History

Michelle Obama's Ancestors: 'American Tapestry' Has Holes in It

Megan Smolenyak | Posted 05.31.2012

Read More: Cory Booker, Dolphus Shields, Flotus, Michelle Obama, Melvinia Shields, Heritage, Rachel Swarns, Native Americans, Obama, Virginia, History, Dna, First Lady, Alex Haley, Ancestry, Slavery, Roots, Genetics, Genealogy, Family History, Great Migration, African Americans, North Carolina, American Tapestry, Books News
Megan Smolenyak

As the genealogist who initially researched the first lady's family tree (four to five generations on all branches), I wanted to love American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White and Multicultural Ancestors of Michelle Obama, but found myself disappointed -- mostly due to what's missing.

Read Post

Surprising Masturbation Myths

Mels van Driel | Posted 05.31.2012

Read More: Masturbation Myths, Masturbation Facts, Masturbation Books, Masturbation, Sex Myths History, Sex Myths, History, Books News
Mels van Driel

Does everyone do it? Or has everyone done it? The answer is yes! For some people, masturbation is actually the high point of their day. The celebrated gynecologist Hector Treub put it succinctly: 'We've all masturbated and those who say they've never done it are still doing it!'

Read Post

'Hatfields & McCoys' Finale: 'Devil' Anse Hatfield Wants To End The Feud Peacefully

Posted 05.31.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Canada Tv, Miniseries, Kevin Costner, Drama, Westerns, Bill Paxton, Tv Replay, Hatfields and Mccoys, Reality-Free, TV News

The concluding part of the "Hatfields & McCoys" (Wed., 9 p.m. ET on History) miniseries saw the feuding families come to some sort of a settlement. ...

Read Whole Story

'Hatfields & McCoys' Continues To Score Huge Ratings

AP | DAVID BAUDER | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Hatfields & Mccoys Ratings, Kevin Costner, Hatfields & Mccoys, Bill Paxton, Hatfields and Mccoys, TV News

NEW YORK — There's nothing like a backwoods blood feud to excite television viewers on Memorial Day. The first part of the History network's mi...

Read Whole Story

Gruesome 'Vampire' Remains Spur Scientific Debate

Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: History, Exorcism, Video, Ancient Vampire, Vampires, Forensics, Science, Science News, Vampire Corpse, Vampire of Venice, Archeology, Science News

By: Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Contributor Published: 05/30/2012 10:07 AM EDT on LiveScience What may have been an exorcism of a vampire in Veni...

Read Whole Story

'Hatfields & McCoys': Anse vs. Randall

Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Canada Tv, Miniseries, Kevin Costner, Drama, Westerns, Bill Paxton, Tv Replay, Hatfields and Mccoys, Reality-Free, TV News

On the second episode of smash hit miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys" (Tue., 9 p.m. ET on History) old grievances were simmering as Randall McCoy (Bill P...

Read Whole Story

'Hatfields & McCoys' Ratings Break Cable Records

Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Hatfields & Mccoys Ratings, Kevin Costner, Hatfields & Mccoys, Bill Paxton, Hatfields & Mccoys History, TV News

Their bloody family feud made headlines after the Civil War, and over a century later, the "Hatfields & McCoys" are making cable TV ratings history. ...

Read Whole Story

'Pawn Stars': How Much For A Rare Nineteenth-Century Dollar Bill?

Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: TV Canada, Pawnbrokers, History, Reality TV, Canada Tv, Video, Pawn Stars, Tv Replay, Pawn Shops, TV News

How much is 19th-century U.S. paper currency worth these days? That was the question facing the "Pawn Stars" (Mon., 10 p.m. ET on History) Monday nigh...

Read Whole Story

Scientists Find New Clue In Collapse Of Ancient Civilization

The Huffington Post | Jacqueline Howard | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: History, Video, Field Museum, Trade, Gary Feinman, Maya Civilization, Science, Science News, Maya Collapse, Archeology, Maya History, Science News

Maya history--and the civilization's "collapse"--continue to occupy the minds of archeologists. Some research points to a series of droughts as playin...

Read Whole Story

PHOTOS: This Week In Science History

Posted 05.28.2012

Read More: This Week in Science History, History, Video, Inventors. Historic Experiments, Science History, Space, Historic Events, Slideshow, Science News

You know John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth--his Mercury capsule circled the Earth three times before splashing down in the Atlantic...

Read Whole Story

Harvard's Experiment on the Unabomber, Class of '62

Jonathan D. Moreno | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: Unabomber, History, Harvard University, Human Experiments, Lsd, Culture News
Jonathan D. Moreno

The news that Ted Kaczynski was included in the 50th anniversary alumni directory has roiled the class reunion. Better known via his nom de plume (or ...

Read Post

Cave Artifacts Push Dawn Of Human Creativity WAY Back

Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: History, Merry Christmas Humans, Video, Early Human, Early Music, Musical Instrument, Science, Ancient Human, Science News, Ancient Flute, Bone Flute, Caveman, Science News

By: Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer Published: 05/24/2012 01:46 PM EDT on LiveScience Early modern humans could have spent their evenings...

Read Whole Story

'Swamp People': Willie Grabs An Alligator By Its Jaws

Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Reality TV, Canada Tv, Video, Louisiana, Swamp People, Tv Replay, Alligator Hunting, Alligators, Bayou, TV News

The alligator hunters featured on "Swamp People" (Thu., 9 p.m. ET on History) often take risks, but Thursday night Willie risked his life in the heat ...

