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History

Laborers working at the face of the Thames Tunnel were protected by Marc Brunel's newly-invented "Shield"; behind them, other gangs hurried to roof the tunnel before the river could burst in. Nineteenth century lithograph.

The Epic Struggle to Tunnel Under the Thames

No one had ever tunneled under a major river before Marc Brunel began a shaft below London’s river in the 1820s

Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe by Elliott & Fry in 1896

One Newspaper to Rule Them All

According to author John M. Barry, Roger Williams, center, had a great facility with language—a great curiosity for language—and began trading with Indians and trying to learn their language.

John M. Barry on Roger Williams and the Indians

The founder of Rhode Island often helped out the early colonists in their dealings with Native Americans

After he was cast into the wilderness, Roger Williams argued that religion and government must be divided.

God, Government and Roger Williams’ Big Idea

The Puritan minister originated a principle that remains contentious to this day—separation of church and state

“It is splendid to have people who refuse to recognise difficulties,” British Capt. Robert Falcon Scott wrote early in the expedition to the South Pole. But they would after they set out from the pole.

The Doomed South Pole Voyage’s Remaining Photographs

A 1912 photograph proves explorer Captain Robert Scott reached the South Pole—but wasn’t the first

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Going Places

Whether as a tourist, an outcast or a pilgrim, traveling is discovering

One in a series of 1930s promotional cards for Max Cigarettes

The Future’s War on Cancer

Scientific progress during the 20th century prompted a number of predictions about an impending cure

Coya Knutson campaigning for Congress

Friends in the House, Hostility at Home

Coya Knutson won a seat in the U.S. House in 1954 but was undone by a secret she brought to Washington

Christmas in the future as imagined in the 1981 book "Tomorrow's Home" by Neil Ardley

Santa’s Trusty Robot Reindeer

A special visit from the Ghost of Christmas Retro-Future

Riflemen Andrew and Grigg (center)—British troops from London—during the Christmas Truce with Saxons of the 104th and 106th Regiments of the Imperial German Army.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce

It has become a great legend of World War I. But what really happened when British and German troops emerged from their trenches that Christmas Day?

Justice John Marshall Harlan

The Great Dissenter and His Half-Brother

John Harlan championed racial justice on a hostile Supreme Court. Robert Harlan, a freed slave, achieved renown despite the court’s decisions

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Brain Pickings’ Top 11 History Books of the Year

The editor behind the site that curates the best content on the web lists the most interesting history books of 2011

Flying machine of the year 2012

The Fanciful, Chocolate-Filled World of 2012

In 1912, the French chocolate company Lombart printed a series of six collectible cards envisioning daily life one hundred years in the future

"Highways by Automation" by Arthur Radebuagh

Giant Automatic Highway Builders of the Future

Radebaugh’s vision of a road-creating machine may not have been a figment of just his imagination- a Disney-produced television program had a similar idea

Ariel and Taeping at sea during the great Tea Race of 1866. Oil painting by Jack Spurling, 1926

The Great Tea Race of 1866

At the height of the sailing era, four of the world’s fastest clippers raced home with the season’s precious early cargo of tea

Modern Mechanix and Inventions (April, 1934)

Boxing Robots of the 1930s

Jack Dempsey boasted he could tear apart a robot opponent “bolt by bolt and scatter its brain wheels and cogs all over the canvas”

Paul Morphy (left) and a friend

A Chess Champion’s Dominance—and Madness

As a young man, Paul Morphy vanquished eight opponents simultaneously while effectively blindfolded

More than four months before his famous "midnight ride," Paul Revere made a midday gallop to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and some consider that the true starting point of the war for independence.

The Midday Ride of Paul Revere

Longfellow made the patriot’s ride to Lexington legendary, but the story of Revere’s earlier trip to Portsmouth deserves to be retold as well

Wang Mang, first and last emperor of China's Xin Dynasty, went down fighting amid his harem girls as his palace fell in 23 A.D.

Emperor Wang Mang: China’s First Socialist?

Secretary of State William Seward, far right, with British Minister Lord Lyons, sitting third from right, and other international diplomats at Trenton Falls in New York.

The Civil War

The Unknown Contributions of Brits in the American Civil War

Historian Amanda Foreman discusses how British citizens took part in the war between the Union and the Confederacy

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