Also known as the Second Indochina War, the Vietnam War was a long and bloody conflict, spanning 20 years from 1955 to 1975. The war was primarily a clash of ideologies between the communist government of North Vietnam and the capitalist government of South Vietnam. Throughout the war and the events leading up to it, […]
What Caused the Vietnam War? Read More »
For well over a century now, Kellogg’s Toasted Cornflakes, featuring Cornelius “Corny” Rooster on the box, has been a mainstay of households across America. Prototype for the hundreds of other dry breakfast cereals to follow, Toasted Cornflakes effectively put dry cereals on the breakfast menu—and Battle Creek, Michigan, on the map. But few know the story of John Harvey
The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Corn Flake King: John Harvey Kellogg Read More »
The summer of 1916 was a time when Americans were concerned with politics and war. The Great War was raging in Europe. Pancho Villa led the Mexican revolution in New Mexico, and U.S. Marines invaded the Dominican Republic. So, as July 1916 began, people were looking forward to a relaxing summer that would give them
The Matawan Man-eater: The real-life inspiration for Jaws Read More »
In 1945, World War II was still raging in the Pacific. Though Germany surrendered to the Allies on May 8 and the Italians on April 29, Japan still fought in the Pacific Theater. It was a brutal effort that tested the mettle of ordinary soldiers. The Americans wanted a quick end to the war, and
The Tragedy of the USS Indianapolis: The Worst Shark Attack in History Read More »
When travelers started disappearing near Osage Township, close to the southeastern corner of Kansas, no one took much notice at first. It was the 1870s, and the frontier could still be a wild, hostile place. Near the border with the Indian Territory (which became the state of Oklahoma in 1907), criminals roamed beyond the reach
The Shocking Story of the Bloody Benders Read More »
As famous as Edgar Allan Poe is, the mysterious circumstances surrounding his passing have never been solved. As for Poe’s young wife, Virginia, there is no doubt about how she passed. What’s less well known is what her tragically short life was really like. Virginia married Edgar Allan Poe, her first cousin when she was
Who Was Virginia Clemm, the Wife of Edgar Allan Poe? Read More »
Often when we think of the American Civil War, images of enormous battlefields and waves of soldiers immediately come to mind. However, there’s another, more gruesome side to the war that tends to go overlooked. Casualties and deaths were many, but of course, not all took place on the battlefield. Wounded soldiers who survived the
The Horrifying History of Civil War Medicine Read More »
The Blackfeet Nation is the name given to a confederacy or group of tribes currently residing in northern Montana and Canada. Other names for the Blackfeet Nation include the Blackfoot Confederacy and Siksikaitsitapi. The Blackfeet people themselves go by the name of Niitsitapi (the real people) or Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot-speaking real people. If you have yet to pick
History and Culture of the Blackfeet Nation Read More »
The Great Depression, which lasted in the United States from 1929 to 1939, was a time of intense scarcity. Jobs, money, and food were in short supply, so people had to reinvent their menus to survive the prolonged economic downturn. Food that people wouldn’t have earlier considered eating was silently gobbled down as they made
10 Strange Foods of the Great Depression Read More »
In June 1995, the neighborhood of Golf Manor, Michigan, was suddenly confused as several men converged on a small house in Commerce Township. Three men wore ventilated moon suits and swarmed the house’s backyard. They then started breaking down the door of a shed with electric saws. The house belonged to Michael Polasek and Patty
A Backyard Project That Went Radioactive: David Hahn’s Nuclear Reactor Read More »
