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Stories in History that you’ll love, handpicked by our team.
My Uncivil War
June 19, 1865, Galveston, Texas Coarse rope abraded my neck like a saw through rotten timber. Flies batted against the burlap hood that obscured my sight from the gathering crowd surrounding the gallows. I thought a butcher shop must be nearby from the stench of decayed and rotting flesh until I realized it was my own. For three days, during the trial, I had been beaten senseless with my fate a foregone conclusion. I regretted nothing and awaited the tug-of-war between gravity and the rope. This was my only hope of mercy from this inhumane world.
J. S. WadePublished 11 months ago in HistoryI Believe I'd Be a Wise-Woman
I know what they say about me; the simpletons. They say I do magic, that I dance with the Devil in the light of the full moon, that I know the future.
Judey KalchikPublished 11 months ago in HistoryUnderground
Well, this really is a challenge. What I mean by opening with that line is, I had to choose a particular historical era to return to and then add to it my own idea of an occupation. I decided that I did not want to flit ahead to some future that I could not imagine without adding all the clichés of science-fiction. To head backwards required me to be honest about history and the circumstances that would guide my life. It would have to be something believable and real enough to tell a fantastic story.
Kendall DefoePublished 11 months ago in HistoryHistorical Accomplishments: Three African Americans
With the celebration of Juneteenth this year I felt it was appropriate to celebrate three African Americans that went beyond the boundaries and accomplished feats that helped pave the future for other African Americans to break the boudaries of segregation, racism, and oppression.
Rick Henry ChristopherPublished 11 months ago in HistoryThe Mysterious Life of Teresa Ann Savoy
It is undeniable that the women who graced the covers and pages of magazines including Penthouse and Playboy brought to their publishers the lavish incomes that made figures like Hugh Hefner household names. Despite this impact many of these women do not have substantial biographies that are publicly available, a lack of celebrity that is striking when compared to the prevalence of their image in the public sphere. This lack of fame was purposeful for some, as many women chose to use aliases when published, or disappointing to others who were promised careers as actors or models following their pictorial.
OG CollectionPublished 11 months ago in HistoryBob Guccione and the Unabomber: An Unlikely History
On June 10, 2023, Ted Kaczynski died in prison, ending one of the stranger tales of domestic terrorism in the United States. As interest in his activities as the “Unabomber” renews, materials related to Kaczynski in the OG Collection become even more intriguing. Putting AI’s skills in historical and speculative writing to the test makes this analysis especially relevant today.
Time Travel
My favorite place in the world is the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York. I've gone a few times, but one time, in particular, sticks out to me.
Ashley LimaPublished 12 months ago in HistoryWould I have met Monet
What if I was born in the USA in the 1890's. Marriage would not have been a necessity, but it would have been expected. I would have taken French in the American schools. Art and writing hobbies for girls, would have been accepted. A trip to France -would have been seen as an educational venture. To broaden my perspective of the world. But when I chose to remain in Paris, my family would have shown some concern.
Antoinette L BreyPublished 12 months ago in HistorySeptember, 1969
The United States in 1969 was characterized by disruption. From the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair, which symbolized the spirit of counterculture, to the anti-Vietnam War movement there were deep shifts in culture and politics that still reverberate today.
OG CollectionPublished 12 months ago in History- Content Warning
American Youth in the Venceremos Brigade
In the late 1960s members of the Students for a Democratic Society founded the Venceremos Brigade with assistance from Cuban officials. The SDS formed the Brigade to show solidarity between the American left and the Cuban Revolution. Its main purpose was to challenge the United States government’s policies towards Cuba, especially the embargo emplaced after the 1953 revolution. This played out at a time when the Soviet Union was competing with China for who would be the locus of authority for the Communistic world. (1) The loss of the Soviet Union’s prestige as the world’s “vanguard of international socialism, decolonization, and the struggle for the emancipation of nations under Western imperialism” was due to the rise of the People’s Republic of China. (2) However, with the success of the Cuban Revolution came a new challenger to the title. It was due to Cuba’s success in stopping United States intervention that drew many Socialists to their cause. Many of these socialists came from the United States. It is by looking at diaries and interviews from the earliest American activists transported to Cuba that we will judge how effective they were as revolutionary instruments in Cuba. We will also look at how their pride, prejudice, and ignorance affected their group dynamics.
Atomic HistorianPublished 12 months ago in History The Plague
After a night of thin sleep, I rose from my bed, joints aching and body weary. Lack of rest or something else? Gently, I probed my neck and underneath my arms. No swelling. Reassuring but it could mean I hadn’t progressed to that symptom yet. I took stock. No aching skull, no bone-rattling chills. I swallowed. No sore throat. Surely, nothing more than poor sleep.
N.J. GallegosPublished 12 months ago in HistoryA Look At English's Past And Future
We’ve all seen those Egyptian hieroglyphics in tombs and temples. Those hieroglyphics represented a number of ideas and sounds and concepts. But is English heading towards this kind of future?
Deasun T. SmythPublished 12 months ago in History