Herman Melville was born into a wealthy family in New York City in 1819, but following the Financial Panic of 1837 and his father's death, he faced significant hardships, leading him to work at sea. This period of Melville's life, marked...

Emily Dickinson's poetry frequently incorporates the color white, not as a symbol of purity or innocence, but as an emblem of intense emotion and passion, exemplified by her use of "white heat" as a metaphor for the soul's fervor....

The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester is housed in the oldest passenger railway buildings in the world and showcases the evolution of technology from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. It offers a diverse range of...

Five accomplished historians describe how specific personal experiences were crucial in triggering their interest in history and inspired them to become historians. Featured are: David Cannadine (Princeton University), Linda Colley...

With rationalism covered, let's investigate the other important movement in early modern philosophy, empiricism. In its earliest formulation, this included figures like Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, and contrary to rationalism, which...

At a time when many Native Americans were refused healthcare by racist White doctors, Susan La Flesche Picotte overcame gender discrimination to become the first Indigenous woman in U.S. history to earn a medical degree.

The first Indigenous woman to publish a memoir, Paiute educator and activist Sarah Winnemucca campaigned tirelessly for the rights of Indigenous Americans.

In the mid-19th century, only around 3% of those who traveled West on the Oregon Trail were Black. Among them was Letitia Carson, the only Black woman in Oregon to successfully receive land through the Homestead Act.

The astonishing story of Henrietta Lacks' immortal cells, taken without consent, revolutionized medical research but also exposed ethical dilemmas, leading to crucial changes in consent laws to protect patients' rights in the scientific...

The interracial marriage of Harriet R. Gold and Elias Boudinot transcended racial taboos of the 1800s, leaving a lasting impact on both the Cherokee and Cornwall communities.

The earliest major industrial project in the United States’ history, the Erie Canal connected East to West by water and enabled a new era of commerce, trade, and movement.

In a world traditionally dominated by men, female spies took advantage of gender stereotypes to go unnoticed and gather information during the U.S. Civil War.

Where did the concept of a hobby come from? And how did humans turn the things they do purely for fun into side hustles and competitions that actually pay the bills?

Intellectual historian Darrin McMahon (Dartmouth) details how investigating the etymology of "genius" naturally led him to a deeper understanding of what he had previously thought was primarily an 18th-century phenomenon.

Historian and classicist Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (Cambridge) describes how, contrary to what we might naively assume, wealthy ancient Romans lived much closer to their poorer compatriots than their modern counterparts do.

Historian David Cannadine (Princeton) reveals how his origins affected his historical sensibilities.

Historian Darrin McMahon, Dartmouth College, describes how the 19th-century psychological view known as “degeneration theory” went a considerable distance towards confirming the ancient religious, prophetic notion of a “mad genius” in...

Historian Darrin McMahon, Dartmouth College, details how the desire to scientifically assess genius motivated the American psychologist Lewis Terman to redirect Alfred Binet’s test to identify special-needs children and apply it as a...

The String Quartet is a Classical Period innovation, developed largely in the hands of Haydn. This music appreciation lesson presents an overview of how the String Quartet evolved and also explores the Baroque background that led to the...

Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the legal doctrine of “separate but equal”. It was a ruling that enabled many states to enact racial segregation laws for decades to come.

Promises might just seem like words, but in the legal system and government, they’re crucial. Oath of Office is part of a tradition that dates back hundreds of years.

The Battle of Little Bighorn, or Custer’s Last Stand, is infamous for having left no survivors. So what are we to make of Frank Finkel’s story, that only he lived to tell the tale?

Find out about the tumultuous time in Ireland which led to its independence from Britain.

Manny Man Does Comparing the Presidents of the USA! Let’s see how the presidents measure up beside each other, literally and metaphorically! Enjoy! Please share!