Facts & History

Postal mail delivery became a vital communication line for the colonies—and then helped unite the newly independent United States. During the Revolutionary War, when there wasn’t any internet or telephones to provide instantaneous communication over long distances, the connective tissue that held the American colonies together was mail that was transported by horseback riders on the…

His conviction that white men of European descent were innately superior informed his actions on matters from national parks to foreign policy. Theodore Roosevelt, known for his boundless energy and brash, adventurous spirit, possessed one of the biggest personalities of any American president. But, he once said, “It is a quality of strong natures that…

Representatives from various Native American tribes: from left to right, an Iroquois, an Assiniboine, a Crow, a Pawnee, an Assiniboine in gala dress, a Dakota or Sioux warrior and a Dakota or Sioux woman. (Original artwork engraved by JJ Crew after a drawing by A Huttula.) HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES Back in 1744, colonial leaders from Pennsylvania,…

A National Guard member works on election day at a polling location on April 7, 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin. Residents there were forced to go to the polls a day after the U.S. Supreme Court voted against an extension of the absentee ballot deadline in the state. ANDY MANIS/GETTY IMAGES The coronavirus has upended every facet of…

Red Cross workers making anti-influenza masks for soldiers in camp. Boston, Massachusetts. NATIONAL ARCHIVES After several weeks of mostly sheltering in place, after watching their 401ks crash and their toilet paper cache shrink, some people across the United States are starting to tire of what they see as this unBrave New World of ours. Protests across America are calling…

The city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was founded by Roman emperor Constantine I in 324 CE and it acted as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire as it has later become known, for well over 1,000 years. Although the city suffered many attacks, prolonged sieges, internal rebellions, and even a period of occupation in the 13th century CE by the Fourth…

Explore ten surprising facts about one of America’s first and greatest expeditions of discovery. 1. Lewis first met Clark after being court-martialed by the Army. Lewis (L) and Clark (R). (Credit: Jean-Erick PASQUIER/Getty Images) While serving as a frontier army officer in 1795, a young Meriwether Lewis was court-martialed for allegedly challenging a lieutenant to a duel…

  The iconic symbol of San Francisco, California, the Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate Strait, the 3-mile long stretch of water between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. JORGE VILLALBA/GETTY IMAGES When it came to laying out the design for my second tattoo, I knew two things: 1) I wanted a simple line…

In 1848 William and Ellen Craft blurred the lines of race and gender in order to escape slavery. In the mid 19th century in Macon, Georgia, a man and woman fell in love, married and, as many young couples do, began thinking about starting a family. But Ellen and William Craft were both enslaved and…

“His death may be the most famous case of pseudothanatos, or false diagnosis of death, ever recorded.” When Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 B.C., his body didn’t begin to show signs of decomposition for a full six days, according to historical accounts. To the ancient Greeks, this confirmed what they all thought…

Though the people of Ireland are known for their engaging manner, the history of the nation is rife with sadness. The infamous potato famine, however, stands alone. 1847, dubbed “Black ’47” for its horror. The famine was the most severe in Europe in the 19th century and decimated the Irish population and economy, forever changing…

Before the break of dawn on April 15, 1961, a squadron of eight B-26 bombers piloted by Cuban exiles roared down a Nicaraguan airstrip on a secret mission. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and President John F. Kennedy hoped the Bay of Pigs Invasion would result in the overthrow of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. But the operation that…

(CNN)A bunch of majestic horses that spend their days frolicking on the beach in North Carolina’s Outer Banks will not be evacuated. With Hurricane Dorian quickly approaching, the colonial Spanish mustangs will huddle together and ride out the storm using a trick horses have used for centuries. They will move to higher ground and gather under sturdy oak trees to shelter…

A typical American breakfast today is often something that can be prepared and eaten fast, like cold cereal, fruit and muffins. Bacon, eggs, toast: If you grew up in North America or Europe, you’re probably picturing breakfast. But when you think about it, anything nutritious and filling is enough to get you going in the…

It’s important to act quickly if you ingest a significant amount of bleach. First, if you came across this article because there’s an unfolding emergency after you or a loved one drank bleach, stop reading and call the American Association of Poison Control Centers at 800-222-1222 or dial 911. Now. With that out of the…