Read Whole Story

DNA Study Solves Mystery Of Mysterious Mixed-Race People

AP | TRAVIS LOLLER | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: Mixed Race, Dna, History, Video, Melungeon, Race Relations, Melungeon Ancestry, Heritage, Science, Science News, Melungeon Origins, Interracial, Science News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once...

Read Whole Story

Alex Moaba

Kevin Costner & Bill Paxton Preview 'Hatfields & McCoys'

HuffingtonPost.com | Alex Moaba | Posted 05.25.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Kevin Costner, Hatfields Mccoys Kevin Coster Bill Paxton, Bill Paxton, Hatfields and Mccoys, TV News

Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton star opposite each other in "Hatfields & McCoys" (premieres Mon., May 28 at 9 p.m. ET on HIST), a three-part miniseries ...

Read Whole Story

How Would History Have Been Different if Richard Nixon Had Won the 1960 Presidential Election?

Quora | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Alternate History, u.s. History, History, President Nixon, American History, Richard Nixon, Nixon, Politics News
Quora

An interesting question for sure! This is the stuff that comes to mind, in no real order -- but really, after '76 all bets are off.

Read Post

On the Merits of an Arranged Marriage

Dora Levy Mossanen | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Tradition, Arranged Marriage, Marriage, Habib Levy, Iran, Dora Levy Mossanen, Divorce, Women, Jewish Quarter, Farsi, Historian, History, The History of the Iranian Jews, Tehran, Courtesan, Superstition, Harem, The Last Romanov, Mahaleh, Culture News
Dora Levy Mossanen

Was theirs an arranged marriage? It certainly was. Were they different in every imaginable way? You bet. Yet they managed to build a relationship based on love and trust. I wonder whether that was possible only because divorce was not an option at the time.

Read Post

A Sea of 'Happiness' Without Memory

Carol Smaldino | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: History, Vitality, Memory, Depression, Memorial Day, Positive Psychology, Memorial Weekend, Healthy Living News
Carol Smaldino

I'm using a part of this holiday coming up to remind myself about how going through tough feelings can be a much more grounded and sane way of resolving conflict than gliding above it all.

Read Post

'Pawn Stars': How Much For A Piece Of Cold War History?

Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Reality TV, Canada Tv, Video, Pawnbrokers, Pawn Stars, Tv Replay, Berlin Wall, Pawn Shops, Las Vegas, TV News

The "Pawn Stars" (Mon., 10 p.m. ET on History) held a piece of mid-20th-century history in their hands Monday night. A seller approached them with ...

Read Whole Story

'Ax Men' Season Finale: A Close Call For The Big Gun Loggers

Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Canada Tv, Reality TV, Logging, Tv Replay, Ax Men, Big Gun Logging, Lumberjacks, TV News

The two-hour Season 5 Finale of "Ax Men" (Sun., 9 p.m. ET on History) saw the men of Big Gun logging have a dangerously close call. A piece of equi...

Read Whole Story

Putting Irish Science on the (Google) Map

John Lee | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Tourism, History, Tech, Johnleemedia, Pete Hamill, Nature, Belfast, Science, Digital, Travel, Ireland, Dublin, Google, Newgrange, Media News
John Lee

It's a digital, interactive, online, tricked-out Google map called The Atlas of Ingenious Ireland. Dedicated to "Putting Irish Science on the Map," it locates and annotates key science, tech and natural history landmarks.

Read Post

'Swamp People': Don't Pull The Gator On The Boat Until It's Dead

Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Video, Reality TV, Troy Landry, Swamp People, Mitchell Guist, Tv Replay, Mitchell Guist Dead, Chase Landry, Alligator Hunting, TV News

Fans of "Swamp People" (Thu., 9 p.m. ET on History) mourned the loss of Mitchell Guist alongside the latest episode, which kicked off with a tribute t...

Read Whole Story

Possessed: Voodoo's Origins and Influence from the Blues to Britney

Debra Devi | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Religious History, History of Words, History, Etymology, Haitian Revolution, Slavery, Britney Spears, Blues Music, Blues Legends, Screamin Jay Hawkins, African American History, Vodun, African Language, Blues Singers, History of Blues, Blues Musicians, Vodou, Muddy Waters Band, History of Slavery, Arts News, Haiti Voodoo, Video, Culture News
Debra Devi

This was the religion of many slaves brought from West Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean. Vodun was brutally repressed by slave-owners, yet its powerful beats, ethics and aesthetics endured. We owe our concepts of cool, soul and rock and roll to it.

Read Post

How Could the Sinking of the Titanic Have Been Prevented?

Quora | Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Boat, History, Cruise, Rms Titanic, Cruise Ships, Titanic Anniversary, Titanic, Titanic 100 Year Anniversary, Titanic Sinking, Cruises, The Titanic, Boats, Cruise Ship, Travel News
Quora

This question originally appeared on Quora. By Chris O'Regan, Amateur Titanic enthusiast from Brisbane 1. Titanic could have been constructed with...

Read Post

'Ax Men': Shelby Is Grossed-Out By Davi's Toenails

Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: TV Canada, History, Canada Tv, Video, Louisiana, Shelby Stanga, Logging, Tv Replay, Ax Men, Davi, Lumberjacks, Bayou, TV News

On "Ax Men" (Sun., 9 p.m. ET on History) Sunday night Shelby Stanga's new helper Davi had a rough day. First, Davi got stuck in a tree and dangled...

Read Whole Story