Industrial Revolution

Americans who distrusted their Catholic, French-speaking neighbors burned the Old South Church in Bath, Maine.

When an Influx of French-Canadian Immigrants Struck Fear Into Americans

In the late 19th century, they came to work in New England cotton mills, but the <i>New York Times</i>, among others, saw something more sinister

Chinese laborers at work with pick and shovel wheelbarrows and one horse dump carts filling in under the long secret town trestle which was originally built in 1865 on the Present Souther Pacific Railroad lines of Sacramento.

The Transcontinental Railroad Wouldn't Have Been Built Without the Hard Work of Chinese Laborers

A new exhibit at the National Museum of American History details this underexamined history

It took thousands of years, but the pumpkin went from one squash among many to American icon.

How the Formerly Ubiquitous Pumpkin Became a Thanksgiving Treat

The history of Cucurbita pepo has a surprising connection to the abolitionist cause

Rickets, a disease caused by vitamin D deficiency that results in skeletal deformities, has been traced back to the Roman Empire.

Many Roman Children Suffered From Vitamin D Deficiency

New research suggests rickets was common long before the Industrial Revolution, when pollution blocked out sunlight

A gun manufacturer in Birmingham in the 19th century.

How British Gun Manufacturers Changed the Industrial World Lock, Stock and Barrel

In ‘Empire of Guns,’ historian Priya Satia explores the microcosm of firearm manufacturing through an unlikely subject—a Quaker family

Reports of weird, wondrous, and worrying objects in the skies date to ancient times.

How UFO Reports Change With the Technology of the Times

Fears of Zeppelins, rockets and drones have replaced the "celestial wonders" of ancient times

An image from the Slater Mill Historic Site in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

How Industrial Espionage Started America's Cotton Revolution

To the British, Samuel Slater was ‘Slater the traitor,’ but to the Americans, he was the father of the American industrial revolution

Female match workers in the 1870s.

Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers

Those who worked in match factories were exposed to white phosphorus, which caused a debilitating and potentially deadly condition

The beer that flooded the streets was porter, an extremely dark-colored beer that was traditionally aged for a time before being drunk–which is why it was stored in vats.

This 1814 Beer Flood Killed Eight People

More than a hundred thousand gallons of beer burst onto the streets of London when a vat broke

The United States's version of the Imperial system is based on an older British version.

America Has Been Struggling With the Metric System For More Than 200 Years

The United States is the one of the world's only holdouts at this point, but it could have been the first country outside of France to adopt the system

Henry Ford and Mohandas Gandhi exchanged tokens of mutual admiration during World War II.

The Unlikely Bromance Between Henry Ford and Mohandas Gandhi

Both men had complicated ideologies but bonded over pacifism

Otto von Bismarck addressing the Reichstag

Bismarck Tried to End Socialism’s Grip—By Offering Government Healthcare

The 1883 law was the first of its kind to institute mandatory, government-monitored health insurance

Americans went nuts for Queen Victoria less than 60 years after the American Revolution drew to a close.

Americans Caught ‘Victoria Fever’ For The British Queen’s 1838 Coronation

Such delicacies as 'Victoria soap' could be bought in America as a souvenir of the occasion

Artists like Van Gogh took full advantage of the new blue pigments invented in the 18th and 19th centuries, which some art scholars say revolutionized painting.

Creating a Full Palette of Blues

How the discovery of a new metal helped to change painting forever

Trapped inside this ice core is evidence that suggests humans have been polluting the atmosphere with lead for thousands of years.

Humans Polluted the Air Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

Ice cores suggest that humans have been polluting the air with lead for at least 2,000 years

Chocolate chips as we know and love them today.

The First “Chocolate Chip” Was a Molasses Candy

The name "chocolate chip" goes back much farther than the Toll House cookies

Garment workers and union members from the Puritan Underwear Company taking part in the 1916 May Day parade in New York. While these parades were common early in the century, they began to disappear over time.

The US Declared “Loyalty Day” in the 1950s to Erase Worker Protest

Under Eisenhower during the Cold War, "Loyalty Day" was declared to paper over International Workers' Day

An early oil well.

A Civil War Colonel Invented Fracking in the 1860s

His first invention was an 'oil well torpedo,' but it was followed by others

In 19th century England, women often had fewer legal protections than animals, even in cases involving murder.

“Are Women Animals?” Asked One 19th-Century Letter Writer

If women couldn't have the rights of full human beings, "An Earnest Englishwoman" asked, could they at least have as many legal protections as animals?

The caption to this cartoon from 'Scribner's Monthly' reads "Henry Bergh on Duty"

The ASPCA’s Founder Was Known as “The Great Meddler”

Although Bergh's efforts to prevent animal cruelty weren't well-received by all, the ASPCA did change how animals were seen in the United States

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