What You Probably Didn't Know About Herodotus, The First Western Historian
Was Herodotus the first Western historian, or "the father of lies?"
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You'll Be Surprised At How Much The Vice President Of The U.S. Really Gets Paid
The vice president makes roughly enough to buy 100 medium-range French bulldogs. Here's how much that is.
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There's A Coin Shortage In The United States. Here's Why
To add to the list of things you'd never thought you'd see in your lifetime that happened in 2020, there is now a coin shortage. Here's why.
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Here's Who Eleanor Roosevelt Wanted On Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore could have looked very different.
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What Life Was Like For Women In The Inca Empire
The Incan empire quickly grew during the 16th century CE to encompass nearly the entire western coast of South America. Here's what life was like for its women.
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What Life Was Like For Women In Ancient Persia
One of the world's first superpowers, the Persian Empire was located in modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey. Compared head-to-head with other ancient world civilizations, there's something oddly endearing about Persia.
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The Unsolved Mystery Of Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff
While song lyrics tend to stick to an unmistakable point — usually along the lines of "Oh, I love you" — they occasionally are just ambiguous enough to leave it up to the listener to decide what's happening. Bob Marley achieves this in "I Shot the Sheriff."
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These Are The Facts About The Creepy Poem On Shakespeare's Grave
If there's one thing we know about Shakespeare, it's -- well, practically nothing. But there's plenty to talk about, including the poem on his grave.
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History Channel's Ridiculous Theory About Amelia Earhart's Disappearance
Through extensive advertisements and daytime talk show segments, the History Channel announced that they had finally solved the big one: the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Boy were they wrong.
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What The Last Surviving Star Of Ben-Hur Is Doing Today
If anybody knows anything about Ben-Hur, it's chariot races. Even the film version feels pretty ancient. So it may not be a surprise that almost every cast member is no longer alive. Save for one.
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The True Story Of The Ancient Aztec Capital Of Tenochtitlan
The ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan is the source of a flood of fascinating history. Then again, it's also the source of many fascinating rumors and half-truths, thanks to repression after the Spanish conquest. This is the true story of the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
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The Origin Of Demons In Christianity
Everybody's familiar with demons. Conceptually, they are more or less universal. But what are their origins in Christianity?
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The Truth About The Mysterious Toxic Lady
The life of a hospital Emergency Room staffer is never dull. And the unexpected can ratchet up the pressure even more. This was the experience of ER staffers at Riverside General Hospital one night in 1994. To this day, the mysterious Toxic Lady, Gloria Ramirez, still has not fully been explained.
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The Crazy True Story Of The Haitian Revolution
At the turn of the 19th century, slaves in the French colonies in Haiti pulled off an unprecedented feat.
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Why Travis Fimmel Didn't Return After Vikings Season 4
Vikings has been a truly massive success for the History Channel, and for the show's first four seasons, it was spearheaded by a larger-than-life main character.
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What Solomon Northup's 12 Years As A Slave Were Really Like
Solomon Northup's tale is unique because his account of slavery was from the lens of a free man. He was educated, married, and had children before he was stolen and forced into 12 years of cruel bondage. This is what Solomon Northup's 12 years as a slave were really like.
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The 1922 Riots That Were Started Because Of A Clothing Item
The year is 1922... don't get caught wearing this kind of hat.
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Here's How Much The President Of The United States Really Gets Paid
It's not the cherriest of gigs, running the free world. Still, the office is nice, and you get your own bowling alley. Maybe that's why children across the United States dream of the day when they'll grow up to be president.
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Here's How Abraham Lincoln Predicted His Own Death
Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865, an 1895 book which collects anecdotes from Ward Hill Lamon about his presidential friend, included one particularly odd note about a dream.
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The Real Reason People Used To Believe Griffins Existed
The griffin -- also gryphon (says Mythology), also grypes (says Theoi) -- traditionally is a blend of an eagle's front crafted onto the body of a lion. And it may have been based on a real animal.
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The Real Reason Thomas Edison's First Invention Failed
Recent history has not been kind to Thomas Edison. Once remembered as a titan of creative thought, today he's become more or less synonymous with the corrupt underpinnings of American industrialism and man's capacity to dash his rivals' dreams, or go to New Jersey and electrocute an elephant.
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The Real Reason So Many Women Have Been Accused Of Being Witches
Historically speaking, it's never been easy to convince Catholics and Protestants to agree on things. However, in the late 1400s, the two denominations put their differences aside and essentially started an interfaith book club.
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What Life Was Like For Viking Women
Vikings. The word conjures a host of images in popular imagination: brutal, burly savages wielding axes and howling their way through coastal raids, clad in equal parts dirt and animal skins, and sporting questionable hygiene. However, the Vikings were a far more nuanced society than many realize.
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This Is What The Ancient Romans Thought The World Looked Like
The Roman Empire at its height spanned all the way through the tip of modern day Scotland, down to encompass all of Europe, out to Russia and into Turkey, and along the northern African coast. But did the Romans have any idea what that empire actually looked like?
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Sea Serpents Might Actually Have Existed. Here's Why
Kraken. "Nessy," the Loch Ness Monster. Soe Orm from Scandinavia. The Great American Sea Serpent. That shark from Jaws. Ancient myths and modern stories of water-bound monsters abound in human consciousness and across cultures.
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The Truth About The Nazi Plot To Blow Up The Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam is exactly the sort of thing that a Bond villain would want to blow up. Enter the Nazis, the real-life Bond villains of the mid-20th century.
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Here's How The Founders Of Apple Actually Met
Steve Jobs first founded what would be one of the largest tech companies in 1976 with his business partner, Steve Wozniak. The two met on a chance occasion, and it's a good thing fate was in their favor, or we might not have had the iPhone, the MacBook, or the iPod.
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