 1969, speechwriter William Safire was tasked to craft a contingency plan, in the form of a speech to be read out by President Nixon in c...

This 500-Year-Old Love Letter Found in Mummy Tells The Deep Love and Sorrow of a Mourning Wife

February 13, 2016

A poetic and heartbreaking love letter was found buried beside a mummy of a 16th century male. The love letter was penned by t...

U.S. Intelligence Officer Wrote A Letter to His Son Using Hitler's Stationery

January 10, 2016

At the end of the Second World War, U.S. intelligence officer Richard Helms, who later became the Director of the CIA, penned a letter to his 3...

Mahatma Gandhi Wrote This Letter To Hitler Pleading for Peace

August 11, 2015

In 1939, as Adolf Hitler pulled the world to the brink of war, Mahatma Gandhi wrote him a letter pleading for peace and “for the sake of humanity.” Gandhi eve...

Today in History: Lincoln Wrote This Scathing Letter to Gen. George G. Meade, July 14, 1863

July 14, 2015

The Battle of Gettysburg had finally ended. Gen. Robert E. Lee’s battered army limped southward. Gen. George G. Meade, however, d...

Today in History: Abraham Lincoln Wrote This Letter to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (July 13, 1863)

July 13, 2015

After a long siege Vicksburg had finally fallen. Lincoln took this occasion to write this letter to the victorious Gen. Ulysses ...

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