History

If you’re into historically accurate medieval BDSM, we’ve got bad news for you.

In 1973, members of the Oglala Lakota tribe and federal agents faced off in a 71-day siege that was 83 years in the making.

The first “fake-prince” scammer wasn’t from Nigeria — he was a 19th-century Scottish Highlander.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we allow a giant elf to shimmy down our chimneys once a year?

The secret WWII catastrophe that sunk two ships, and nearly sunk the Allied war effort.

Arguably America’s most beloved tale of humans eating each other.

In the summer of 1212 CE, 20,000 kids had the shittiest summer vacation in human history.

A New England ghost story from the wrong side of the tracks.

Occultist, blaspheming wizardry is in the eye of the beholder.

What do you do when you’re king of China? Build a lake of wine and a forest of meat.

How does one earn the nickname “The Terrible”? We take a look at six of the worst crimes attributed to Ivan IV.

The only thing more #extra than Santa Anna himself was the state funeral he ordered for his leg.

You know what they say about the Neapolitan syphilitic zombie outbreak of 1495: if you remember it, you weren’t there.

Brad Pitt wasn’t the only vampire we learned about in the early ’90s.

In 1784, the Dutch and the Holy Roman Empire clashed over control of the Scheldt River. There were many survivors.

Man’s best friend? Jackie the Baboon.

Ready to feel old? At 19, Gavrilo Princip had already assassinated an archduke and kicked off World War I.

Sometimes the best ancient epic poems raise more questions than answers.

Turns out, a lot of presidents had a lot of weird, weird pets.

What doesn’t kill you probably makes you a whole lot sicker.

Three popes: that’s the dream, right? Well, they tried it in 1409. Turns out that’s too many popes.

This Independence Day, let’s include women in the sequel.