History
Valentine’s Day cards too sugary sweet for you? Return to the 19th-century custom of the spicy ‘vinegar valentine’
Valentine’s Day cards too sugary sweet for you? Return to the 19th-century custom of the spicy ‘vinegar valentine’ Vinegar valentines were a type of Valentine’s Day card that emerged during the Victorian era, characterized by their mocking and insulting nature. The cards were meant to shock, offend, and upset their recipients, often targeting people who […]
🎭 Entertainment
Philadelphia was once a sweet spot for chocolatiers and other candymakers who made iconic treats for Valentine’s Day and other holidays
Philadelphia was once a sweet spot for chocolatiers and other candymakers who made iconic treats for Valentine’s Day and other holidays Philadelphia was once a hub for chocolatiers and candymakers who created iconic treats like Peeps, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Whitman’s Sampler chocolates. The city’s strategic location on the Delaware River made it an […]
🎭 Entertainment
Mapping cemeteries for class – how students used phones and drones to help a city count its headstones
Mapping cemeteries for class – how students used phones and drones to help a city count its headstones Miami University students, under the guidance of an environmental scientist, used geospatial technology tools to map a historic cemetery in Oxford, Ohio, which had over 6,000 headstones and no digital records. The project, which took about six […]
💻 Technology
How a 22-year-old George Washington learned how to lead, from a series of mistakes in the Pennsylvania wilderness
How a 22-year-old George Washington learned how to lead, from a series of mistakes in the Pennsylvania wilderness At 22 years old, George Washington embarked on a mission to deliver a letter from Robert Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia, to the commander of French troops in the Ohio territory, sparking an international war and teaching him […]
🏛️ Politics
Bearing witness after the witnesses are gone: How to bring Holocaust education home for a new generation
Bearing witness after the witnesses are gone: How to bring Holocaust education home for a new generation Bearing witness after the witnesses are gone: How to bring Holocaust education home for a new generation highlights the challenges of teaching about the Holocaust as survivors pass away, and how educators can bridge the divides between students […]
📚 Education
From flammable neighborhoods to moral hazards, fire insurance maps capture early US cities and the landscape of discrimination
From flammable neighborhoods to moral hazards, fire insurance maps capture early US cities and the landscape of discrimination Fire insurance maps were created from the 1860s to the 1970s for every city in the US with a population over 1,000 people, comprising over 700,000 map sheets that are now publicly accessible through the Library of […]
📰 News
Before Venezuela’s oil, there were Guatemala’s bananas
Before Venezuela’s oil, there were Guatemala’s bananas The Trump administration’s desire for unfettered access to Venezuela’s oil has overshadowed conventional foreign policy objectives, such as combating drug trafficking or bolstering democracy and regional stability. The US military strike that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026, is reminiscent of the CIA-backed coup in […]
🏛️ Politics
Oldest known cremation in Africa poses 9,500-year-old mystery about Stone Age hunter-gatherers
Oldest known cremation in Africa poses 9,500-year-old mystery about Stone Age hunter-gatherers Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known cremation in Africa, dating back around 9,500 years to a pyre built by Stone Age hunter-gatherers in Malawi. The cremation was of an adult woman, estimated to be around 5 feet tall and middle-aged at the time […]
🔬 Science
The Industrial Revolution had uneven health impacts in England
The Industrial Revolution had uneven health impacts in England A new study reveals that the Industrial Revolution had uneven health impacts across England, challenging the traditional narrative of industrial cities being uniformly polluted. The researchers used a combination of historical evidence and bone geochemistry to analyze skeletal remains from two towns, one industrial (South Shields) […]
🔬 Science
The world risks forgetting one of humanity’s greatest triumphs as polio nears global eradication − 70 years after Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in a Pittsburgh lab
The world risks forgetting one of humanity’s greatest triumphs as polio nears global eradication − 70 years after Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in a Pittsburgh lab Polio nears global eradication, but the world risks forgetting its greatest triumph, which was achieved 70 years ago when Jonas Salk developed the vaccine. The development of the […]
🏥 Health