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How Barry Goldwater Brought the Far Right to Center Stage in the 1964 Presidential Race
When the far-right Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater ran for the American presidency in 1964, he never even pretended to woo voters in the political center. “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” declared Goldwater in his speech accepting the Republican Party’s ...read more
How a New Deal Housing Program Enforced Segregation
The Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s delivered a gut punch to the average American. By 1933, a quarter of Americans were out of work, the national average income had slumped to less than half of what it had been a few years earlier and more than one million ...read more
Why Do Witches Ride Brooms? The History Behind the Legend
The evil green-skinned witch flying on her magic broomstick may be a Halloween icon—and a well-worn stereotype. But the actual history behind how witches came to be associated with such an everyday household object is anything but dull. It’s not clear exactly when the broom ...read more
6 Famous Curses and Their Origins
Throughout history, people have promoted stories of curses for a variety of reasons. To sports fans, curses can help explain their favorite team’s loss. When a cause of death is misunderstood, curses can provide an explanation. For an imperial nation, curses can betray anxiety ...read more
What Was It Like to Ride the Transcontinental Railroad?
Velvet cushions and gilt-framed mirrors. Feasts of antelope, trout, berries and Champagne. In 1869, a New York Times reporter experienced the ultimate in luxury—and he did so not in the parlor of a Gilded Age magnate, but on a train headed from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco, ...read more
6 Things You May Not Know About Pumpkins
In the United States, pumpkins go hand in hand with the fall holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Harvested in October, this nutritious and versatile orange fruit features flowers, seeds and flesh that are edible and rich in vitamins. Pumpkin is used to make soups, desserts ...read more
The Children's Crusade: When the Youth of Birmingham Marched for Justice
Toward the end of April 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and fellow leaders in the civil rights movement faced a grim reality in Birmingham, Alabama. With diminished support and fewer volunteers, their campaign to end segregationist policies was teetering on failure. But when an ...read more
How Ronald Reagan's 1976 Convention Battle Fueled His 1980 Landslide
On the second day of the highly contested 1976 Republican National Convention, it was still far from clear which candidate the party delegates intended to choose: sitting president Gerald Ford or his challenger, former actor and California governor Ronald Reagan. Amidst this ...read more
How the Flu Pandemic Changed Halloween in 1918
“Witches Must Beware,” declared the Baltimore American on October 31, 1918. The Maryland city’s health commissioner had placed a ban on public Halloween events, instructing the police chief to prevent people from holding “carnivals and other forms of public celebrations.” The ...read more
Controversial Supreme Court Nominations Through History
The justices who sit on the Supreme Court of the United States hold a unique governing power, making their selection extremely fraught. Senators might oppose a nominee because of his or her record, or even because of disagreements senators have with the president who made the ...read more
When a Fallen Mexican American War Hero Was Denied a Wake, a Civil Rights Push Began
“The whites won't like it.” When a small-town Texas funeral home, using these words, refused to hold a wake for decorated World War II veteran Felix Longoria, the ensuing controversy sent the fight for Mexican American civil rights soaring onto the national stage—with some help ...read more
How Hammurabi Transformed Babylon Into a Powerful City-State
More than 3,800 years after he took power, the ancient Babylonian king Hammurabi is best remembered for the Code of Hammurabi which was inscribed on human-sized stone pillars that he placed in the towns of his realm. But the system of 282 laws was just one of the achievements of ...read more
America’s Only Successful Coup d’Etat Overthrew a Biracial Government in 1898
It was the only successful coup d'état in the history of the United States and a story of racial terror largely obscured from the annals of American history. In 1898, a group of white vigilantes—angry and fearful at the newly elected biracial local government—joined forces with ...read more
What Are Swing States and How Did They Become a Key Factor in US Elections?
Swing states, also known as battleground states or purple states, are highly competitive states that have historically swung between voting for different parties in presidential elections. While most states consistently vote along party lines—from 2000 to 2016, 38 states voted ...read more
How Billionaire Ross Perot Brought Populism Back to Presidential Politics
H. Ross Perot didn’t win the 1992 presidential election. He didn’t even capture a single Electoral College vote. Nonetheless, the Texan billionaire’s outsider bid for the American presidency transformed the political and electoral landscape, in both the short and longer term. By ...read more