History »
When Lincoln Was Almost Assassinated Nine Months Before He was Assassinated
In August 1864, the Sixteenth President of the United States of America was nearly assassinated about nine months before he was actually assassinated. This is the story. The Soldier’s Home Throughout the Civil War
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The Origin of the Republican Party
Pro civil rights, environmental legislation, peace, universal health care and progressive policies (including raising taxes)- your granddaddy wouldn’t recognize the GOP of today. Birth of a Party By the mid-19th century, the fabric of
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The Secret Message Hidden in Abraham Lincoln’s Pocket Watch
Today I found out about the secret message hidden in Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch. On the surface, it could be any other high-end watch from the mid-1800s. Inside, however, amidst the cogs and gears,
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The Olowalu Massacre of 1790
Today I found out about the Olowalu Massacre. In 1789, Captain Simon Metcalfe and his son Thomas set off on a fur trading mission in two ships, the Eleanora and the Fair American. The
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No Witches Were Burned During the Salem Witch Trials
Myth: People convicted of witchcraft were burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials When you think about people disposing of witches a few hundred years ago, you probably imagine a woman tied
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The Intriguing Ancient Underground City of Derinkuyu
Long ago, in the region surrounding Nevsehir and Kayseri, in central Turkey, an ancient people built, or rather dug, over 200 underground cities. The deepest of these, under the present day town of Derinkuyu,
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When People Started Wearing Clothes
M. Schane asks: When did humans start wearing clothing? Determining exactly when humans began wearing clothes is a challenge, largely because early clothes would have been things like animal hides, which degrade rapidly. Therefore,
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The Paperclip Was Used As a Symbol of Resistance During World War II
Today I found out that the paperclip was used as a symbol of resistance during World War II. In April of 1940, just a few months into World War II, Adolf Hitler knew that
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The Origin of the English Alphabet
Often considered one of the more difficult languages to master thanks to the incredible amount of inconsistencies in the language, it should come as no surprise that the development of the modern English alphabet
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The First Legal Slave Owner in What Would Become the United States was a Black Man
Today I found out the first legal slave owner, in what would eventually become the United States, was a black man. The man was Anthony Johnson. Johnson first came over to America as an
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The Rosewood Massacre of 1923
Today I found out about the Rosewood Massacre of 1923. Rosewood, Florida was established around 1845. It was a quiet place that prospered in 1870 when a railway depot was set up to transport
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When San Francisco was Almost Wiped off the Map
It was 5:12am, local time on April 18, 1906, when residents of the San Francisco Bay area in California experienced major shaking. 20-25 seconds later, they learned the hard way that that shaking was nothing
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Over Half the People Involved in the Hindenburg Disaster Survived
The Hindenburg disaster will probably always be remembered as the singular event that killed airship travel. In truth, there were other events that occurred which also contributed, but none stand out in the public
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How the Speed of Light was First Measured
The speed of light in a vacuum stands at “exactly 299,792,458 metres per second“. The reason today we can put an exact figure on it is because the speed of light in a vacuum
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The Men Who Dropped the Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
At 2:45 a.m. on Monday, August 6, 1945, a propeller-driven, four-engine Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft lifted off from the unassuming island of Tinian, its destination due North. Inside, as was customary for the B-29,
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The Slightly Sordid History of Twister
Twister has been a sure fire way to break the ice at parties for decades now. Earlier centuries had waltzes and minuets as socially sanctioned ways to get physically closer to the opposite sex.
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The First Car Accident
Car accidents are a sad fact of life. Every day thousands lose their lives in collisions, crashes and accidents. Though the car itself is a fairly recent invention, the first recorded accident involving them
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How the French Flag came to be as it is Today
Today I found out how the French flag came to be as it is today. As with several other countries, the original flag of France was that of a saint—in this case, the oriflamme,
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