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The Bloody Tale of the Sausage War
The Battle of Varolampi Pond has another, less formal name: the Sausage War. Don't let the funny moniker fool you -- the 1939 conflict between Finland and Russia remains one of the most brutal moment…
Published on 4 years, 1 month ago
Modern Thanksgiving, Part Two: Sarah Josepha Hale Finally Gets Her Wish
As the Civil War broke out, Sarah Josepha Hale found politicians were, understandably, more occupied with country-wide chaos than the creation of a national, unified Thanksgiving. After the close of …
Published on 4 years, 1 month ago
Modern Thanksgiving, Part One: A Culture War
Today Thanksgiving is considered a largely innocuous holiday, centered on food and family. In the US, people across the country get together on the same Thursday in November every year, breaking brea…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
How Haunted Houses Became A Thing
Haunted houses are a big deal in the United States -- like Spirit stores, they seem to spring up every October -- but whence did they originate? When did people start paying to be scared?
Learn more…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
New England versus Vampires, Part Two: Desperation and Desecration
In part two of this two-part series, Ben is joined once again with guest host Alex Williams to explore the harrowing tale of the New England Vampire Panic, tracing how increasingly desperate communit…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
New England versus Vampires, Part One: The Brutal, Terrifying Life of Early Colonists
While historians continue to explore the details of the infamous Salem witch trials, another, earlier panic swept through New England -- something modern historians often refer to as the "Vampire Pan…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
Ada Lovelace, Part Two: The Analytical Engine
After marrying and having three children, Ada dove back into the world of poetical science, continuing her correspondence with Charles Babbage as he tried to garner support for his ambitious, expensi…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
Ada Lovelace, Part One: How Lord Byron’s Daughter Became a Tech Visionary
Today Ada Lovelace is hailed as one of the most important figures in the early history of computing -- but, during her childhood, her mother was worried she might take after her father, the famous po…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
The King of Scotland Got Real Weird with Language Experiments
Scottish King James IV was, by all accounts, a learned man. As a polyglot, he was especially interested in the origin of language -- so much so, in fact, that he allegedly conducted an experiment tha…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago
The Rum Riot of Portland, Maine
On June 2nd, 1855, the good people of Portland Maine had reached a breaking point. The Mayor, an infamous hardline teetotaler, had just been caught approving the purchase of alcohol after making it i…
Published on 4 years, 2 months ago