There was a really interesting piece on J-STOR recently that washes away the widespread idea that the Middle Ages in Europe was just unbelievably filthy. Why is it that we think the Middle Ages WAS so dirty?
Today in 1907 Oklahoma became the 46th state in the Union. Oklahoma's panhandle has a complicated history that includes a time when it was known as “No Man’s Land.”
Today in 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes got a phone installed at the White House. It's been used to make landmark deals, shape the course of world events, and even say hi to astronauts on the moon. And Lyndon Johnson infamously used that phone to talk to a tailor.
Sometime on this night in 1920 the president of France fell out of a moving train. And the story got weirder from there.
He called it just another day of skydiving, but today in 1987, Gregory Robertson saved a fellow skydiver’s life with a high-speed free fall of more than a mile.
Today in 1873, the town of Ulysses, Kansas was first established - but not where you’ll find the modern day town of Ulysses, Kansas. We'll explain why they moved, just a few decades after putting themselves on the map.
Today in 1943, the US government tried to help the war effort in a way that did NOT go over well. They tried to halt the sales of sliced bread.
Today in 1752, the birthday of the woman known today as Betsy Ross. The legend goes that after meeting with General George Washington, Mrs. Ross put together the very first version of what would become the flag of the United States. Historians are pretty sure that’s just a legend, but there are reasons why the story came to be.
Today in 1804, the birthday of President Franklin Pierce. He's not well known today, but in his time, people learned about the 14th president through a biography written by the acclaimed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Today in 1883, a bizarre headline in the New York Times: “Actor Demoralized By Tomatoes.” Why have audiences thrown tomatoes and other foods at performers?
