History Blogs

Discover the best independent blogs about history on BlogRolly.

• Primordial, Haunting, and Beautiful, Ancient Peruvian Water Vessel Whistles
• Why is the Didgeridoo so special to the Aboriginal people of Australia? Why is it a Favorite Sound Bath Instrument and Can it Heal? — Ever wondered why the didgeridoo or yidaki is a go to sound bath healing instrument? I walk through its low frequency vi
• Dr. Jocelyn Elders: A Legacy Bigger Than the Title — A name that reshaped public health. I reflect on Dr. Jocelyn Elders, the first Black Surgeon General, her Arkansas roots
• Life and Fines of the 1940s — What if dancing at 3am could get you fined? I read our city's 1940s ordinance codes cover to cover, all 200 pages, and f
• 5 Key Moments in the History of Families — How families have changed in the last 100 Years.
• The erotic works of Pierre Louÿs — Ever wondered how a literary hoax became a lesbian classic? I assembled an abridged Pierre Louÿs biography and guide to
• French erotic publishing between the wars — Paris bookshops hid a thriving secret in the 1920s. Here I introduce Jean-Pierre Dutel’s Bibliographie des ouvrages érot
• The censorship of erotic art in Germany — A hidden history of banned desire. In this post I map the censorship of erotic art in Germany, from the Church's Libroru
• Japanese erotic art and its two-way influence on Western erotic artists — Surprising connections between Japanese erotic art and Western erotic artists drive this post. I trace shunga history an
• Twilight and rebirth – sex and art at the turn of the twentieth century — At the turn of the century art and sex collided in ways that still unsettle. I follow Munch, Klimt and Stuck through fin
• The Hidden Engineering Behind the Falkirk Wheel — A rotating boat lift sounds like science fiction. I unpack the hidden engineering behind the Falkirk Wheel, explain how
• Sawing a Dam in Half (on Purpose) — Surprising fact, concrete is the second most consumed substance on Earth. In this transcript of my video I tell the stor
• Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) Applications: ET as Space Facility (1982) — Ever wondered how the Shuttle's giant External Tank became both fuel farm and structural backbone? In this post I follow
• Chronology: Piloted Flybys 1.0 — Did you know NASA once treated piloted Mars and Venus flybys as a low cost bridge between Apollo and crewed planetary la
• A Robotic and Piloted Planetary Exploration Program for the 1970s and Early 1980s — A bitter turning point in NASA history. I recount 1967 from the Apollo 1 cabin fire and FY1968 budget cuts to the clash
• The Diary of a Young Girl — Late to the party, I finally read The Diary of a Young Girl and wondered how it would have shaped me as a teenager. In t
• Picturesque imaginings — A window can blur time. In this post I wander through William Henry Fox Talbot's 1843 stay in Rouen and why he photograp
• Eating the seed corn, Not — Surprising truth: starving scientists refused to eat the priceless seed bank. While writing book reviews at Coolock Bran
• Nuclear risks briefing — Not many people know that a few bombs threaten everyone. In this nuclear risks briefing I demystify nuclear weapon risks
• Wallpapers: Three From Apollo — Remember the first moonwalk? In this post I picked three Apollo wallpapers that capture the awe of the first moonwalk an
• Pre-agriculture gender relations seem bad — What if the hunter-gatherer paradise story is overstated? I sift ethnographic evidence and the Hayden, Deal, Cannon and
• Was life better in hunter-gatherer times? — Was life better in hunter-gatherer times? I compare pre-agriculture quality of life with today, examining hunter-gathere
• David Baron: The Martians used to be the good guys — Curious what Americans asked Martians in 1909? I chatted with David Baron, former NPR science editor, about The Martians
• Claude McKay’s Harlem Shadows, “If We Must Die,” and Congressional Confusion — Surprising research finding. I revisited Claude McKay's Harlem Shadows for Black History Month and unpacked the history
• The Brief, Brilliant Career of Rita Senger — Who was Rita Senger, the illustrator behind a 1915 Vogue cover and the August 1919 Vanity Fair? My post traces her swift
