This Week in History: Congress Declares the Civil War has Nothing to do With Slavery

This week, over 150 years ago, the United States Congress passed legislation that declared the Civil War was being fought over the reunion of the states, not to abolish slavery.

This Week in History: New England Goes Dark

Almost 250 years ago this week, morning turned to night for the states of New England as darkness descended. New Englanders had noticed something seemed wrong in the days building up to May 19th, 1780. The sky had appeared yellow, and the sun had turned blood red. But that was nothing compared to what happened […]

This Week in History: Golfer who Drank 1,400 Bottles of Radioactive Water Dies

This week, American millionaire and amateur golfer Eben Byers died after drinking radioactive water for years.

The US Presidential Election Special

Today, millions of Americans will go to the polls and vote for the next President of the United States. A lot of people have called this election the craziest in American history, and in some ways they might be right. But unless Clinton dies before the day is up, or Trump loses and gets his revenge by shooting a Cabinet […]

This Week in History: Chicago World’s Fair Closes

This week saw Chicago’s widely successful World’s Columbian Exposition come to an end in 1893. It sounded like a task handed down to Hercules – transform a city ravaged by fire just two decades before into a home for the most spectacular world fair ever seen. Amidst massive corruption at just about every level and constant […]

This Week in History: 10 Second Barrier for the 100m Broken

This week, almost fifty years ago, Jim Hines became the first person in recorded history to run the 100-metre sprint in under 10 seconds. With modern day sprinters regularly completing 100 metres in under 10 seconds, it’s almost surprising to see that just a few decades ago it was rarely seen. In fact, before 1990, the […]

Ye Olde Snippets: President Ike’s Chance for Peace

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This is not a way of life, in any true sense.”

This Week in History: First Novel by an African American Published in the States

In this week, over 150 years ago, the first novel by a person of colour was published in America.

This Week in History: The New York Sun Starts a Newspaper Revolution

This week in 1833 saw the first publication of the Sun. No, not that Sun – this was the New York Sun, and its ground-breaking reporting, simpler style of writing and lack of political bias shaped the lives of Americans for decades to come.