All Articles — Page 8
Every story we've published, newest first
Origins: How Taxes Were Invented
The origins of taxes lie in temple grain stores, not government mandates: Sumer collected barley 5,000 years ago, and how that became income tax is odder than expected.
Time Traveler's Guide to Ancien Regime Paris, 1750
Ancien Regime Paris in 1750 is the intellectual capital of the world - Voltaire, the Encyclopedie, the salons - and one of the most dangerous, foul-smelling cities.
Arsenal: The Kris Dagger
Kris dagger history spans twelve centuries: a living object with a soul and a social credential, the most spiritually charged blade in the Malay world.
If Simon Bolivar Lived Today: The Liberator Who Would Lose the Peace
If Simon Bolivar lived today, he'd be the visionary populist who wins every campaign and can't govern any of them, the liberator of six countries who died broke at 47.
The Jessica Chambers Mississippi Burning: A Haunting Unsolved Case
The Jessica Chambers Mississippi case began December 6, 2014: the 19-year-old was found ablaze on a rural road. Two trials, no conviction. The case remains cold.
King Richard vs. History: How Accurate Is the Williams Sisters Origin Story?
King Richard accuracy, checked: Will Smith's Oscar-winning film gets the Compton courts and 78-page plan right, but builds a heroic myth around a complicated man.
Origins: Who Invented the Coin
Who invented the coin? Not Croesus, not China. Lydian smiths stamped the first coins from electrum around 600 BC, the invention that became the most copied in history.
A Time Traveler's Gupta Empire Travel Guide: Pataliputra, 400 AD
A Gupta empire travel guide to Pataliputra in 400 AD, Chandragupta II's golden capital on the Ganges, where Kalidasa writes and a Chinese pilgrim files meticulous notes.
Arsenal: The Pike and the Tercio - The Eighteen-Foot Weapon That Ended the Age of the Knight
A pike weapon history in brief: eighteen feet of ash tipped with steel, cheap enough to arm peasants, and lethal enough to end the age of armored cavalry.
House of Gucci vs. History: How Accurate Is Ridley Scott's Murder Drama?
House of Gucci accuracy, checked: Ridley Scott's film covers the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci. Patrizia Reggiani says Lady Gaga got her wrong. Here's what history says.
If Scipio Africanus Lived Today: The General Who Won Everything and Lost the Peace
If Scipio Africanus lived today, he would be the most decorated general in NATO, undone not by the battlefield but by the senators who resented his success.
The Disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit: Iowa's Unsolved TV Anchor Case
On June 27, 1995, Jodi Huisentruit left her Mason City apartment for a morning news shift and vanished. Thirty years later, no one has been charged.
Origins: The Real History of Surgery
The history of surgery starts long before Joseph Lister: 7,000-year-old trepanned skulls and Sushruta's 6th-century BC rhinoplasty manual prove it.
Time Traveler's Guide to Roman London 200 AD
A time traveler's guide to Roman London 200 AD: Londinium, the largest city in Britannia, crammed with merchants and soldiers. How to arrive, survive, and get out.
Arsenal: The Urumi - India's Flexible Whip-Sword
The urumi sword is a razor-edged strip of tempered steel worn coiled at the waist, capable of shredding multiple opponents in a single stroke.
I, Tonya vs. History: How Accurate Is the Tonya Harding Biopic?
I Tonya accuracy review: Craig Gillespie's film uses three unreliable narrators for the 1994 Nancy Kerrigan attack - here is what it gets right and wrong.
If Oliver Cromwell Lived Today: The Populist General Who Became What He Overthrew
If Oliver Cromwell lived today, he would be the general turned populist leader who wins on reform and ends up more autocratic than the king he removed.
Origins: How Marriage Was Invented
The origins of marriage lie in property contracts, not romance. Sumerian and Roman law treated marriage as an inheritance tool; love entered the picture centuries later.
Time Traveler's Guide to Reformation Wittenberg, 1517
It's Reformation Wittenberg 1517, and a theology professor is about to nail complaints to a church door - your guide to the town that cracked Christendom.
The Yogurt Shop Murders: Austin's Quadruple Homicide That Was Never Truly Solved
In December 1991, four teenage girls were murdered in the Yogurt Shop Murders, an Austin cold case still unsolved despite confessions and DNA testing.
Arsenal: The Bowie Knife
Bowie knife history: how a Mississippi sandbar duel in 1827 made a blade legendary, spread it across the American frontier, and prompted knife laws across the South.
Harriet vs. History: How Accurate Is the Harriet Tubman Biopic?
Harriet 2019 accuracy review: what director Kasi Lemmons got right about Tubman's visions, gun, and Combahee River Raid, and what she invented for dramatic effect.
If Boudicca Lived Today: The Anti-Empire Politician Who'd Burn It All Down
If Boudicca lived today, she'd be a regional independence leader who took a principled grievance and pushed it further than anyone thought survivable.
Natalee Holloway Disappearance: Aruba's Twenty-Year Cold Case
The Natalee Holloway disappearance: she vanished in Aruba in 2005 and Joran van der Sloot was never tried for her death despite a 2023 plea admitting involvement.