These Brave men sounded the alarm that went tragically unheeded   Thirty years ago, Alfred Wetzler died in his native Slovakia. He and his friend, Rudolf Vrba, risked their lives and escaped Auschwitz so they could warn other Jews and the world in precise detail what was happening behind the fences and gates of the…

A scientist explains why it is not possible to tie a rope to the Moon  The earth rotates once every 24 hours and moon every 29 days. But there are bigger problems to take care of. The length of the wire at minimum would be 384000 km. now this is a huge length. Let’s assume…

Precisely 451 years after the June 19, 1566, birth of King James I of England, one achievement of his reign still stands above the rest: the 1611 English translation of the Old and New Testaments that bears his name. The King James Bible, one of the most printed books ever, transformed the English language, coining everyday phrases like…

Black Widow Spider vs. Brown Recluse Spider In the U.S., most spiders you will find are harmless, but the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider are exceptions. Both types of spiders are more common in the southern U.S. and in warm, dry climates. Within these areas they tend to be found in environments…

Hendrixx Love, 1, reacted as he got sprayed with sunscreen by his mother, Ashley Love, 23, at Coney Island Beach.CreditChang W. Lee/The New York Times   Does it make sense for blacks, to wear sunscreen? The answer is more complicated than it may seem. Little heralds the arrival of summer like the smell of open…

The number of Americans who consume products that contain sugar-free sweeteners grew from 70 million in 1987 to 160 million in 2000. At the same time, the incidence of obesity in the United States has doubled from 15 percent to 30 percent across all age groups, ethnic groups, and social strata. And the number of…

There were a variety of factors leading up to the Second World War, which can be divided into long-term and short-term causes..   World War II was a devastating war that lasted from September 1939 to September 1945. The war was fought between the Axis Powers and their allies, who were led by Germany, Italy, and Japan as well as the…

World War one started on the 28th of July 1914 between two sides; triple alliance and the triple entente. It ended on the 11th of November 1918. Difference in policies were to blame, although the immediate cause of World War one was the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war started mainly because of…

The history of the Pit Bull can be traced back to the early 1800’s in the United Kingdom. Pit Bulls were originally bred from Old English Bulldogs (these dogs are similar in appearance to today’s American Bulldog) who gained their popularity on the British Isles in a cruel blood sport known as “bull baiting”. One…

  We can’t live on air and sunshine alone. The human body needs food and water to survive. A human can go for more than three weeks without food — Mahatma Gandhi survived 21 days of complete starvation — but water is a different story. At least 60% of the adult body is made of…

By Elizabeth Howell August 06, 2015 Search For Life    A picture of Earth and artist’s interpretations of several exoplanets that could be like our own. From left: artist’s impressions of Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-452b, Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f. A picture of Earth is at far right. Discovering the first true “alien Earth” is a long-held dream of astronomers —…

As if cancer, stroke, and heart disease weren’t scary enough, there are plenty of other conditions out there that are potentially deadlier. Remember Aimee Copeland? She got a severe cut after falling into a rocky creek during a zip-line ride gone wrong in 2012. And that’s not the end of her story. She contracted a flesh-eating bacteria that…

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who stumbled upon the Americas and whose journeys marked the beginning of centuries of transatlantic colonization.   The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to…

Not long after coming America, often in the pursuit of religious and political freedom, the first European colonists established the very first institutions of higher learning. Like all early universities, most of these schools were founded to help clergyman (often of Puritan or Presbyterian faith) further their education. Several of the schools on this list…

Everyday, the Federal Reserve puts new money into circulation, and takes old, damaged money out. The bills that look a little too worse-for-wear are deemed “unfit currency” and destroyed. Each year, the Fed recycles $200 billion worth of currency, and 70% of the new cash it ordered to be printed for 2017 is being used to replace…

William Miller William Miller founded Millerism. Miller, a farmer from New York, claimed to have discovered when Jesus Christ would return to Earth as stated in the Bible. Miller formed this belief in the 1820s but did not begin to share it with other people until the 1830s. By the early 1840s, approximately one million…

Actually, a whole bunch of different animal species kill snakes, including a ton of birds – owls, hawks, falcons, herons, etc. And many, many snake species eat only other snakes. So mostly, birds and other snakes are the most common predators of snakes. But plenty of mammals get in on the action too. Of course,…

