Category Archives: Culture

How Pacifism Works

Peace activists hold up blue ribbons and a sculpture of a peace dove during an [...]

How the Black Panthers Worked

Members of the Black Panther Party demonstrate outside the Criminal Courts Building one month after [...]

Ridiculous History: Sentenced to Death by Molten Gold Down the Throat

Imagine burning-hot, molten metal poured not into a safe and insulated crucible, but rather your [...]

What Was the Very First Toothbrush?

Thats not the very first toothbrush, although it was made for one Napoleon Bonaparte (note [...]

Ridiculous History: Ancient Armies Waged War With Hallucinogenic Honey

Honey made by bees visiting certain plants is known as “mad honey” due to its [...]

Ridiculous History: When U.S. Farmers Went Mad for Bird Poop

Map of Palmyra Atoll, one the original islands that the U.S. claimed under the 1856 [...]

When Irish Immigrants Weren’t Considered ‘White’

An 1874 engraving published in The Illustrated London New shows Irish emigrants preparing to leave [...]

How the Stonewall Riots Worked

The Stonewall Inn, like many other gay bars, was raided in 1969. But on one [...]

Brown v. Board Wasn’t the First Case to Challenge Jim Crow in Schools

Nettie Hunt sits on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court with her daughter Nickie, [...]

In 1492, Spain Forced Jews to Flee the Country or Convert to Christianity

Tomas de Torquemada, grand inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, is illustrated with King Ferdinand II [...]

Why Is a Town in Brazil Celebrating the U.S. Confederacy?

People in traditional outfits hold hands between dances at the annual Festa Confederada, or Confederate [...]

How White America Tried to Eliminate Chinese Restaurants in the Early 1900s

A detail from a 1945 postcard depicts the New Chinatown neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. [...]

In 1680, the Pueblo Peoples Revolted Against Spanish Colonists … And Won

Pope, whose statue is pictured here, was a medicine man who led the revolt against [...]

Throughout History, Humanity Has Marveled at Solar Eclipses

Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity throughout time, and the shared experience of witnessing the phenomenon [...]

How Butter Fueled the Protestant Reformation

“They [the Catholic church] sell us the right to eat foods forbidden on fast days… [...]