• Langston Hughes, Teenaged Poet — Did you know Langston Hughes first appeared in The Brownies' Book in 1920, with poems, a Toluca travel piece and a gradu
• Magazine Ads of 1921: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, and Meh — Which 1921 magazine ads actually make me want to buy something? I sift through the June 1921 Ladies' Home Journal ads an
• I Read a Random 1920 Book — A random pick from the 1920 Book Review Digest landed me Elements of Retail Salesmanship, a funny and surprising window
• Jane Austen’s Life 100 Years Ago — Ever wondered how Jane Austen appeared to readers in 1920? I found Oscar Firkins' 1920 book during a lonely spring in Wa
• The Best and Worst of the New Yorker’s First Issue — Curious about the New Yorker's 1925 debut? Growing up with a subscription and a huge cartoon collection meant I read the
• The Top Posts of 1923 — Wondering which 1923 posts drew the most readers? I count down my top posts of 1923, from my deep dive into Claude McKay
• My Magical Journey to 1922 — Picture June 1922 and the advertising pages of The Ladies' Home Journal. I wandered those vintage 1922 ads, savoring a d
• Did College Shrink Your Breasts? A Quiz — Angry and curious, I dug up a 1918 Educational Review essay and turned Henry Maudsley’s claims into a cheeky quiz to tes
• 10 1918 People I’m Thankful For — Who helped make the better world we live in? In my Thanksgiving piece 10 1918 people I'm thankful for, part of My Life 1
• The Afterlives of the Rich & Famous — 698 graves across twenty-nine states turned into a strange, joyful hobby visiting presidential gravesites and famous tom
• The Man Who Taught the World How to Remember — Who proposed the two minute silence that shapes Armistice Day? I unearthed a British Pathé clip and traced Edward George
• Six Olympians From the Past — Curious where famous Olympians are buried? I dug into Cemetery Club biography notes and cemetery records to trace six at
• Bother the Men! The Grave of Mrs Howard Paul — A knackered Victorian gravestone sent me to Brompton Cemetery. I traced Isabella Hill, better known as Mrs Howard Paul,
• Staring Into The Face of Death — Curious about Napoleon's death mask and the strange afterlife of relics? I walk readers from the British Museum to Saint
• Execution: 700 Years of Punishment in London — Looking for a darker London history fix? I visited the Executions exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands and revie
• The Top 7 Graves Associated with Dickens — Ever wondered where Charles Dickens walked after writing A Christmas Carol? I've mapped the top 7 graves associated with
• The Last Mourner — Who last visited Annie Elizabeth Jones' grave? In this post I trace a Victorian photograph, the ceramic immortelles and
• Naughty Naughty — Think microfilm is boring? On a whim at The National Archives I loaded a reel and found a 1873 copyright file that led t
• Ghosts of West Norwood — A ThenVsNow duel at West Norwood Cemetery, matching a 1968 Lambeth Archives photo with my 2024 shot. I trace John Britto
• The Comedian — Meet Edward Askew Sothern, the prank loving Victorian actor whose Dundreary spawned fashion and 'dundrearyisms'. In this
• 'I see the Four-fold man, Humanity in deadly sleep'; Ben Edge and the Children of Albion, Fitzrovia Chapel — A chapel marooned in a corporate square becomes a glittering folk altarpiece. I wandered the Fitzrovia Chapel and give a
• 'The Resort of Thieves and Harlots'; Victoria Park Cemetery, Bethnal Green — Ever wondered why Victoria Park Cemetery was called "the resort of thieves and harlots"? I tell the story of Victoria Pa
• Dead babies, the wrong grave, a costermongers funeral, parakeets and an oddly faithful cat; Hammersmith Cemetery, Margravine Road, W6 — A shocking discovery in Hammersmith Cemetery sent me digging through Victorian newspapers and coroner reports. I piece t
• Buried with her baby in her arms and her coffin draped with the Spanish Republican flag: Conchita Supervia (1895-1936) Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden — On a summer visit to Willesden I spotted an altar of four tortoises and a coffin draped with the Spanish Republican flag
• Thirty minutes from sundown; time travel in the Anglican Chapel, Kensal Green Cemetery — Thirty minutes from sundown the Anglican Chapel at Kensal Green feels like time travel. With Meriel I explored the catac