WEIRD HISTORY
Native American tribe language map. ( flickr) By April Holloway – By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United …
Christian prisoners are sold as slaves on a square in Algiers. Jan Luyken, 1684 By Jeff Grabmeier, Ohio State News – grabmeier.1@osu.edu Editor’s note (2020 Mar 21): For an update on this story, visit: Why is a 16-year-old book on slavery so popular …
Scientists are claiming current theories “over-simplify” how the Americas were populated. – By Ashley Cowie – Most of us were taught that the Americas were void of humans until around 13,000 years ago. However, authors like Graham Hancock in his new book America …
Archaeologists in Greece are showing how Philip of Macedon paved the way for his son Alexander to become a legend. By Richard Grant; Photographs by Myrto Papadopoulos SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE | June 2020 – I drive on a dirt road in Northern Greece through …
Tales of a Muslim group of drug-fueled, stealth killers stir imaginations, but stray far from the true history of the Nizari Ismaili state. The ruins of the Nizari fortress of Masayf in Syria. The Nizari Ismailis, often referred to by the pejorative term …
By Quinn Armstrong – The early 1800s proved to be an interesting time. This period experienced one of the earliest recorded instances of global climate change. In addition, the War of 1812 ended; Napoleon Bonaparte lost at Waterloo; and Otto von Bismarck was …
One in four cowboys was black. So why aren’t they more present in popular culture? This image appeared in cowboy Nat Love’s privately published autobiography. (Corbis) – By Katie Nodjimbadem, SmithsonianMag.Com – In his 1907 autobiography, cowboy Nat Love recounts stories from his …
Pioneers and early archaeologists credited distant civilizations, not Native Americans, with building these sophisticated complexes. View of Monks Mound from Woodhenge Circle (Photo courtesy of Sarah E. Baires) – By Sarah E. Baires, Zócalo Public Square SmithsonianMag.Com – Around 1100 or 1200 A.D., …
By Rich Haridy 2020 May 26 – A new study suggests one third of modern European women may carry an ancient gene variant linked to increased fertility. lurii/Depositphotos – A genetic variant inherited from our ancient Neanderthal relatives and thought to confer heightened fertility …
The Transylvanian-born orphan was sold to an English traveller, with whom she discovered the wonders of Africa, married and fought to abolish slavery. Lady Florence Baker, pictured in London in about 1870. Photograph: Henry Maull/Alamy – By Marcel Theroux 2020 May 31 – …
