WEIRD HISTORY
The legendary trail has carved itself into American history—and, in some places, into the earth itself. A painted depiction of the Oregon Trail by Albert Bierstadt 1869. (Creative Commons) – By Jennifer Billock, SmithsonianMag.Com – A painted depiction of the Oregon Trail by …
By Katherine Ripley – Updated 2019 Jun 11 – If Abraham Lincoln had heeded the warnings that his life may be in danger, the course of history may have been very different. In fact, if you look back through history, you’ll find …
By Loryn B – Unless you are an avid historian, it’s very likely that you can’t seem to figure out how ecstasy and Titanic have one thing in common. And you probably couldn’t figure out how Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth are somehow …
By Melissa Sartore – Updated 2019 Nov 12 – The Aztec, a collective of Mesoamericans who thrived from the 14th to the 16th centuries, were the inheritors of ancient cultural traditions from their Olmec, Mayan, and Toltec predecessors. Aztec hygiene practices reflected …
By David Sharp Updated 2019 Dec 28 – City 40, or what is today known as Ozersk, is a closed city in Russia that the Soviet Union created during the Cold War. City 40 didn’t appear on any maps until 1991, allowed no outsiders to …
Scientific pioneer June Almeida is finally being acknowledged for virology breakthroughs she made a half century ago. Scientist June Almeida operates an electron microscope in 1963 at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, Canada. One year later, Almeida would become the first person …
By Stephan Roget Updated 2019 Mar 26 – The biggest political mistakes of both the past and present are debated ceaselessly, but governance-related blunders aren’t the only miscalculations that can change the world. In fact, some of the biggest mistakes in American …
By Michael Irving – A digital recreation of one of the main samples of Homo antecessor, which has now been placed on the family tree thanks to studies of ancient proteins in its teeth. Professor Laura Martín-Francés. – It’s hard to piece together the …
By Erin McCann – Although they are considered legends today, many favorite old Hollywood stars did not find instant fame and success. Some had to work exceptionally hard to get past all the closed doors in Tinsel Town. While some lucky celebrities from Hollywood’s golden age …
By Brent Landau, Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of Texas at Austin – On April 12, Christians will be celebrating Easter, the day on which the resurrection of Jesus is said to have taken place. The date of celebration changes from year to …
