Category: history
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History’s Warrior Women
Happy (belated) New Year! I’m ready to celebrate with a blog about history’s warrior women. Naturally, there are more warrior women throughout history than will be listed here. This blog seeks to highlight the military and martial accomplishments of women throughout history who have captured the imagination of the public past and present. Boudicca Boudicca…
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World War II Series (Part Three): The Impotent Emperor Hirohito
Succumbing to the global fear of communism, Japan signed the anti-communist agreement with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It is important to note, however, that while Japan was nationalist, it was never fascist. (Despite having fascist organizations.) Hirohito was also never a dictator or an authoritarian monarch. He was a constitutional monarch and held a…
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World War II Series (Part Two): Subordinate Machismo of Mussolini
Oft cited alongside Hitler and Nazi Germany are his counterparts in Japan and Italy. The three nations – and their leaders – created the Axis Powers. Benito Mussolini of Italy and Emperor Hirohito of Japan have been cast into the shadow of Hitler’s atrocities in the Holocaust. These leaders have become a footnote in history…
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World War II Series (Part One): The Path to War
For this series, I don’t plan to cover every aspect of World War II from beginning to end. That would take more than a blog series to complete. For some people, that’s their life’s work. No, I won’t do it the injustice of trying to tackle it in a blog. Rather, I want to use…
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The Invisible Empire: The History of the KKK and Why People Joined
Bitterness, stewing in an insular, secret society, transformed the small fraternal organization into something far more dangerous. The Ku Klux Klan became a secret vigilante group. They threatened and enacted violence on their perceived enemies. They advocated for white supremacy, intimidated black voters, and attempted to suppress their votes. They escalated from harassment to arson…
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Bisexual Icon: Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues
Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, TN on April 15, 1894 in a neighborhood called Blue Goose Hollow. Blue Goose Hollow, which was once home to 1,400 people, no longer exists in its entirety, as 1,100 homes were bulldozed for urban renewal plans. Her father died during her infancy and her mother died when she…
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A Question of Guilt: Were these American Criminals Actually Innocent?
There are a handful of trials that are labeled the “trial of the century,” from the assassination of President Kennedy to the trial of O.J. Simpson. Several of these trials ended with more questions than answers – from motive to cover-ups. The following blog post looks at some of the most infamous crimes in America…
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History’s Mysteries: The Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the single most-studied artifact in human history, alleges shroud.com. The 14 foot linen first surfaced in 1354 when it was gifted to a church in France by a knight. There is no information on how…
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A Brief History of Cats
Felines are considered comforting companions, internet sensations, and tiny malevolent hunters. For millennia, cats have stood alongside humans, more or less. (Perhaps in the general vicinity of humans is a better descriptor.) While 10,000 years of history is difficult to sum up in a simple blog post, today we will examine some of the highlights…
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The Origins of Halloween
Stumble through the door to Halloween and you’ll find this pervasive holiday has its roots in a combination of Christian and pagan practices. The traditions that have become synonymous with Halloween have come from ancient games and practices. For some, the meaning has changed. But for others, its roots can still be tracked down to…
The Sapphic Academic 