Lonely Diarist of the High Seas
As ship stewardess, Ella Sheldon tended to upper-crust women onboard and battled a range of workplace demons. Her journals tell her story.
Aruba: Black Gold and Boas
What happens when an oil-rich island paradise interrupts its production of petroleum? You may have to visit the Caribbean island of Aruba to find out.
Is “Swatting” Rooted in a Prank Craze from the 1800s?
Why did Georgian-era England go mad for dangerous hoaxes, and what can that mania tell us about today’s volatile, content-hungry world?
The Chinese Question in Australia
The local British tried to bar Chinese traders from Australian shipping routes. Louis Ah Mouy, Lowe Kong Meng, and Cheong Cheok Hong had something to say about it.
The Shah, Our Man in Tehran?
Playing up the threat of the communist incursions, the Shah of Iran gained more and more support—financial and political—from the United States.
Kongo, Interpreted
In the sixteenth century, Kongo’s government trained young nobles to provide interpretation and cultural mediation between Europeans and Kongolese.
Filles du roi: the Founding Mothers of New France
Sent by Louis XIV, the filles du roi were sent to North America to birth new generations of colonists and help conquer the land.
US–Iran Relations: 1953
What really happened in Iran back in the day, and what did the United States have to do with it?
The Rise and Fall of the Equestrian Cultures of the Plains
The introduction of the horse to North America by the Spanish transformed the lives of the Indigenous peoples of the Plains in decidedly mixed ways.
Celebrating the Fourth of July
Take a moment to contemplate the history and complexity of Independence Day, American Style.