Stuff You Missed in History Class

Jane Addams was a leader and advocate, especially for the working poor – but her work really boiled down to a better quality of life [Read more]

Jane Addams was one of the foremost women in America’s Progressive Era. She co founded the social settlement Hull House, spoke and wrote on social [Read more]

Sir Joseph Paxton was a 19th-century botanist who became instantly famous for the hall he designed for the Great Expo of 1851. After the expo, [Read more]

In the years after the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War, the oyster supply became so scarce that people turned to oyster piracy. The bloodshed [Read more]

The Hope Diamond is well traveled, but is it cursed? Does it have mystical powers? Why does it glow red after exposure to UV light? [Read more]

The Hope Diamond has traveled across continents, been stolen in revolutions, and was even the signature accessory of a wealthy heiress for nearly four decades. [Read more]

The Flannan Islands have been rumored for centuries to be haunted or have some supernatural darkness. In 1900, three men vanished from the lighthouse on [Read more]

Hypatia was one of the earliest female mathematicians and astronomers — though she wasn’t the very first, she was among the greatest. At the time [Read more]

Charley Parkhurst was a stagecoach whip who spent almost 20 years handling teams of horses over treacherous terrain at high speeds. After his death in [Read more]

In 1900, a shipwreck was discovered near the island of Antikythera, including an assortment of luxury goods: statues, silver coins, vases … and what turned [Read more]