In the early spring of 1637, the madness surrounding tulips reached its height in cities like Amsterdam. For years there had been a growing obsession with the flowers, which are native to Central Asia and believed to have only been introduced to Europe through the Ottoman Empire in the mid-sixteenth century. However, by the mid-1630s, […]
How Did Tulips Create the World’s First Economic Bubble? Read More »
Unless you took a biology class a few centuries ago, you most likely didn’t learn about the dodo bird– an ostrich-like bird that died out. While this bird is extinct, you can still find preserved bones in museums. What did Dodos look like, where they lived, and why did they go extinct? Dods (Raphus Cucullatus)
How and Why Did The Dodo Bird Go Extinct? Read More »
The relationship between police officers and doughnuts is a well-known and widely accepted cultural stereotype. But where did this association come from? From the origins of the modern police force to the present day, we’ll explore how this unlikely pairing has come to define a cultural icon. How did this common belief originate? The main
What is the Historical Link Between Cops and Doughnuts? Read More »
Slavery was an everyday fact of life in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire which followed it. Although scholars have to rely on approximations and the prevalence of slavery varied over time, it is estimated that upwards of 20% of the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. That would be roughly 15 million
What Was Life Like for a Roman Slave? Read More »
Most people are familiar with the events of the Black Death, as it killed upwards of half of the continent’s population in the space of half a decade between its first arrival in Italy in 1347 and the end of the first wave in the early 1350s. But what was just as significant was what
What Happened After the Black Death Ended? Read More »
Egyptians were the first to recognize gout as a disease in 2640 BC. Hippocrates recognized its debilitating nature by the fifth century BC, calling it the “unwalkable disease.” He often used aphorisms, which still ring true to this day, to describe it. He referred to gout as the “arthritis of the rich” or the king’s
The Strange History of Gout, the King’s Disease Read More »
Queen Elizabeth I is one of the most famed monarchs in European history. This woman led the English resistance to Spain during the Armada crisis of 1588 when the Spanish nearly conquered the country. Countless books and many films in recent times have been to be produced on the monarch. But one of the lesser-known
Did Makeup Cause the Death of Queen Elizabeth I of England? Read More »
While many people alive today will say that 2020 is the worst year they have ever seen, many precede it on the list of horrific times in human history. In 2020, the world watched in horror as millions of people died from the coronavirus pandemic, whole countries shut down, and nobody knew what to do
Why Was 536 One of the Worst Years to be Alive? Read More »
Perhaps one of the strangest aspects of the Viking Age of European history, which lasted from the late eighth century through to the eleventh century, was its allegedly homogenous nature. To hear the word Viking today conjures up images of naval warriors descending into Britain, France, and Ireland from any part of Denmark, Norway, or
How different were Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian Vikings? Read More »
The Rufus Buck Gang was a group of outlaws who terrorized the Midwest during the late 1800s. They were some of the most notorious criminals in American history and the inspiration for numerous books and movies. Who were the Rufus Buck Gang, and how did they earn their notorious reputation? The Loss of Indian Territory
The Fascinating Story of the Rufus Buck Gang Read More »