In 1946, Raytheon unveiled its new Radarange microwave oven, a new use for the company’s magnetron tubes. The prototype shown here was called the Raydarange. As World War II came to an end, so did the market for the magnetron tubes that had been used to generate microwaves for short-range military radar. Magnetron makers like…

— On a typical afternoon at the turn of the century, John Harvey Kellogg — physician, cereal visionary and founder of the modern health movement — could be found in his study at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, bending over to administer his fifth enema of the day to himself. It was apparently one of his…

Dimethylpolysiloxane, a chemical found in french fry oil and products such as caulk and tire cleaner may hold the answer to curing baldness. RALF-FINN HESTOFT/GETTY IMAGES Dimethylpolysiloxane. You quit reading that word after the third letter, didn’t you? True, it’s a dumb-looking word, but it might interest you to know that it’s the name for a…

  Doctors of osteopathy (D.O.s) are licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine, but are also rooted in a whole-person approach. If you live in the United States, you’re probably used to using the shorthand “M.D.” when referencing a medical doctor. But if you’ve ever browsed a local list of health care providers, you…

The best way to prepare yourself for a possible shark encounter is to know how to avoid an attack, what to do if you are bitten, and how to help attack victims. How to Avoid An Attack • Stay away from the mouths of rivers after heavy rains, when freshwater fishes and other animals are swept out…

On this day in the year 321, Constantine decreed “the day of the sun” as a day of rest. Roman Emperor Constantine I, known in history as Constantine the Great, may be considered one of the most influential rulers of antiquity, and can claim the greatest impact on modern society of any Roman leader. For…

The most common question,  people ask that are just starting to get used to water and the feel of your body in the water, is “what should I do when I feel like I am drowning?”. The first thing, everyone says to that is “don’t panic”. Well, this is easy said, but much more difficult…

Even if a mouse has never seen a cat before, he’ll turn tail when one is nearby. Researchers suspected that the rodents somehow sniff out their would-be assassins, but exactly what they smelled was unclear. Now scientists have isolated the compound, one of a class of urinary proteins that are secreted by cats, snakes, and…

On Feb. 15, in the year 44 BC, Julius Caesar, the all-powerful ruler of Rome, visited a soothsayer named Spurinna, who “predicted the future by examining the internal organs of sacrificial animals,” among other omens. Brave Caesar was “unmoved,” but Spurinna said that he feared Caesar’s life “might come to a bad end,” and warned…

Crassus may have had the most wealth but his greed for military glory destroyed him in the last days of the Roman Republic. In 60 B.C. Marcus Licinius Crassus was one of the most powerful men in Rome. A military commander who crushed a slave rebellion, Crassus had become a respected orator, patron, and politician, serving…

  You may have heard the news about a 63 year-old woman who was mauled to death by four dogs in Palmdale, California, when she was jogging. While most such incidents don’t end as tragically, joggers, runners, bicyclists and others know all too well the problem of suddenly being pursued, snapped at, or bitten by a loose, aggressive dog.…

A reading of 100 percent relative humidity means that the air is totally saturated with water vapor and cannot hold any more, creating the possibility of rain. JOSE LUIS RAOTA/GETTY IMAGES If you’ve ever been to southern Arkansas on a hot July day, you’re familiar with incredible mugginess, a borderline hallucinatory experience where you feel like…

It’s official: the 2016 Summer Olympics are over in Rio. America took away the most medals with a total of 121 (46 gold). Britain followed with a total of 67 medals (27 gold), and China a respectable third with 70 total medals (26 gold). A lot has happened over the past two weeks, but amid…

All Judy Reed wanted to do was wash some clothes. On June 18, 2019, the Pennsylvania woman descended the basement stairs of her house at around 8 a.m. to do the laundry. Suddenly, a copperhead snake, which had been curled up on a shelf near the washing machine, bit her. Copperheads, like rattlesnakes, are venomous, although…

The garter is among the world’s most benign snakes; it’s not harmful and it eats the pests that eats your garden. If you live anywhere in North America, chances are you’ve seen a garter snake slithering past. For many, such a sight might cause a flinch or scream or, for a die hard and curious…

Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul is a scheme made famous by Charles Ponzi. Who was this crook whose name graces this scam? John Kenneth Galbraith once observed that “the man who is admired for the ingenuity of his larceny is almost always rediscovering some earlier form of fraud.” Although the details may vary, all…

Slavery was so profitable, it sprouted more millionaires per capita in the Mississippi River valley than anywhere in the nation. With cash crops of tobacco, cotton and sugar cane, America’s southern states became the economic engine of the burgeoning nation. Their fuel of choice? Human slavery. If the Confederacy had been a separate nation, it would…

In theory, yes. In practice, your journey through the planet might be hampered by the planet’s molten core. There’s also the matter of finding a spot for all you’re digging through to make your tunnel. Let’s not rule out the possibility of mole people, dinosaurs and graboids living down there, either. Keep in mind, too,…

  It’s hard to imagine daily life with an annual inflation rate of 1,000,000%. At that rate, the price of a cup of coffee doubles between your weekly paychecks. That is what the citizens of Venezuela are facing, according to a recent report from the IMF. The story of how the country went from relative…

While environmentally conscious consumers — and automakers — put a lot of emphasis on cars that operate efficiently, just as important is what happens to those cars when they’re done operating. After all, more than 12 million vehicles were scrapped last year alone. If you consider that each vehicle weighs thousands of pounds, you can…

Named after the legendary conman, Charles Ponzi, the Ponzi scheme is a staple in financial scams. The scammer promises high return rates to investors and uses other investors to return that money. People nowadays know it as the “pyramid scheme,” with older investors getting paid by newer ones. Believe it or not, this scam is…

  We’ve all been caught unawares by our digestive tract at one time or another. It happened to the Nash family several months ago. We were nearing the end of an extended road trip, driving down a secondary highway through a sparsely populated area of Colorado at night,when one of my 9-year-old twin sons had…

Alexander the Great was one of the most talented generals who ever existed, but he was helped a great deal by his exceptional army. While we tend to think of Alexander’s whole army, including his Phalangite phalanx, as an elite force, Alexander had his own core of hand-picked expert troops. These men were a type…

Horrific workplace accidents claimed a string of lives and left its designer dead and his son crippled. Fourteen tons of fireworks illuminated the New York night on May 24, 1883, to celebrate the completion of one of the greatest engineering feats of the Gilded Age—the Brooklyn Bridge. Billed as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the longest suspension bridge…

On a typical day, men spend a third as much time cleaning as women. Does that make women beacons of cleanliness, while men are genetically unable to see the messiness in their midst? This myth is a common explanation for why men don’t do as much housework as women. Men walk into a room and apparently can’t see the dust bunnies…

A new study suggests the ‘grassy knoll’ JFK assassination theory is bogus. When dressmaker Abraham Zapruder brought his camera to see President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade pass through Dealey Plaza in Dallas on November 22, 1963, he could never have suspected that he’d witness anassassination—or that his home movie would become one of the most…

  Security guard on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which ranked as the most dangerous place in the world to live. (Photo courtesy of Getty) Have you ever thought of moving to another country, but worried about your safety? It might be safer to live outside the United States, according to InterNations, which…

How Vitamin D Works All human beings need Vitamin D in order for their bodies to grow and function properly. Vitamin D helps the body metabolize calcium. When children lack vitamin D, their bodies cannot use calcium properly and they develop rickets. Rickets is marked by “soft bones” and things like bowleggedness and knock-knees.Cod liver…

we’re sure that more than one student has wished that he could travel back in time and prevent someone from inventing math. Of course, that same wish probably has been made with regard to all subjects that result in homework and difficult tests from time to time. But would that really be possible…even if time travel existed? Probably not! Why? Unlike a light bulb…

A Brief Account   Years after his wife’s death, Thomas Jefferson fathered at least six of Sally Hemings’s children. Four survived to adulthood and are mentioned in Jefferson’s plantation records:  Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston Hemings.  Sally Hemings worked for two and a half years (1787-89) in Paris as a domestic servant and maid in Jefferson’s…

Your Home Plumbing System Being mostly out of sight your home plumbing system tends to remain out of mind until something goes wrong. While it may appear to be a complex maze of pipes, fittings and valves, your home plumbing system is actually rather simple and straightforward. A home plumbing system is made up of…